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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Another legend for the Heaven 15
By Michael Gallagher
AS the pages turn and the story of life is revealed one adventure after another, a bulging cast of characters flit in and out of focus.
The majority make little or no impression; some are to be avoided at all costs, others find a niche in the memory while a few make an impression that will forever gladden the heart.
Luckily for me the slideshow in my cranium bring many great characters to the fore, people who in their own quiet way, have achieved greatness, who have given unselfishly of themselves, who love life with great passion and who changed people’s lives by their acts of kindness and devotion.
One of those great characters left this life recently and the world, Mayo and Ballycastle will never quite be the same again. I heard about Aidan Tighe long before I set eyes on him. When I first met him I wished I hadn’t, but when I got to know him, I realised that the man from Carrowmore was a giant among men.
He had a great love of life, place and people. He was a man from the edge of the ocean, but he was the type of individual who would have prospered in any corner of the globe because he had a great feel for community and the ordinary, extremely important things of life.
I heard about Aidan and his brothers while little more than a toddler. They proudly wore the Ballycastle jersey into battle with Ballycroy year after year and they were highly renowned in the southern corner of Erris.
When Ballycroy travelled north to play in the old Ballycastle pitch near the sea, Aidan and his buddies would welcome them warmly in every sense of the word.
In my first season playing with our junior team we had to travel to Ballycastle’s new ground on a sunny spring afternoon. While the team was gathering at Shranamonragh Bridge, my neighbour Kieran O’Sullivan, took me to one side and explained that a detour was the best option if Aidan happened to appear in my path at any time. How right he was!
Aidan was a tough nut on the pitch. There were no half measures with the man from Carrowmore. When he wore the Red and Black he wore it with pride and strained every sinew in the service of his club, his parish, his community.
As the years passed I came to respect Aidan for these very traits and that never changed.
I was lucky enough to meet him in recent times in Bofeenaun after his beloved club played Lahardane in a league match and his love of place was as passionate as ever. It had an infectious quality about it that came directly from the soul and there was no doubt that Aidan was a man who held his family, his home and his community very, very close to his heart.
More recently, Aidan fell ill and when God called him to line out for the Heaven 15 a great sense of sadness fell across the area. A true man of the people, a man of Ireland had gone to his eternal reward and one can only imagine the sense of loss that his loved ones are experiencing.
They were fortunate to spend much of their lives with a very fine man and I’m sure they’ll cherish dearly every golden memory. Beyond the clouds the football-playing angels will surely have learned by now that a detour is advisable if the man from Carrowmore comes across their path and I’m sure he has already had a word with the Boss to order a set of red and black jerseys from O’Neills.
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PAUL Galvin never fails to divide opinion. To some he plays football like a scoundrel, always looking for confrontation and constantly fouling and bending the rules; to others he’s the finest footballer playing the game at the moment, full of drive, desire and no little skill.
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but that makes little difference to those who either love him or hate him. In teach Gallachoir, Paul has split the family straight down the middle.
My good wife watched the incident with Eoin Cadogan and thinks Galvin should be banned for the season. “How could he do such a thing, he could have torn that poor lad’s mouth off him,” she argues.
Our youngest agrees with her, but she’s very PC and never deviates from the correct course of action – a future life in politics or banking is already ruled out I see!
I, on the other hand, feel that Galvin is a magnificent footballer and thought that the incident with the Cork lad wasn’t too bad. I’ve seen worse and I’d much rather have some fella trying to stick his finger in my mouth than attempting to punch me in the head or break my leg.
Of course that doesn’t excuse what Galvin did and doesn’t make it in any way right, but I fail to see how it warranted an eight week ban when a player gets four weeks for striking an opponent.
Our oldest daughter has decided to support me in my stance that the Kerry-man was dealt with harshly, but I’ve a feeling she just wanted me on her side for future bargaining sessions when permission for sleepovers, etc, are being negotiated. Galvin doesn’t know the trouble he’s causing throughout the land.
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