A man who saw the very best in people

John O’Mahony’s legacy is so broad and so great that it can be hard to know where to start but something Andy Moran said in the wake of his passing resonated more than anything else.

Speaking on the Mayo Football Podcast, Moran was asked by host Mike Finnerty how much of a role Johno had played in where Andy finds himself in football and in life nowadays.

Moran, who has just stepped down as Leitrim manager and enjoyed an illustrious playing career with Mayo, put it succinctly.

But for John O’Mahony’s promptings, guidance and wise counsel, he doesn’t think he would have played football past the age of 20.

Johno saw something in the young Moran when he entered St Nathy’s College in Ballaghaderreen in the mid-1990s. As a teacher and football coach, he encouraged and pushed him – both in terms of sticking at school when the temptation was there to leave after his Junior Cert and in realising his potential as a footballer. Moran recalls how, when many of his teammates were boasting about their new Adidas Predators, Johno brought a pair from Galway and discretely left them at Moran’s door. Generous to a fault but also seeing the huge potential in the teenager that needed nurturing.

Think of the personal growth and fulfilment Moran has had from football and consider then how positive an impact John O’Mahony made in just this one example.

Stephen Drake recalled how, whenever he would return home to Ballagh’, Johno did not need to ask for updates as to where he was. He was always fully up to speed on Drake’s movements from asking around about him. He took a huge personal interest in people, particularly those he had managed and was great at remaining in contact.

He had an innate ability to see the very best in people in terms of their talents and abilities and guide and direct them to being the very best version of themselves. It’s a selfless gift, a rare one and it’s why thousands flocked to his home and his Funeral Mass in Ballaghaderreen to give thanks.

Because when you look at what he achieved as manager of Mayo, Leitrim and Galway, in each case it was a matter of guiding them to be the very best version of themselves. He brought each of those counties to a place they had not occupied in decades. Mayo to a first All-Ireland final in 38 years, Leitrim to a first provincial title in 67 years and Galway to a first All-Ireland in 32 years. A generational cycle of failure is particularly difficult to arrest but Johnno did just that across three Connacht counties.

How did he do it? More than anything else, it was through the relentless pursuit of the highest of standards and imbuing belief into his players.

From all counties we’ve heard stories of fellas who were not able to make training because they were working late. No problem, Johno would meet them at a pitch of their choosing after they finished work and train them one on one. They learned not to make a similar request again!

He was honest, direct, focused and humble. People always knew where they stood with Johno and when he needed to be direct and grasp an issue or a situation, he would. He could always see the wood from the trees in terms of quests and what needed to be done and he had the humility to surround himself with people who had skills he did not have.

For those of my generation, 1989 was where it all began. He was just 36 then. Henry Wills’ timeless photo of him after that final with a fan holding a banner ‘John Says Keep The Faith’ is one of the most enduring Mayo GAA images. As he moved on through life in the 35 years since then, he didn’t age much at all. So for some of us, it felt like he was always there and always would be there.

I was fortunate enough to be in his company in his home as recently as March for an interview for a book and while he had been sick in recent years, there was nothing in his appearance or demeanour that evening to change that sense of things.

What that visit reaffirmed for me was his decency. He could not have been more helpful before, during and after in terms of arranging other interviewees, himself and his wife Gerardine being the perfect hosts and Johno following up afterwards to make sure I had got everything I needed.

His great friend Tommie Gorman died just two weeks before him and Johno wasn’t well by then but he felt compelled to pay tribute to Tommie on Morning Ireland. Again, that selflessness and innate decency coming to the fore.

Any journalist will tell you he was one of the easiest people to deal with in GAA and political circles. If you rang him you would either get him straightaway or he would ring you back.

I saw him at close quarters from 2007 onwards where he began his second term as Mayo manager and was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the county.

He had a great capacity for names and faces and was so giving of his time to so many people in every walk of life. It’s little wonder he was elected in 2007 and 2011 in spite of not having a base – Ballaghaderreen being in Mayo for football but not for politics.

I’m not quite sure how he managed two of the most pressurised jobs in Mayo simultaneously and I’m sure, even for someone as organised and capable as he was, it must have felt overbearing at times.

I would often have to get post-match reaction after Mayo games in Castlebar from Johno and before and after such interviews, he would be faced with people coming up to him about constituency matters. He must have had the patience of Job.

His second term as Mayo manager came to a hugely disappointing end for him when Mayo were knocked out of the championship by Longford in 2010. He deserved more than a conclusion such as that.

It is a long time ago in Mayo football terms and one can’t wonder why his expertise and guidance was not utilised by Mayo GAA Inc in some capacity in the 14 years since. There is little doubting it would have been freely given because Johno had an unquenchable passion for Gaelic football and loved nothing more than seeing Ballaghaderreen and Mayo flourish.

And both his club and county should be very grateful for the role he played in making that happen.

No one person has their fingerprints more on the growth of Mayo football in the past 35 years. He set a standard for others to follow. That’s quite the legacy. But it comes behind the personal fulfilment he gave so many people blessed to come into his orbit across a life full of giving. Farewell to a noble son of Mayo.