The late Michael McDonnell Why is that very often a person had to die before we really appreciate true greatness in that person? Their great virtues are so obvious but for some reason or other it takes the reality and finality of death to bring them home so graphically. Michael McDonnell possessed many virtues. They literally touched the lives of thousands of people. Maybe we took hem for granted as they unfolded and enriched the lives of so many of us. It has often been said that no man is indispensable, that they cannot be done without. That adage will certainly be put to the test in this case; in a sporting context as in every facet of life his loss is definitely incalculable. He had a great interest in Gaelic Games from a very young age; he played with his club Claremorris in every grade and won numerous underage titles with the club. Michael entered St Colman's College in 1967 as a young student at thirteen years of age, ironically the very year that Monsignor John O'Boyle came to teach there. Msgr O' Boyle leaves St Colman's this year in different circumstances to Michael. After playing for many of the college teams in the various grades he left for UCD. and after obtaining a B.A. and H Dip, he came back to teach in his beloved alma mater in 1974. He was immensely proud that St Colman's saw fit to employ him as a teacher of geography; his appointment proved to be a brilliant one as he influenced and enriched the lives of countless students during the three decades he taught there. Michael's love of Gaelic games prospered during his tenure in the school. He became Secretary of the Mayo Under 21 Board and was also the last Secretary as the Board was disbanded during his time in office. Some 17 years ago he took up the post for many years. He was appointed Colleges representative to the Mayo County Board in1986/87. He became PRO of the Connacht Council in 2002 and brought a new meaning and direction to the role. He was innovative, creative, and forward thinking in a role that is often underplayed and undervalued whether in sport or in any other context. He found a niche that was tailor made for his vast knowledge of I.T. and he developed it hugely, making it immensely difficult for other to emulate. He introduced facets to the role that were practically unheard of prior to his appointment; the Mayo press night, the national media night, Man of the Match awards, and the very popular Players of the Month awards, which were sponsored by the Traveller's Friend Hotel, all grew in stature under his guiding influence. Michael's expertise was recognised by the then President of the Connacht Council Tommy Moran in February of last year (2005) when he appointed him Marketing Officer of the Council. Once again we saw true genius at work as he organised sponsorship nights in conjunction with the ESB of the Minor Championship in football and hurling, the Azzuri sponsership of the Connacht Colleges competitions, the Ireland West Airport Knock Connacht Hurling League and the recently introduced camogie/hurling initiative. He was also very much at the fore front of the recent Connacht Colleges trip to the USA. Michael had an insatiable hunger for work, and one could only marvel at the creative nature and of his ability to deliver such huge amount of copy to all of us by e-mail. Each and every year Michael had two visions; that this was going to be Mayo's year and his beloved St Colman's were going to win the Hogan Cup. He firmly believed that both would happen. He was convinced for instance that Mayo would beat Kerry in the All Ireland of 2004. Recently on a trip to London accompanying the NUI Galway hurlers - when he heard via text from John Prenty that Mayo had beaten Kerry in the National League in Tralee - he let it be known to all and sundry in the hotel that evening it was only the start of the road leading to Sam coming home to Mayo in September. There was no happier Mayo man than Michael when Mayo won the recent All Ireland Under 21 Championship. Another great interest of his was Manchester United. He supported them with a passion and travelled to see them play in the company of his son Patrick and friends each and every season. Outside of Gaelic games his other great passion was the game of golf. He was a member of Balla, Claremorris and Enniscrone golf clubs; he was the present Captain of the Jack O'Sullivan team at Claremorris Golf Club. One of the great joys and loves of his life was taking his young son Patrick to Enniscrone and seeing him prosper as a golfer under the tutelage of the resident professional there, Charlie McGoldrick. Michael believed in giving Patrick the maximum chance of reaching the very top in the game; the same as he believed in striving for perfection in every facet of life. He had great plans for Patrick and he during the summer holidays, the matches were to be attended and the golf was to be played. Michael was very competitive on the golf course and went out to win every time he played; an abiding memory of this writer is playing a fourball in his company against his brother Noel and Sean Connolly at Carton House during the weekend at last year's All Ireland Final. He literally beat the other pair on his own and quipped that he was delighted to win the money, as it was so hard to get money out of Noel! One can still see him walk quickly towards the clubhouse with the swagger of satisfaction on a job well done. The return didn't take place. It was due in the near future but, unfortunately, won't take place now in this life at least. Michael unfortunately lived a short time. But he