Offaly GAA mourns death of All-Ireland winning captain Pádraig Horan

Horan captained Offaly to their breakthrough All-Ireland hurling title in 1981 and also managed his club and county's senior teams

Pádraig Horan was a two-time All-Ireland hurling title winner with Offaly. Pic:: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE

Offaly hurling is in mourning following the passing of Pádraig Horan (76), the county's first All-Ireland SHC winning captain in 1981.

A two-time MacCarthy Cup winner with the Faithful, Horan enjoyed a lengthy and successful hurling career which yielded considerable silverware at club level, with St Rynagh's, and with Offaly.

Horan also managed his club and county's senior teams but will be remembered most for his role in breaking the famine and leading Offaly to the first of their four All-Irelands.

The previous year, 1980, Horan was also captain when Offaly won their first Leinster SHC title, beating Kilkenny narrowly in a dramatic decider.

But Horan's joy quickly turned to despair on that occasion when he learned that his father, Thomas, had passed away at his home while listening to the closing stages of the game.

Horan would later conclude and take consolation from the likelihood that 'he probably died a happy man. He died just as the final whistle was going. He knew we had won'.

A larger than life and talismanic figure in the county, and schoolteacher by trade, Horan featured in attack for the breakthrough teams of the early 1980s but he also played at centre-back.

Recognised as unflinching and unyielding on the field of play, he provided a series of important scores throughout Offaly's most important wins, from both open play and placed balls.

He also earned the distinction of being a dual county player having played competitively for the Offaly senior footballers but focused predominantly on hurling and came up through the ranks as a minor and U-21 player in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Horan won his second All-Ireland senior hurling medal in 1985 and also picked up his first All-Star award that year, at full-forward.

It was a satisfying win that not just crowned the greatness of that group of Offaly players but also amounted to a strong response to the 10-point final defeat to Cork in 1984.

Pádraig leaves behind wife Carmel, daughter Niamh and sons Shane, Cathal and Diarmuid along with an extensive family.