A light goes out as shining stars pass on from this life
The sudden death of anybody is a cause of great anguish to their family and friends and a double tragedy is obviously more devastating.
Such an occurrence happened in Chicago recently. The death in a car accident of former inter-county stars, Joby and Anne O’Connell, sent shock waves through the entire GAA community, especially in Kerry and Galway. Joby was a star hurler with his native Causeway and Kerry and Anne a former camogie star with Abbeyknockmoy and Galway.
Like many more, I made it to the funerals in Causeway, where I met their now orphaned children, Sarah, Colman and Maeve. What is remarkable is that the three children were in the same car in which their parents were killed and yet they showed no physical signs of damage or injury. Yet their loss is immense – indeed, nothing could be worse for the three lovely children, and everybody’s hearts went out to them at the funeral. I knew Joby well. First as a bright student and fine footballer in St Brendan’s College in the mid-70s when the Sem won three titles in a row in Munster and were desperately unlucky not to win an All-Ireland. Joby was a great college player in those years.
A half dozen years later, I met up with Joby again when, as vice-chairman of the Kerry County Board, I had special responsibility for hurling. Joby was the kind of guy you had to like. He was a constant breath of fresh air, and as a player he had the heart of a lion and the strength of an ox.
Nothing ever fazed him. The bigger the challenge the more he liked it; the greater the reputation of the man he was marking, the better he played. Joby was part of the great Causeway team that went on to win four county titles in a row, a wonderful achievement in any man’s language. He also won an All-Ireland B medal with Kerry, playing, as always, a starring role either at midfield or on the 40. But one of his greatest games ever was when Kerry nearly pulled off the shock of the decade in the Munster SHC in Killarney in 1989. Only for the late intervention of that great corner forward, Pat Fox, Tipp would certainly have fallen to a very good Kerry team. Joby was outstanding that day and only for the mercurial Fox, we’d be still celebrating a glorious victory in the Kingdom.
But while he was a remarkable player, it was Joby’s attitude both on and off the field that reflected his great intelligence and sporting spirit. No matter how difficult the situation or how hard he was hit, he never lowered his own high standards.
He would never revert to a mean stroke even in retaliation. He usually just laughed if opponents resorted to foul means to curb him.
His attitude was simple: do your best, play within the rules, and don’t worry about anything else. The true Corinthian spirit.
When the game was over, he just got on with life. If we won, he was delighted, and if we lost, he still smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said: “Forget about that now, let’s move on.”
His wife Anne was an equally gifted player as were all her family, with Mattie winning an All-Ireland hurling medal with Galway and Michael a star footballer for the Tribesmen for many years.
Yes, it’s a hard blow when a couple with a young family are cut down in the prime of life. Kerry and Galway GAA have lost two loyal members, but the biggest loss is to their families, especially their young children.
I last met Joby a few weeks ago in Dublin at the Munster-Leinster Heineken Cup semi-final. He came over to say hello and wish me well in the upcoming election – that’s the kind of guy he was. Larger than life, generous to a fault, loyal to the end.
Kerry also lost another former hero during the week. Because I was abroad I missed the funeral of John ‘Thorny’ O’Shea, one of the real characters of Kerry football.
Thorny and his brother Derry, in terms of attitude, class and style, were about 20 years ahead of their time. Thorny was perhaps the first Gaelic footballer to head a ball to the net and that was in the early 60s when the ban on foreign games was rife.
Thorny was buried last week but his name and spirit, like that of Joby O’Connell, will live a long time – two free spirits who brought joy and wonder where ever they went.
Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh n-anamanacha.
