Glowing tributes for Purcell 'the master'

The legendary gaelic footballer Sean Purcell was a humble man who bore his greatness lightly, friends said today.

The 76-year-old, who died last night, was considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time by those who saw him play for Galway.

His lifelong friend, Tommy Varden, said he was a great but humble man.

“There’s no point saying he was the greatest of all time because everybody knows it,” he said. “

Forget about his football prowess, it was the humanity of the man. He was so humble in comparison to what’s going today and he wore the mantle of greatness lightly.”

Purcell grew up in Bishop Street in Tuam and worked as a teacher in the Strawberry Fields national school in nearby Dunmore. This, along with his ability on the football field, earned him the nickname of “The Master”.

He won the Hogan Cup with St Jarlath’s College in Tuam in 1947, the 1956 All Ireland final with Galway and 10 county titles with his club Tuam Stars.

“You’d see county players and they’d hardly play for the club. He’d play his heart out for Tuam the same as he would for Galway,” said Mr Varden, who sponsors the Galway football team.

When Galway won the All Ireland football title in 1998 after a gap of 33 years, Purcell was in the stand and cried like a child.

Mr Varden said he had an enduring reputation in the game.

“He’s gone out of the limelight for the best part of half a century and yet when I was with him at the Connacht final in Pearse Stadium this year, about 30 people came looking for his autograph. What footballer or sportsman today will be remembered like that ?”

In 2000, Purcell was named on the Team of Millennium and last June, he was awarded an honorary degree at NUI Galway.

After his retirement from football, Purcell worked in his family’s tiny newsagents shop in the centre of Tuam and talked passionately to customers about football. The shop, like his school, has since closed.

He travelled to the US as a guest of the Galway Association on frequent occasions but had to decline an invitation this year due to ill-health.

Purcell was also famous in the gaelic football world for his partnership with fellow Tuam Stars player Frank Stockwell. They were the stars of Galway’s 1956 All Ireland victory and for their almost telepathic understanding on the football field, they were nicknamed “The Terrible Twins”.

The vice president of Tuam Stars, Miko Kelly, said Purcell had been in contact with Stockwell until the very end.

“He rang Frank last Saturday about the Laois match, he was looking at that. I was talking to Frank, he is shattered.”

He described Purcell as a terrific player who had won every honour in the game and added that the club had been hoping he would recover in hospital from the triple bypass operation he underwent.

“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago on the phone and he was recuperating. We all expected that he’d be back but things didn’t go the right way.”

The Galway GAA County Board said a minute’s silence would be held at all club matches in honour of “the greatest Galwayman ever to wear the maroon and white”.

The board said: “He is also regarded by many as the greatest exponent of the skills of gaelic football ever to grace the football fields of Ireland. He represented Galway in all the central positions from full back to full forward with equal success, obviously displaying his versitility and completeness as a player.

“The Master’s brilliance on the field was matched with a remarkable measure of humility and a caring human touch.”

Purcell’s wife, Rita, died in the mid-90s but he is survived by two sons and four daughters. His removal is due to take place in Tuam tomorrow evening, with the funeral in the town’s cathedral the following day.