Mahon, Jason
September 20, 2011Johnner had been battling with a long term illness since 2003 and in April he had been instated as club president where he was presented with the Presidents Cup in Graiguecullen.
It's hard for anyone who knew Johnner personally to put into words just what an incredibly kind gentleman he was but current Stradbally chairman Martin Kelly was quick to lead the tributes.
"Talking to his family, the proudest moment of Johnner's life was the night when he was given the role of club president," he said.
Johnner lived all of his life in Stradbally and truly loved the Little Town and in particular the huge footballing culture within it. "The interesting thing about Johnner was that he never really played for us but yet he loved the club as much as, if not more, than everybody else, and in truth, he was the greatest supporter we ever had. Even when his health prevented him from going to games and you'd call in to see him, his first question was always of how the team had got on," said Martin.
Almost everyone who had the pleasure of encountering Johnner in their life will have some story to tell of him and Martin is no different. "One thing which always stood out in my mind was after we had won the championship in 2005, myself and Eamon Delaney were in Dunne's and he was thinking about packing it in. Afterwards, Eamon told me that he had been talking to Johnner and he had opened up his jacket, pulled out a headband in Stradbally colours and he turned to Eamon and said 'I love this club and each and everyone of yee in it'. Eamon turned to me and said 'How can you give up playing football after hearing that?"
Apart from being a fanatical Stradbally follower, Johnner was the type of person that no words which I can write could ever properly describe. But I think that Martin puts it nicely, "Johnner was a pure gentleman and nobody ever had anything to say against him."
My own encounters with Johnner often took place on the train back from Dublin where I would frequently meet him and his wife Rita. The hour would be spent discussing the latest headlines in the sporting world, and I always found it intriguing how Johnner could see a different point of view that I would have overlooked. These discussions would often lead us all the way back to Stradbally as he and Rita would kindly insist on driving me right to my door. This is a small incidence of the man's kindness, somthing I'd say that I could have found examples of onr hundred times over.
At Johnner Mahon's funeral mass, his daughter Theresa read a poem that she had written about her father that ensured by the time the gospel choir were singing The Town I loved so well, there wasn't a dry eye in the Sacred Heart Church in Stradbally. Johnner was later laid to rest in Oakvale cemetery.
It's people like Johnner which make the GAA the greatest organisation in the world. The undying love for one's club, the delight when they win and the utter despair when they lose. Johnner was one of life's incredible people, it was an hour to know him and an even bigger honour to call him my friend.
Alan Hartnett
- Courtesy of The Nationalist, 20th September 2011 Tweet
