Footballer killed in crash ‘next big household name’
Rory O’Connor, who had recently made his way onto the Cork under-21 team, had been at the 21st birthday party of one of his teammates in the hours before his death.
At approximately 6am, the car he was driving left the road on the N72 Mallow to Killarney Road at Ballymacquirke. He was pronounced dead at the scene. It is understood the north Cork area was badly hit with surface water, which may have contributed to the accident.
The 19-year-old, who did not drink or smoke, was described as a role-model to his fellow teammates on both the Lyre and Duhallow teams. He and his Lyre teammates won the first Duhallow under-21A title and last October, he scored a haul of points as Lyre collected their first junior A title since 1937.
“Rory would have been regarded here in Duhallow as the next big household name in Gaelic football, he was about to burst onto the scene,” said Duhallow coach John Fintan Daly.
“He was like a young Colm Cooper. He was that good. He had just made his way onto the Cork under-21 team and as recently as last Thursday, he led his college team, IT Tralee, to an All-Ireland freshers title. He got the winning goal at the end of the game.
“On a very windy night last Friday, he captained Duhallow under-21s when we beat Douglas in Knocknagree. He was our top scorer, our captain.”
Mr Daly described the young man as a model boy, a leader for the team who all the boys looked up to.
“He was the pin-up boy of the forward line and he was the man who got the scores. He was extremely high rated and was a natural captain for the Duhallow under-21 team and it was only natural that he would come onto the under-21 team. His team miss him so much. The players are all devastated, his own club’s players and those who played with him for Duhallow on Friday night. He was the most popular player in the group. They all looked up to him. He was a very quietly spoken lad held in hugely high regard.”
Rory O’Connor is the only son of Pat, a member of one best known footballing families in north Cork. “His grandfather’s name was Rory and his father Pat and his brothers were all known as the ‘Rory O’Connors’. They came from my club here in Knocknagree and there were nine boys in the family… Six of them played with Duhallow when they won two county championships,” said Mr Daly.
Rory’s mother Breda also played for Cork for a number of years.
Tributes also flowed in on his Facebook page. One person commented: “A star in the making u give everyting to football..jst hope I could act like you wen it comes to giving everyting 100% like always did..x x”.
Another simply said: “a legend RIP lad always thinking of u.”
Mr O’Connor will be laid to rest on Thursday following funeral Mass at 11.30am at St Fursey’s Church in Banteer.
