Mannix, Harry
January 04, 2011The sudden death last week of Garrymore football legend Harry Mannix was received with deep regret throughout Mayo and further afield.
Holder of five county championship medals (Including three in row attained in 1974, 75, and '76), he was a scoring machine during the glory days of the famous south Mayo club.
Harry played most of his football at right corner forward and at his peak was very difficult to mark.
Although small in stature with a low centre of gravity, he was powerfully built, fearless, and took no prisoners once he donned the red jersey.
In many ways he defied convention, however. In Fr Martin Newell, he found a sympathetic mentor and manager that extracted the maximum from a smouldering talent. During Garrymore's spell of dominance in Mayo, he was always close to the top of the scoring charts in the county, despite the fact that most of his scores came from play.
Large crowds attended his funeral mass and removal on Friday evening from Donnellan's Funeral Home, Claremorists to Roundfort Church, with former work colleagues from Eircom forming a guard of honour.
His funeral Mass on Saturday was noteworthy for the participation of many of his former Garrymore team-mates in the guard of honour to Roundfort cemetery.
Billy Fitzpatrick, the left corner forward on the successful Garrymore team, delivered a fitting tribute full of lively witticisms and anecdotes.
One tale of Harry's glee at having outscored Fitzpatrick in the 1976 final against Knockmore was particularly memorable. On seeing Fitzpatrick holding the cup, Harry sought him out and emphasised his feat in the day. He further added: "Do you know what the corner back said to me before the game? He asked me if I had said goodbye to my mother before I left home. I showed him in the best possible way."
Members of that same Knockmore team were in attendance at the funeral Mass, emphasising the mutual respect between the clubs forged during their meetings, particularly in the 1970's.
Fr Martin Newell, Harry's mentor and close confident, concelebrated the Mass, together with Fr Tommy Commins, a former work-mate with Eircom, and Fr Tom Ryan SMA.
Fr Michael Murphy, Round fort delivered a beautiful homily and the McGovern brothers from Robeen provided the music.
Outside of football, Harry was a fine handball player, and won an All-Ireland title in the sport.
He had a great love of shooting and hunting, and liked nothing better than bringing his dogs for a run out in the country, particularly in his beloved Carrowkeel. He had a profound love of country music and shared this with his close friend 'Small Tom' Hughes.
Harry left this world at the relatively young age of 59. Ar Dheis go raibh se.
Courtesy of the Mayo News 4/1/11 Tweet
