Paul Clancy - A game. A club. A life. 

Maigh Cuilinn came to a standstill for the funeral of the parish's most decorated player.

David Wynne of Moycullen celebrates with Paul Clancy after the 2022 Galway County Senior Club Football Championship Final match between Salthill Knocknacarra and Moycullen at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Ray Ryan/Sportsfile

It is only in times of monumental feeling that the village erects its colours in force. They were everywhere last October after their remarkable county triumph. This week Maigh Cuilinn’s green and white carried a different meaning.

Paul Clancy was the parish's most decorated player. Tributes and shrines to his legacy were visible around the village all week. A board displaying three jerseys on the Spidéal Road where he once lived: DIT Sigerson, Maigh Cuilinn, Galway. Above them hung a gorgeous pair of red and black Copas with the tongue. Any player who could pass like Clancy could needed a boot with class.

At the crossroads, a signpost pointed to his three greatest callings: Family man, role model, club legend. An expression of gratitude above The Forge: Thanks for the memories.

This is a place that has changed utterly in the past decade. A sprawling parish with constant construction and transformation. It all ground to a halt on Friday. Green-and-white flags hung from scaffolding and cranes across the skyline. High-vis jackets were visible amongst the giant crowd that formed a guard of honour down the hill towards the church, a familiar route Clancy would have travelled countless times on his way to the local pitch.

The timing of it felt especially cruel. Next month, the 2001 All-Ireland-winning Galway team will be honoured as the jubilee team. They will pull on the matching suit jackets and walk together in Croke Park. Here they gathered in the same attire beside their teammate's coffin.

Clancy coached several of the current Galway team at club or underage level. Shane Walsh was a blossoming U21 in 2013 when Paul was a coach of the All-Ireland U21-winning side. One day in training, they were doing a shooting drill. The gifted forward approached each attempt differently. Rather than repeating the same finish over and over, he rolled out hook shots, punts, inside of the boot and outside, left and right. Eventually, Clancy asked him why.

Paul Clancy of the 1998 All-Ireland winning Galway jubilee team who were honoured before the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The answer was simple. He didn't want a defender to be able to figure him out. Clancy smiled and likened him to a golfer carrying another few clubs in the bag. Don’t change. He understood the delicate art of coaching, never trying to stifle creative instinct or enforce a template on any player.

A golf club was brought to the altar at his funeral, along with a fishing rod and a tribute to his farming background. As the putter was brought up, it was explained that Clancy took immense pride in winning the Padraig 'Dandy' Kelly Memorial at the nearby Oughterard Golf Club.

Kelly, who died in 2001, was one of the county's finest footballers throughout the 1980s. His sons, Sean, Paul and Eoghan, followed in his footsteps by wearing the maroon and white. Sean will start at wing-back on Sunday. His high-knee run reminds so many of his father. He was four when Dandy passed away. Clancy was a neighbour and clubman who remained a steady presence in his life until now.

For a club and family that already lost Clancy’s brother-in-law Don Connellan last year, the grief is devastating. The care with which they organised Clancy’s farewell spoke for itself.

What a man like Clancy means to his area is immeasurable. For a generation of young players, searching for Maigh Cuilinn meant finding Paul Clancy. He was the reference point, the player others measured themselves against.

He was a talisman in their 2008 AIB All-Ireland Intermediate triumph. When they tried to fight back to senior again, he commanded their defence. In 2014, the intermediate final was a West Galway rivalry between Killannin and Maigh Cuilinn.

In the final quarter, Killannin turned to their own famous son in search of a closing surge. Kevin Walsh, then the county manager, came on to a raucous reception. Clancy ended up marking him. Walsh still works in the parish now. The events of this week will be felt by everyone as we approach quarter-final weekend.

There is always a deluge of stories and memories and moments around big games. Ultimately, it is simply a vessel that binds the people. These fixtures are an interruption; they won’t make anything easier or more understandable. But it will give people cause to remember. To unite.

It was pointed out in the church by his family that they always knew how much Paul adored the GAA. They only realised now how much the GAA appreciated him.

The last time Galway played Dublin in Croke Park was in the 2024 quarter-final. That weekend, the 1974 All-Ireland-winning Dublin side took a spin out west for a golf trip.

They'd developed a relationship with that Galway outfit and their captain, Gay Mitchell. They had competed against each other. On that day, they played, ate and laughed alongside each other. After Galway's victory, Dublin captain Seán Doherty presented Mitchell with a €5,000 cheque for the local hospice. His daughter, Aoife Mitchell-Creaven, passed away in 2015 after spending four months in their care. They wanted to honour her memory.

Under Pádraic Joyce, this Galway group have an admirable way of paying tribute to fallen heroes. They formed a V after John O’Mahony’s death. It symbolised vanguard, a nod to the man who led the way. After midfielder Billy Joyce’s passing, they formed the number 8.

On Sunday, they will leave the number 10 jersey vacant as they tog out for sport. This is why we do it: whether playing with or against each other, celebrating or grieving, this is our chance to come together.