Double All-Ireland-winning Galway footballer Paul Clancy dies aged 49

RIP: Galway legend Paul Clancy, who was died aged 49. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Paul Clancy, Galway’s two-time All-Ireland-winning footballer, has passed away at the age of 49 following an extended illness.

The Maigh Cuilinn clubman died on Monday. Galway GAA confirmed the sad news in a social media post on Tuesday.

“It is with immense sadness that we heard about the sad and untimely passing of our former double All-Ireland Senior Football winning player, Paul Clancy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.” 

Clancy claimed Celtic Crosses with his county in 1998 and 2001. He was a used substitute in the ’98 win over Kildare and was wing-forward in the ’01 victory against Meath.

He won five Connacht medals – 1998, 2000, ’02, ’03, 05 – as well as an All-Ireland intermediate with Maigh Cuilinn in 2008 having won the corresponding county and provincial titles the previous year.

Clancy managed his club’s senior team along with his late brother-in-law and former Roscommon footballer Don Connellan who passed away last August at the age of 51.

Clancy also served as chairman of his club from 2019 to ’23 during which time they won their first-ever senior county title in 2020 and a county-provincial double two years later.

He was a selector to Laois manager Justin McNulty. He previously managed Westmeath club Garrycastle.

Maigh Cuilinn GAA club paid an emotional tribute to Clancy. “Hailing from the Clancy family, the GAA was in his blood – like his uncles and late father he was a natural sportsman, his formative years were spent at the pitch.

“In 1998 Paul was a key member of a young Galway team who started the season as unknowns and ended as All-Ireland champions. Sadly for the Clancy family, Paul’s father – Pádraic - passed away in the previous year and never got to see Paul win an All-Ireland.

“2001 saw Galway win another All Ireland with Paul again playing a key role, most notably his long-range injury-time winner against Armagh in the qualifiers. As a footballer he was hugely skilful, fiercely strong and a very clever player.

“A talisman for the club for years, Paul’s crowning glory was playing a starring role in the 2008 All-Ireland intermediate win, controlling games from centre-back.

“Paul had a genuine love for the game, when he finished playing he transferred straight into coaching and then club chairman. In his first year, Maigh Cuilinn won our first ever county title. During his four-year tenure as club chairman, we won two county and one Connacht titles.

“Paul is our most decorated player, an inspiration to a generation, remembered for having a sweet left peg, being teak tough and having an unwavering mindset but beyond the playing pitches he leaves a lasting legacy.

“He was an icon to so many in our community, so well known, so well respected and always had a word for everyone, a straight shooter with the boot and, if needed, with the lip. Calm and assured, reliable and loyal.

“We think of his wife Johanna, children Ellen and Finn. Paul’s mother Mary, brother Gearóid, sisters Linda and Ailish and all in the wider Clancy and Fahy families. Paul was known as a sportsman but above all he was a family man, a great friend and a man we were lucky to have met.

“Rest easy a chara, we will miss you more than words can say."