‘GAA has lost a great Irishman and icon of sport’
But, based on the huge respect he earned not only on the field but in his interaction with people all over the country and abroad – as well in his distinguished army career – he admitted a few years ago that this singular disappointment had long been eradicated through the huge friendships he had made over several decades.
Mick O’Dwyer was at the helm of that great Kerry team which triumphed 30 years ago and it’s ironic that Earley managed Kildare for a three-year spell in between O’Dwyer’s two terms as manager of the Lilywhites. And, his son Dermot was a key member of the team which O’Dwyer steered towards the 1998 All-Ireland final against Galway.
Only last November young Dermot won a second All-Star award in the company of Tadhg Kennelly and disappointingly for his father, he missed the awards ceremony because of army duties.
Ironically, Dermot senior and the late Tim Kennelly had also been honoured as Allstars in the same year 1979 – when Dermot was picked at midfield alongside Bernard Brogan (father of current Dublin players Alan and Bernard Brogan) and Tim at centre-back.
Five years earlier, Earley won another Allstar – also at midfield – alongside Kerry’s Brendan Lynch.
Earley achieved fame when representing Roscommon at minor, U-21, junior and senior level in 1966. And that year he won his only All-Ireland medal, with the U-21 team which defeated Kildare in the final. Three years later he was on the losing side in another final, against Antrim. Aged 17 when he made his senior debut, he played for the county for 20 years (finishing in ‘85) and won a National League medal against Cork in 1979.
As well as winning five Connacht senior medals during a golden era for the Rossies, he won a Railway Cup medal in 1967 and another two years later.
In Kildare, where he took up residence in Newbridge with his Tipperary-born wife Mary and family, he won a county championship medal with Sarsfields. Later he became chairman and also coached them when they lost to a Na Fianna team managed by Paul Caffrey in the 1999/2000 club final in Navan.
GAA President Christy Cooney led the tributes yesterday, saying that his ‘commitment and real passion’ for Gaelic Football was always there for all to see.
“Dermot made an immense contribution to the association over the course of his life, a contribution that is still felt and appreciated, in Kildare and Roscommon in particular. His contribution to Irish life, in particular to the Defence Forces has been remarkable.”
GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell described him as ‘one of football’s finest exponents,’ adding: “The term legend may be overused when describing the contribution of certain footballers but in Dermot’s case it is an apt description of a man whose influence on the game was simply extraordinary.
Roscommon County Board praised him for ‘exemplifying all that was good about a person,’ saying: “on the field we will always remember his skill, his tenacity, his leadership and above all his sportsmanship.
“Dermot was proud of his Roscommon roots and maintained a strong and deep bond with the county.
“His work behind the scenes with the successful minor team of 2007 was a fine example of the role that Dermot so willingly filled.
“At national and international level his ability was widely recognised. His career in the Defence Forces was a record of glittering success culminating in his appointment as Chief of Staff.
“Ireland and the GAA has lost ‘a great Irishman and an icon of sport,’ while Roscommon mourns the death of one of its greatest sons.
* He is survived by his wife Mary, sons Dermot, David, Conor, daughters Anne-Marie, Paula and Noelle, his mother Kitty, grandchild, brothers and sisters. Two of his sisters live abroad, one in London and the other in Australia, and they were both at his bedside when he passed away early yesterday, at the age of 62.
