Posthumous award for late Mayo GAA chairman
Seamus Tuohy was the serving Mayo GAA chairman when he passed away less than two months after Mayo's All-Ireland SFC victory.
One of the key figures behind Mayo’s historic All-Ireland title was the late Mayo GAA Chairperson, Séamus Tuohy.
Though he had been battling illness in recent years, his death on September 22, just under two months after Mayo’s All-Ireland triumph, came as a shock.
Despite all his health struggles, Séamus continued to serve Mayo GAA in the same unstinting way in recent years. His commitment, energy and passion were defining qualities.
As a player and administrator with his club in Breaffy, he had an innate understanding of the importance of volunteerism and never lost sight of that as he moved onto the West Mayo Board and then the County Board.
He served as chairperson of Bord na nÓg, vice chairperson of Mayo GAA and was chairperson of Mayo GAA since 2021.
His term as chairperson was sadly cut short but his legacy is a remarkable one.
He was determined to leave Mayo GAA in a stronger position for future generations.
He led plans for the long-sought Mayo GAA Centre of Excellence, which will be located in Bohola. Crucially, he saw the COE as a centre for boys and girls to be given equal access.
He was also the driving force behind the historic appointment of a first-ever Mayo GAA Chief Executive Officer this year, knowing only too well that the burden on volunteers at the top table was unsustainable.
He understood the wider values of the GAA, including participation, inclusion and community, and played a key role in health and wellbeing committees at both county and national level.
On the field, Mayo manager Andy Moran has acknowledged Séamus’s role in supporting the team, particularly after the Roscommon defeat when Séamus rang him to stand four square behind him.
Mayo’s All-Ireland victory meant so much to Séamus. The joy he experienced that day and in the weeks that followed makes his sudden passing all the harder to comprehend.
The thousands of people who attended his removal at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park and funeral service in his home village of Breaffy were a mark of the esteem in which he was held.
Fundamentally, Séamus Tuohy leaves a legacy of decency in all aspects of his life – in his dealings within the GAA, in his community, through his work as a mental health professional and, above all, as a family man.
