Tributes paid as James McCartan Snr, the King of Down football, is laid to rest

As Conor Deegan put it after the funeral mass: “James and his teammates made dreams possible”

Three of the McCartan brothers, Brian, Dan, and Charlie Pat, help lift the coffin of their father James into Saint Mary's Chapel in Burren County Down Picture: Brendan Monaghan

“In the great days of old, they came to see James McCartan,” began Jack Devaney, Down County Board chairman in his eulogy to the King of Down football at his funeral mass in St Mary’s Church, Burren on Tuesday.

“From all corners, they followed with the expectation and the excitement of a player, and of a team that captured the imagination of that time and of the ages since.