Galway GAA mourns death of 1956 All-Ireland football winner Frank Evers

Frank Evers had a decorated United Nations career after All-Ireland glory.

1956 Galway All-Ireland winner Frank Evers died in Austria on Sunday aged 91.

Galway GAA is mourning the death of an iconic figure who won an All-Ireland senior football medal with them almost 70 years ago before embarking on a decorated career with the United Nations.

Frank Evers, a native of Menlough in north-east Galway, died in Austria on Sunday at the age of 91.

He was a key member of the Galway side, partnering Mattie McDonagh at midfield, which won the 1956 All-Ireland final when they defeated Cork.

He moved to Westmeath when he was three after his father Francis B, a member of An Garda Síochána was transferred there and Frank came to prominence when he won a Leinster senior colleges medal with the Franciscan College, Multyfarnham and then a Leinster minor championship with Westmeath in 1952, going on to represent the county at senior in the league later that year.

Frank Evers joined An Garda Síochána and moved back to Galway to live in Tuam, going on to enjoy championship success with Tuam Stars. He went on to win the All-Ireland with Galway and at one stage regraded to junior so that he could play with Menlough, the parish he left when he was just three.

His role as a member of An Garda Síochána saw him move to the Middle East to work for the United Nations East United Nations Truce and Supervisory Organisation at their headquarters in Jerusalem and he was also an International Civil Servant, reporting to UN Headquarters in New York during a decorated career.

He was a regular visitor to Galway after settling in Canada and in recent years moved to Austria where his wife Brigette was from and it was there, in the city of Graz that he died on Sunday, one of the last surviving members of the victorious 1956 Galway side.