With the passing of the late Pat Finnegan to his eternal reward earlier this week, his family, the Killeevan club and his GAA connections in Cork have lost someone who had earned legendary status in the Association.

A native of Newbliss,  Pat was born into a family steeped in the GAA and he himself followed in that tradition going on to gain iconic status for his contribution to the Association in so many ways.

As a young player he showed great potential, developing into a very accomplished full back, but his only success with Killeevan was an intermediate championship medal in 1955. By that stage however, he had also come to the notice of the County selectors and represented Monaghan at minor,  junior and senior level. I

n those years Pat also served as club secretary but like so many people of that time Pat was forced to emigrate and he made a new life for himself in London, where he also built up a great reputation for himself in the GAA in the British capital, going on to establish himself as one of the top referees in Britain at that time. In that capacity he took charge of County finals in many Championships throughout England, but his greatest achievement was as referee of the then Grounds Tournament, which was a fundraising effort by the GAA with the games staged at Wembley Stadium.

Some years later he returned to Ireland where he became domiciled in Cork where he and his wife Shiela raised their family with Pat also becoming involved in various capacities with Cork County Board.

His love of place though was a central theme throughout his life, and as one local described it in that he may have resided and worked which meant his body was in London and Cork but his heart was always in the village of Newbliss and the parish of Killeevan. He made sure to get a copy of the Northern standard newspaper every week that kept in touch with local affairs and local news, but particularly news of the activities in the Killeevan club and of course the Monaghan County team during the inter-County season. His knowledge of his local area and the people was immense and he could recall with alarming clarity, people and events in Newbliss and Killeevan over his entire lifetime.

For his service {at was inducted into the club Hall of Fame  and one of his last visits to his native place was back in 2016 when he attended the official launch of the centenary history of the Killeevan Sarsfields club, where he was presented with the first copy of the book by the author JP Graham.

Pat’s passing has robbed the club of one of its all-time greats, but he is a man who has left a huge legacy and it may well be quite some time, if ever, when we see his like again.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.  

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