One of the up and coming stars of Killimor hurling, 19-year-old Shane Smyth- who died following a fatal fall in Limerick last week- has been remembered as a popular young man who brought so much laughter, love and friendship to both young and old alike. Among those to pay tribute to Shane Smyth was his younger brother Niall, who noted Shane's passion was his hurling- being it playing with his local club Killimor or indeed, Galway, who he represented at U-16 grade. "He put so much into his favourite sport," said Niall. "Shane's sudden death has left the whole community devastated. Everyone who knew Shane has a story to tell and the fondest memories we have of him are those of an extremely popular friend." Killimor intermediate hurling manager Tommy Callaghy, who worked with Shane from U-16 right up to intermediate grade, described the teenager as "an absolute gentleman." "He was one of those fellas that if things went wrong for him on the day, you were not able to give out to him. There are not too many lads you can say that about, but hurling was his absolute life. "I remember when I started out on the road to intermediate championship this year, we went to the gym. The thing about Shane, though, was that he was always in the gym five nights a week before we started.," said Mr Callaghy. He continued: "I remember then, in the championship, we had a few fellows gone to America and what have you, and Shane played in the game against Killimordaly. He scored 1-10 (of Killimor's 1-16 in that two point defeat.) "However I never once heard Shane say I scored this or I scored that after any game. He was not that kind of person. He was a great club player, who worked his socks off for the team whenever he played. He would have been disappointed, though, not to have made the county minor panel last year." Mike Kelly, who coached the Galway U-16 team. along with manager Joe Keane and selector Niall Canavan- said Shane was "a very dedicated hurler." he added: "He was also a very well mannered young fello, along with being a fine hurler. He had a great deal of talent, and his death is a very sad loss to hurling, and of course to his family." Meanwhile, Portumna Community School Deputy Principal Frank Kilkenny extended his sympathy, on behalf of the school, to Shane's family. He added: "Shane did his leaving cert here in June 2007, and our experience of Shane was that he was an absolute gentleman. He was always courteous to everyone and always respectful to the school. He was a young man who had a nice, quiet dignity about him and he carried out his business in such a manner. "Shane was very big into sport, and he particularly enjoyed hurling. He would have played in all school teams up along. I remember in his final year, Shane played in the Connacht final against Gort and while we didnt win that one, he was a great leader on the field. He was also our free-taker that day, as he was on all school hurling teams down through the years," said Mr Kilkenny. The Deputy Principal of Portumna CS- whee Shane's brother Niall is studying the leaving cert and his sister Aine is a fifth year student, said the news of Shane's death was a great shock to all and that both teachers and students alike were trying, as best they could, to come to terms with their grief. Connacht Tribune 10/10/08 Tweet

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