Eamonn Clarke was one of life's gentlemen

News of the passing of Eamonn Clarke last week was met with huge sadness around the county and beyond, but particularly in his beloved Knockmore where he left an indelible mark.

Eamonn really was one of the good guys. He was a fella it was always a pleasure to meet and you were the better for getting the chance to talk to.

He always had time to talk and chat, preferably if it was about football! But he was very giving of his time and generous in every sense of the word. There is no doubt from personal experience and from talking to others that he carried out a vast amount of subtle kindnesses over the years.

It was always lovely to meet Eamonn and his great friend Cathal Hennelly at club and county games over the years. Eamonn was a real shrewd judge of football and it was for that reason that he was one of the judges for The Mayo News Club Stars awards for 15 years and a very popular Gaelic football analyst on Midwest Radio for many years too.

He was a great man for establishing a consensus in Club Stars selection meetings, often never too far away from his own picks! The awards were announced on the night itself and there were often disgruntled players who missed out. But if they questioned it with Eamonn at the bar later on in the night when they had Dutch courage, he had a great skill of calming them down, praising them to the hilt and making them determined to make next year’s team!

When it came to writing my book on Mayo GAA clubs last year, Eamonn was a wonderful help when it came to the Knockmore chapter and was so supportive throughout. He came to the launch in Castlebar and bought no fewer than four books - he was already lining up his Christmas presents!

The Knockmore chapter focused on their 1997 All-Ireland semi-final win over Éire Óg. Eamonn was manager and I also spoke with three stars of the team – Kevin O’Neill, Kevin Staunton and Declan Sweeney.

Those days in the 1990s with Knockmore were halcyon years and Eamonn was at the heart of it. He was a selector under Séamus Weir when they won the 1992 Connacht title. Fate would decree that semi-final would be against Éire Óg as well, with Knockmore playing at home.

They were short of options in midfield though and they thought about a young talent in the club, 16-year-old Declan Sweeney. He had never played a minute of adult football and the Knockmore management were considering debuting him in an All-Ireland semi-final! Their faith was justified though and Sweeney went on to become a legend in the club.

But before he could play, they needed to ask Declan’s parents for permission. Even though Séamus Weir was the manager, it was Eamonn who led the delegation to the Sweeneys, with Weir and selector Dr Michael Moffatt accompanying him.

It was a smart move. Eamonn had a great way about him and was a great man for creating consensus.

Knockmore lost that game to Éire Óg though, sorely missing one of their stars, Raymond Dempsey, who picked up a hamstring injury on duty for Mayo. That was a harbinger of things to come.

It was an incredibly competitive time in Mayo club football with the county champions often being one of the favourites to win the All-Ireland.

So it was four more years before that great Knockmore team regained the Moclair Cup in 1996. Eamonn Clarke was manager by then and while he was a very pleasant and gentle man, he could never be accused of being any sort of a pushover.

Knockmore found themselves in conflict with Mayo during their Connacht club campaign in the winter of 1996. Mayo had a league game against Laois one week before Knockmore’s Connacht semi-final against St Mary’s of Sligo.

Mayo manager John Maughan, who was missing a number of players due to suspensions from the infamous brawl in the 1996 All-Ireland final replay loss to Meath, selected Knockmore players Peter Butler and Kevin O’Neill, but Eamonn Clarke withdrew them.

Players being expected to play county games around All-Ireland club campaigns would not be up for debate now but it was a different era.

The memory of Raymond Dempsey getting injured in 1993 was fresh in Knockmore minds and indeed Dempsey was one of the suspended players.

“All we’re doing is standing up for ourselves. Maybe that’s new in Mayo,” said Eamonn Clarke at the time. It created great solidarity within the group.

They won the Connacht title and went onto destroy Éire Óg, one of the strongest club teams of that era, in the semi-final. The final scoreline in Mullingar was 3-14 to 0-5. It was, arguably, the finest display ever by a Mayo club team given the margin of victory and the experience and reputation of the opposition.

Unfortunately, though, it was far from ideal preparation for the All-Ireland club final against Crossmaglen, then a relative unknown but a side who would turn out to be one of the best club teams of all time.

“The fact that we had a facile victory over Éire Óg sent the whole parish silly in the belief we only had to turn up for the final,” Eamonn told me last year. Football games are never won in advance and Crossmaglen won the final by eight points.

Dazed and confused, Knockmore lost the first six league games of 1997 but Clarke got them back on course and operating almost on muscle memory alone, they won the 1997 Mayo SFC title.

It would be their last title until 2020, when Raymond Dempsey was manager and I watched that final with Éamonn.

Because it was Eamonn’s Knockmore and my own club Breaffy in action, we were press ganged by the Mayo Football Podcast into recording updates during the game. Having managed his club in an All-Ireland club final, Eamonn was far more sedate than I was. He had great humour too.

It was the summer of Covid and only 200 fans were allowed into MacHale Park for the final, 100 from each club.

The players weren’t allowed in the dressing rooms, instead having to use the stand while supporters were over on the MacHale Road side, the Knockmore fans to the left of the media tower and Breaffy to the right as we looked across from the back of the stand.

It was surreal and I observed how the Breaffy supporters were well spaced out and the Knockmore fans were clustered together.

“I think Breaffy are paying more heed to social distancing,” I joked.

“Well I hope ye are as loose with marking in the game,” Éamonn quipped back. And he was right! Knockmore won and while he was delighted afterwards, he carried it with a grace and class that was the mark of the man.

As you read through the hundreds of messages of sympathy for Eamonn on Midwest Radio, so many great traits pop up again and again – his warm handshake, his decency, a gentleman and Knockmore.

His beloved club came up again and again by icons of the great club on the shores of Conn. Éamonn Clarke was many things to many people but one of the great constants in his life was his beloved Knockmore.

On and off the field he left a lasting impact on the great club as well as with those of us fortunate to come into his orbit over the years. Rest in peace Eamonn and sincere sympathies to Muriel and the Clarke family.