'Dad never stuck to the script' - tributes paid to Teddy McCarthy at his funeral
TEAMMATES: Larry Tompkins, Tomás Mulcahy Niall Cahalane, Billy Morgan, Jimmy Barry Murphy and Dr. Con Murphy carry the coffin of GAA Cork duel star Teddy McCarthy at St. Joseph’s Church, Springhill, Glanmire, Cork. Pic: Dan Linehan
Teddy McCarthy was remembered as a humble man who never drew any attention to himself at his funeral mass in St Joseph’s Church in Glanmire on Saturday.
Teddy died suddenly on Tuesday at the age of 57. He wrote himself into the storied pages of GAA history in 1990 by becoming the first and only player to win All-Ireland inter-county hurling and football medals in the same season.
Tomás Mulcahy and Larry Tompkins were the captains of the Cork hurling and football teams in 1990 and they brought two special guests to Teddy’s funeral mass – Liam MacCarthy and Sam Maguire.
Both cups were brought up to the altar as gifts along with Cork jerseys, a Sars hurling jersey and a Glanmire football jersey. His medals from 1990, a framed photo of his mother Mary, a football, a hurley and a sliotar, and a shirt to represent Teddy’s sense of style were also brought to the altar as gifts.
Teddy’s son Cian said he had been wondering whether he should write anything down in preparation. Eventually he asked himself what his father would have done.
“I was thinking should I write stuff down, should I do this should I do that and I said realistically no. Because Teddy never followed the script anyway,” he said to laughter. “So I said look I’ll try wing it and speak from the heart because that’s something he would have done himself. I could go on and on about all the games he played. This that and ten more. You can see all the tributes all over the place. They’ve been absolutely incredible. Everyone knows all those stories.
“So I just wanted to say something about the last five or ten years. Especially when his grandchildren were born, my two sons. He really mellowed out over those few years. We joke about it at home, all his life he was so wound up. He sacrificed everything he had to play GAA and make sure that that came first.
“When my two lads were born, he really put time into them. Teaching them how to play hurling and football. He used to be giving out to me for giving out to them! Myself and (Cian’s brother) Niall used to be slagging saying ‘if only he’d been like that when we were growing up!’.
“He loved hurling and football and to see his grandkids getting a kick out of it, carrying through his legacy to another generation. He was really proud of that.
“He used to looking at (Teddy’s grandson) Tiernan and he’d say ‘greatness always skips a generation’, and he’d be looking over at me then!
“Last Monday it was funny, he came to our game. We’d a few pints after. I think it was a fitting day for everything he stood for. Playing a game, watching a game, going out after, talking about the game. That was what it was all about to him. He even told Niall he played well – which was another rarity!
“We drive on now. We’ll stand tall – because that’s exactly what he did for all of us.”
Cian thanked the GAA community for all the support offered to the family since Teddy’s passing.
“The GAA community is a real community. We see people travelling from Northern Ireland, from all corners of Ireland just to show their support. It was absolutely fantastic. Sars GAA club, Glanmire, which he loved so much, ye were absolutely inspirational the last few days. I’d like to thank all of ye and what ye’ve done so far.”
Father Pat Fogarty told the congregation that last Sunday, Teddy was sitting at mass in his usual spot at the back of the church. A short time afterward, along with Tomás Mulcahy and Jim Cashman, he travelled to Thurles to watch the U20 All-Ireland hurling final.
“His death was like a dark cloud descending on our community here in Glanmire, throughout the county, and throughout the country and beyond. It brought with it a wave of emotions, initially disbelief, shock, sadness.”
Father Pat said that when he told some friends in Tipperary he was being moved to Glanmire one of them said: "'That’s where Teddy’s from'. He didn’t have to say Teddy McCarthy or Teddy Mac. Because Teddy was so famous and so well-known throughout the country.
“Teddy wore that badge of fame and talent and giftedness very lightly. He was a very humble man, who never sought the limelight, never drawing attention to himself.
“I feel very privileged to have met him six months. One morning Teddy came in to welcome me to the parish and he said 'let me introduce myself'. I said, ‘Teddy, you don’t need any introduction boy, you’re known worldwide'.”
Teddy’s coffin was carried from the church to the chimes of ‘The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee’, the signature song of the county he represented with such distinction and with whom he scaled a height never to be matched again.
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