Community's shock at death of football star The late Denis Walsh The community was deeply saddened at the news of the death in Alberta Canada of Denis Walsh formerly of Craughdarrig. Denis passed on to his eternal reward after a short illness at the grand age of 88. A member of a very well known and highly respected family Denis had been residing in Canada for many years but he never lost touch with home and enjoyed his vacations in the area. A teacher by profession Denis lived in England for a number of years and later secured a teaching post in Canada where he was to spend the rest of his life. From the very outset he became actively involved in the Irish emigrant population in Canada where he made a legion of friends. A man of kind and genial nature Denis was a great conversationalist and was well briefed on topics of any nature whether it be sport, politics or anything else. He was popular on the local social scene enjoying a few sociable drinks and meeting all his good friends in the area when he was back home. He had friends in every county in Ireland and was held in high esteem by everyone that knew him. Denis had been in reasonably good health until recent times and his last visit to Ireland was back in 2005. In his youth Denis was a fine footballer playing with the Ballylongford team during the 1940's winning four North Kerry Championship titles. Denis always played at full back with his own club but played at left back with the Kerry senior team. He was a member of the Kerry team that lost to Galway in the 1942 All Ireland semi final. In that game commentator Micheál O Heir described him as "The Man on Wires." Denis was also a member of the Shannon Rangers team that won their first ever County Championship title in 1942 while he also lined out for the 1945 winning team. He earned a highly respected reputation with the Shannon Rangers and Kerry teams and the love of the game stayed with him all his life. Denis is the second last surviving member of the Shannon Rangers team that won the County Championship back in 1945. Of course he came from a family with a very strong Gaelic football tradition with his brother Jack winning almost every honour in the game with the Kerry team while his brother Dick was also a great footballer. He enjoyed coming home for the All Ireland final when Kerry were in the deciders. Denis was always well informed on activities at home as he got his copy of The Kerryman posted to him every week in Canada. Denis's popularity was evidenced in the final stages of his illness with many of his great friends calling to see him on a regular basis. At the end Denis knew he was not going to recover from his illness but he accepted it whole heartedly and was well prepared for the eventuality. Just days before his death some of his friends called to see him and held a sing song in which Denis himself joined in songs such as 'She moved through the Fair' and the old Irish tradition song 'Bermio'. Denis was the last surviving member of the older generation of the Welsh family and he will be sadly missed not only by his family but by everyone that knew him at both sides of the Atlanic ocean. I had a number of good chats with Denis while he was at home on holidays and must say that he was a gentleman in every sense of the word and could communicate with people of all age groups. A man with a fantastic memory Denis could vividly recall events that occurred in his very early childhood years. Denis is survived by his wife Margaret, sons Denis and Brendan, daughters Anne and Carmel, grand-children and extended family to whom deepest sympathy is extended. Internment took place in Canada. Courtesy of The Kerryman, dated February 27th 2008 Tweet

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