Seánie McGrath: There was a warmness to Denis Coughlan, I’ll miss our chats down the Marina

Christy Ring and his Glen Rovers teammate and friend Denis Coughlan

FOR all the battles we had against them during our respective playing days, Denis Coughlan and myself both wound up living across the bridge in Blackrock.

I’m out on the marina every evening walking the dogs, and I regularly ran into Denis. 

The Denis I got to know better during those conversations was someone who absolutely adored both the Glen and St Nick’s, who always enquired about who’s coming through, what players to keep an eye on, how things were outside, and how did I think the year would pan out.

But there were other sides to Denis. It was by no means a case of chat hurling and nothing else.

He always asked about work, was I busy and whatnot. He always asked how the family is, how are the kids, what are they doing and what are they into.
So, there was that human side too. He was all encompassing. He was just a gentleman.

They were never half-hour conversations over coffee or anything. It was a five or 10-minute chat wherever we’d meet along the marina, but five or 10 minutes I absolutely enjoyed.

Meeting Denis was just warm. There was a warmness to him. 

There was a calmness to his presence. You were talking to someone you felt cared about you and who was genuinely interested in your life outside of matches. He was just a lovely, lovely guy.

And for all he won with Cork, the Glen, and St Nick’s, there was never ever a sense that you were beneath the guy or anything like that.

Denis was a selector with the Glen in 2002. I remember a league game up the field one night against Na Piarsaigh. 

I was never a noted free-taker and I certainly wasn’t our free-taker for this particular game, but when a free landed close to me, I said to myself that as one of our senior fellas, I’m going to take this.

Denis was quite irate with me at half-time for going against instructions. 

The interaction showed me this quite intense side to him, that even though he was not limiting and wanted us to play and express ourselves, it was an insight into the drive these iconic Glen figures had.

I got a quick scolding, and while I took it very much on the chin given how much I adored him, you were shown how strong and powerful a character the typically genteel Denis was and could be.

REST IN PEACE: Denis Coughlan's funeral mass took place at Blackpool church of the Annunciation on Tuesday.

The Glen is going reasonably well at the moment, we won our two counties in the middle of the last decade, but we have had our barren spells. 

I played through some of those barren spells, and you’d have forgiven the likes of Denis, Johnny Clifford, who was manager when I first joined the Glen senior set-up in 1993, and others of that era if they were frustrated at the leaner times that came after them.

But I honestly never saw anything at all from Denis of that nature during those more difficult years. 

If anything, he was one of the most supportive guys I was ever coached by or involved with.

He had an undying love for the club. Whether things were going well or poorly outside there, be that with the Glen or St Nick’s, he was just one of the most supportive and loving guys I have ever come across down in Blackpool, to be honest.

I only met Patsy Harte at the Munster final on Sunday, someone who would have been a prolific scorer for the Glen during Denis’s playing days. 

And while there were plenty others in that category too, when it came to herculean defending, few rivalled Denis. 

Even chatting to fellas who would have played with him and against him in the county championship, they would all say he was just something else.

I don’t really remember watching Denis play in the flesh, but from all the footage I’ve watched over the years, he was this perfect mix of teak-toughness and elegance. He was revered around the club. He was revered around the country.

When I broke onto the Cork scene and you’d be working outside the county, fellas might half recognise you but wouldn’t always know straight away that you were a Glen man.

When you imparted that piece of information, the maestros Ring and Lynch were, as expected, always mentioned.

Denis didn’t have a big media presence like other players. He was subtle in his ways. 

He was quiet and genteel. But given his remarkable achievements on the field — and they are truly remarkable when you go through the full extent of what he won — it meant that no matter where in the country you were for work or matches, any time the Glen came into the conversation, fellas would also always bring up Denis Coughlan.

On Tuesday morning, we said a final goodbye to a towering giant of Cork, the Glen, and St Nick’s. We said goodbye to a thorough gentleman.

I’ll miss those warm conversations down the Marina.