also lived a long time in a sense as he crammed so much into life during his years on earth. He had a wonderful attributes; one of the greatest of them all was his loyalty to his wife Breda, his family and his friends. He was straight talking, to the point, and blunt when it was necessary. He hated all forms of deceit and saw through all forms of advantage taking. He was generous with his time and generous with his money. He was there for his family, his friends and other when he was most needed. He was born with a great sense of humour and his wry wit often illuminated a meeting or social gathering. God give him a great gift in the art of organisation, surely he had taken him home now to organise something very special. History will rate him highly just as God will judge him kindly. He will be missed by all of us; Breda, Meghan and Patrick we offer our deepest sympathies, as we do to the extended family. When shall we look upon his like again? - Horace 'He is gone to the mountain; He is lost in the forest. Like a summer dried fountain When our need was the sorest.' Courtesy of The Mayo News 14 June 2006 The late Michael McDonnell The untimely death of Michael McDonnell on June 7th, 2006, at just 52 years of age, had robbed countless hearts, minds, organisations and institution of a special, indefinable something that will never be replaced. Michael was a once-off, as his friend John Prenty told the congregation at his funeral Mass in Balla. He certainly was. But more than that, he was a a constant, an ever-fixed mark in a rapidly-turning world. As perennial as the grass, no one who knew him ever countenanced a world without Michael. And the void in his wake is all the greater for that. Born on April 8, 1954 on James Street, Claremorris, Michael was the fifth child Patrick and Helen McDonnell. Sadly, two of his older sisters died as infants, leaving eight McDonnell children to grow together into adulthood. Michael's father Patrick ran a butchers shop on James Street and it was there that Michael learned the value of hard work, a lesson he was a to carry with him and apply to everything he did throughout his own life. Michael's primary schooling took place in the local boys' national school in Claremorris, while second level education brought him to St Colman's College, which was to play a significant role in his life - and he in its - in the years that lay ahead. Having completed his Leaving Certificate at 16, he graduated to UCD, where he obtained a BA. From there it was back to his alma mater in Claremorris, in 1974, at the age of 20. Taken on initially to facilitate the requirements of the HDip, which he undertook in UCG, St Colman's retained his service as a teacher of Geography and History upon its completion. For the 32 years that followed, he served the college and its students with distinction, never seeking to move his considerable talents elsewhere. Through his own extensive travel, Michael had an unparalleled first hand knowledge of the world, and he sought to impart this as effectively as he could to all his students. Indeed, one of the most remarkable aspects of his teaching style was his constant use of teaching aids - charts, posters, DVDs, tapes, power-point displays - to supplement his own knowledge. Though there was little he did not know about any given place, he never had the conceit to believe his won voice to be the best teaching tool; instead he tried to bring the experience to his pupils in the most imaginative and true-to-life manner possible. His fascination with technology and gadgets of all kinds was another feature he brought to bear in his teaching. Michael believed in technology and once he believed in something, there were no half measures. While most teachers would be happy to implement their own good ideas within the confines of their own classroom, Michael was a visionary, a man who always thought big. He had a vision of St Colman's as a state-of-the-art, multi-media centre of learning and he brought that vision to fruition - almost single-handedly. When the Media Laboratory was officially opened by the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, in March of this year, Michael glowed with pride. But in a quiet way. For Michael, the joy was in getting things done well, not in the personal glory the achievement might bring. I recall that he emailed me photographs from his official launch - that very afternoon; he never waited until tomorrow to do something that could be done today - advising that he would supply captions for which ever ones I wished to use in the paper. He sent me eight pictures, and Michael McDonnell - the man behind the project from germination to full bloom - did not feature in one. St Colman's College will never see his likes again, but his legacy will live on there for generations to come. And how fitting that it was on the feast of St Colman, June 7, that Michael passed away. It was in the early 1980s that Michael met Breda Roche, a native of Balla, and the couple married in 1985. A son and a daughter, Meghan and Patrick, blessed their lives and together they delighted in pursuing their own individual interests, while happily and proudly watching their children grow and develop interest of their own. Michael was, first and foremost, a family man, and though always busy with projects of different kinds, nothing ever mattered more than Breda and the children. They were his pride and joy and whatever he was doing or wherever he went, they were never far from his thoughts, and were constantly spoken of with affection. Having lived in Claremorris