Fond farewell to Munster hero

Diarmuid O’Flynn pays tribute to Declan O’Connell, the original Munster rugby fan

BEFORE tonight’s Heineken Cup game in Thomond Park, in the Munster Supporters’ Club Bar under the West Stand, there will be a special occasion to celebrate the memory of a special individual.

Munster rugby is now known wherever rugby is played and Munster supporters have also staked their own claim to fame.

In their thousands, and by every conceivable means of transport, they have travelled the length and breadth of England, Wales, Scotland, France, Italy, have even made the odd excursion into Spain and Switzerland; with their wit, their songs, their general good humour, everywhere they’ve been, they’ve won the hearts of the locals.

At the heart of it all is the MRSC, the Munster Rugby Supporters’ Club, and at the heart of it, from conception to full-grown club, was its first president, Charleville’s own Declan O’Connell.

“A giant of a man, in every respect,” remembers Mick Galwey, captain of the Munster team in the early years of the Heineken Cup. “Larger than life, I don’t think there was ever a more dedicated Munster supporter. I remember the early days, before all this took off – you knew every supporter by name, and most of them would have been related to the players – parents or whatever – but there was a handful of others and they were amazingly loyal. Declan was most prominent among those – he stood out from the crowd, no matter where he went.”

Well, at 6’2” and 20 stone, plus or minus – more often plus than minus, it has to be said, though in his later years, with a rigid daily walking routine of several miles, he was finally on the minus side – with a deep, gravelly voice, a booming laugh, and with the kind of personality that instantly takes over in any company, Declan couldn’t help but stand out. Declan Kidney, coach of Munster through all the years of near-misses in the Heineken Cup until the breakthrough finally came, in 2006, remembers him.

“I knew Declan, yes, but probably not as well as I should have – he was some character. He was the first president of the Supporters’ Club, and they are vital to Munster’s success. I always think of the game against Padova, our first ever away win in Europe, and we had the parents of John Kelly and Anthony Horgan and just a handful more.

“We then played Colomiers away that year, in the quarter-final, and the following year we had Saracens away, and that’s when it really started. There was a core of maybe a hundred or so, that started to build, gathered momentum, and within a couple of years it had really taken off. We always had great support at home but now we had it in the away matches as well, and that became an integral part of Munster’s success.

“These people were digging deep into their pockets to go on these trips, making all kinds of sacrifices to be there – as a player or as a coach, you couldn’t but be affected by that kind of effort. Another aspect of it too, you’d come back to the airport after a big game and there they’d be, offering their support, and that was whether you’d won or lost. I remember the heartbreak of the early years, the days we lost in Twickenham, lost in San Sebastian, lost in Lille, lost in Cardiff in our second final, and there they were afterwards, not a word of rancour, lifting the team – that’s when you really find your true supporters.”

A great bond, then, developed between players and supporters, evident again in the most recent away trip, in Treviso.

“It’s quite unique, I’d say,” added Kidney. “Even in those days though, there were good times; I remember one year – I think it was against Beziers – the word was beginning to spread about the army of Munster supporters and one pub there organised a bar extension ‘til 1am – they had to close at 11, ran out of beer!

“In Montpellier, I remember seeing a moped with LK plates – there were guys who were following us on a motorbike that time, and they were well known, but now someone had made it all the way from Limerick to the Mediterranean on a moped! But someone had to draw all that energy together, and that was Declan O’Connell, with the Munster Supporters’ Club.

“The camaraderie among the supporters was there from day one, as good as there ever has been between the players themselves, but they then formed a club to help one another out. You get lots of little problems away from home – people losing passports, losing their money, unfamiliar with the local language and so on – and while the supporters always helped one another out, now it was very organised. If someone was in trouble, everyone rowed in to help them out, and that’s the kind of group the Munster Supporters Club is,” said the Ireland coach.

Last September, in his late 50s and still in his prime, hale and hearty, Declan O’Connell was suddenly proved mortal after all, his death devastated his family, left his beloved parish diminished.

Tonight, then, in the Supporters’ Club Bar, a setting he would have truly appreciated, Declan O’Connell will be immortalised, a plaque unveiled in his memory, to stand forever.

“It’s fantastic that a supporter is being honoured in this way in Thomond Park,” says Mick Galwey, “And most fitting that it’s Declan. He did so much in the background for Munster rugby. I’m delighted the Munster Supporters’ Club are now honouring him, and in Thomond Park as well.”