McCartan, Patrick
June 16, 2010DR VINCENT McKEE PAYS A PERSONAL TRIBUTE
TO A RECENTLY DECEASED FELLOW HURLER
Just recently did the sad news reach me of the sudden death in March of that great Leitrim Fontenoy, Patrick McCartan.
Hurler, footballer and passionate Gaelgeoir, Patrick was all three of those things put together, and much more besides. To say I was stunned would be an understatement!
Indeed over the ensuing months I have struggled to contemplate the harsh reality of an affable, committed, prodigious and utterly likeable Gael from my generation of 1970/80s Down hurlers having gone to his eternal rest.
Hence these lines are written not so much in a mood of nostalgia, but rather from the heart of one who genuinely mourns the passing of an old friend.
Such was Patrick's worthy contribution to developing Gaelic sport in his beloved Leitrim and throughout County Down, that it is only right for tribute to be paid by one as myself, fortunate to have shared his life's journey.
No words spoken here will do adequate justice to all his attainments, but at the very least Patrick's hallowed memory deserves my best attempt.
Like many Gaels, Patrick's cultural lineage was hereditary. His late father was the great P.F. McCartan, former Leitrim, Down and Ulster Hurling goalkeeper of the 1940s and 50s, and himself something of a legend in his own lifetime.
Among P.F.'s admiring peers was his oft-times team colleague Pat McVeigh (my late uncle), who regularly praised the skill and dedication by which the older McCartan had inspired so many younger men of his time.
Indeed when first meeting P.F. at Fontenoy Park in June 1974, so much did his reputation precede him that I had a sense of foreboding in the presence of a titan. In the event, I encountered a kindly and warm-hearted man with an infectious love of Gaelic sport and a keen desire to nurture us Hurlers of the coming generation.
With such a fine father, what other direction could Patrick take but the same route as that trodden with distinction by P.F. and earlier generations of Down Gaels?
To Patrick, Hurling was not just a fulfilling game, but like other Gaels he felt the mystical call from forefathers to safeguard the place and esteem of our beloved national sport that so defined Irish cultural identity.
The truth of his lifelong dedication to that noble cause may be measured by a immense commitment to the work of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Leitrim. It was a calling that, after his wife Bernadette and large family, received top priority, accounting for most spare hours at evening and weekends. In short - total!
The young Patrick McCartan quickly established himself on schoolboy and minor Hurling and Football Fontenoy teams, playing generally in mid-field in both codes.
Though never quite reaching his late father's level on the Hurling field, still Patrick developed a well-earned reputation for courage and persistence. Progressing to seniors, he became anchor man on Leitrim Hurling team over three decades, while figuring on his club's great football side of the late 1970s and captain in the early 1980s.
Patrick the footballer, I will leave to the expertise of others better qualified, but Patrick the Hurler I can speak of with real empathy.
He was part of a 1970s Leitrim side boasting many fine talents, including his brother Michael, Colm and Noel Brown, Joe (RIP) and Brian McCrickard, several McAleenan brothers, Peter and Brian Owens and many others who fought hard battles before eventually winning the Down Junior Championship in 1985 and progressing to a higher level.
My memories - and often did Leitrim and my own St John's do battle - are of a well-disciplined and skilled Fontenoys side that played hard but clean, and never gave up until the final whistle.
GUTSY PLAYER
Patrick McCartan figured prominently in that team. Always a gutsy player in mid-field, he threw himself into the thick of battle, fighting for every ball, using his weight to best effect and pushing forward with a courage redolent of P.F. in his prime.
Patrick's was a long strike; his "hits" rarely missed the goal-posts, and he tackled opponents relentlessly, sparing them neither the challenge of his formidable frame nor a uncanny appetite for the "hook".
So also did he take good "frees", frequently scoring points from shots hit from his own half of the field. Even his sideline "pucks" were well struck, often reaching the opposition square, and occasionally crossing the bar for a point!
He had practised all those Hurling skills with dedicated constancy, and it showed. What Patrick lacked in finesse he made up with sheer guts and nerve, and if a partisan Fontenoy from one end of an hour to the other, well, what was wrong with that!
At the end of every match, win lose or draw (Leitrim beat St John in nine out of every 10 games where I played!), I always remember the big smile and warm hand from Patrick to all opponents. A true Gaelic sportsman!
In the years after going to England, I kept an eye on the fortunes of Patrick and his Leitrim Hurlers from afar, and rejoiced when reading of their various successes. Those Fontenoys were a grand bunch of fellows who deserve their successes… and Patrick McCartan was among the best of them all.
Even after hanging up the camain and sliothar, I was not surprised to hear of Patrick's continuing work as a mentor of youth and club administrator, rising to vice-chairman.
His loyalty to the Fontenoys was total, and to the end of his days he could be found most weekends around Fontenoy Park engaged in some useful pursuit or other linked to promoting the club.
So too were Patrick and Bernadette proud of their fine family of sons and daughters, now reaching for adulthood, and like their dad zealous Fontenoys one and all.
Patrick McCartan's passing represents the loss of not just another Gaelic sportsman. It goes further! In Patrick there was someone for whom Gaelic sport and culture represented a way of life, and whose many demands held first call on his loyalties.
He was born into the Gaelic world; his role models and mentors were Gaels; Indeed Gaeldom nurtured him, and in serving the club that he so loved all his 52 years Patrick achieved fulfilment for himself while putting so much of his sporting talents to the service of his people generally and youth particularly.
What a well-spent life, and may those of us whose paths met with his remember him as fondly for his achievements as the nice man that he genuinely was.
As for myself, I can only say: "Farewell Patrick; like your father before you, knowing you was a pleasure. Thanks for all those precious memories of our beautiful national sport. May God now grant you lasting peace in his bosom."
(Clanvaraghan/Coventry)
Courtesy of Mourne Observer
16th June 2010 Tweet