in the early years of their married life, they later moved to Breda's home town of Balla, where the family settled and became highly-regarded in the community. Michael's brothers and sisters were precious to him too, and the way they and their own children rallied around Michael and showered him with love in his final days bore testament to the great bond that existed between them all. Mickie, their brother and uncle, was a joker, a straight talker and a friend to each and every one of them. He was also their rock, and he scarcely even knew it. As a member of the family remarked in the Dunstable Hospital during his final days, he probably arranged his departure in such a way that they would all be there to support each other and spend time together. And what a beautifully touching sight that was. Football was another of Michael's loves. A keen player in his youth, Michael's performance for his native Claremorris were always marked by hard work and determination, and he succeeded in winning minor and U-21 county titles with his club. But he was a realist and readily acknowledged his limitations as a player, noting with no trace of bitterness that, while he would love to have starred for Mayo, he simply wasn't good enough. He genuinely admired and applauded the ability of others though, and basked in the reflected glory of his brother Noel who won an All-Irekland U-21 medal with Mayo in 1967, and in the many achievements of his talented friend, John P Kean, who won both minor and U-21 medals with Mayo. Jealousy was alien to Michael; he delighted in maximum use of God-given talent. While his playing career may not rank alongside those of his illustrious peers, his role as an administrator may never be equalled. As secretary of the Mayo U-21 Board and as secretary and treasurer of the Connacht Colleges Association, he put in untold - and largely unseen - effort. If glamour exists in GAA administration at any level, it is fair to say that these roles were as far removed from it as possible. It was donkey-work, and Michael did it brilliantly, once again the satisfaction of seeing things done properly being sufficient reward. In 2002 he took on the role of Connacht Council PRO, the first time such a position existed within the Council. It was then that Michael McDonnell and his myriad talents stepped in to the limelight of GAA administration, then that he was recognised as a true genius in his field. While the organisational ability he brought to the role had been widely applauded since his death, I do not believe it was his greatest strength. His organisational ability was second to none, no doubt, but it was his geniality, his fairness to everyone (in particular his great regard for regional reporters, whom he always placed on an equal footing with those from the national media, and whom he frequently went well out of his way to facilitate), his attention to detail, his sense of humour and his warmth that made him special. They are the qualities that will be missed most in the press boxes of Connacht. Michael did a million practical things on match days, and someone else will now do those things, but no one will ever take the time to engage with everyone in the press box in the way he did. It was through travel that I first met Michael, five years ago. I went on trips to China, South Africa and Brazil with him, and all three were wonderful experiences. There were people from ten to 70 on some of those trips and Michael made sure that all enjoyed themselves and that all were included in everything that took place. He was masterful with people and they in turn repaid him with loyalty. And at a time when the farthest reaches of the world had become accessible with a few clicks of a computer, the escorted tours that Michael organised continued to thrive. Why? Because of Michael. Yes, the trips were superbly-organised, but regular custom was based on loyalty to him above all. Loyal. A word that has been used more than any other to describe Michael in the past few weeks. And there is no description more appropriate. Michael did not court friendship in a random way. If he liked you, he befriended you, and it was reciprocated instinctively. Once a friendship was made, he was loyal. That was simply part of the deal. Honesty was part of the same deal. No matter how unpalatable, if he felt you needed to be told something he would tell you. Never to offend or wound, only to help. But he wasn't one for dressing things up; he told it like it was. That was the most refreshing thing about about him. Though immensely popular, however, Michael was not a populist. If he didn't like someone he wasted no time on them. If someone didn't like him, he never tried to change their views. He was who he was and if you didn't like it that was your issue. He was never going to be shaped into what someone else wanted him to be. It wasn't arrogance, just belief in who he was and what he stood for in life. This world is a poorer place without Michael McDonnell. But the home he shared with Breda, Meaghan and Patrick bears the greatest void of all. He was everything to them, and they to him. For them the cross is heaviest, but the strength he gave them through his life will no doubt help them to shoulder it. Michael is deeply regretted by his wife Breda, daughter Meghan and son Patrick, brothers Noel and Joey; sisters Ann, Mary, Helen, Connie and Cathy; nieces and nephews, in-laws, extended family and friends. Ni bheidh a leitheid ann aris. -DH Courtesy of The Mayo News 21 June 2006 Tweet

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