Maughan pays tribute to community spirit in Tyrrellspass

Former Mayo manager John Maughan was the guest of honour at the Tyrrellspass GAA dinner dance on Friday evening, and he spoke of the profound impact the GAA has made on communities across the country.

Maughan is a past pupil of Carmelite College, Moate with whom he enjoyed Hogan Cup success. With his own playing career cut short by injury, the Crossmolina man went to have an incredibly varied career in manaement. In addition to two spells in charge of his native Mayo, Maughan has managed the senior football teams of Clare, Fermanagh, Roscommon and Offaly.

“I think the GAA can be rightly described as one of the greatest sporting organisations in the world. There is no amateur game in the world that is played so well by so many, that is an absolute fact. There is no other sporting organisation that has such a profound impact on communities all over Ireland, giving those communities a sense of identity and belonging,” he remarked at last Friday night's function.

“It might be no harm to ponder the following questions: where would this community, Tyrrellspass, take their identify from, or what would people do for a meaningful sporting outlet if it were not for the GAA?”

The club used the occasion to honour the 1973 junior and 1983 intermediate winning sides. John Maughan revealed how he’d conversed with one of the heroes of the ‘73 side who expressed similar views about the profound impact the GAA has had in the local community. However, the modern game has changed, Mr Maughan felt, and not in a good way, with an over emphasis on hand passing having a negative effect.

“I met Brian Corcoran on the way in; he was full-back on the ’73 team and he just remarked: ‘where would we be without the GAA, what would we have done?’. That resonated with me because back in those days football was football, it was a man’s game, and it was football and we loved and appreciated. Unfortunately, I was at a number of games in Castlebar last weekend and, I have to say, it was in a terrible state. Football today is not like the manliness that was played with those men back in the ‘70s and ‘80s,” he said.

Maughan, of course, trained Tyrrellspass back in 1994 when, as a very youthful side, they reached their first Westmeath senior football final, coming up against a then mighty Mullingar Shamrocks team. While they had to give second best, Maughan was impressed with what he saw and it left a lasting impression. The Mayo man was also strongly linked with the Westmeath senior football manager's position in the past.

“I have great affection for Westmeath, having gone to school here. I spent five years in boarding school in Moate. I was invited by Sean Sheridan to get involved (as trainer) before I went overseas to the Lebanon in 1994. I spent about ten weeks commuting up and down from Castlebar because the minute I came to the first session I said, ‘yeah these are good guys up here’, and I enjoyed it,” he recalled.

“I was delighted to be associated with Tyrrellspass and the achievements they have made, to such an extent that ever since I would always look up and see how did Martin Flanagan play for Westmeath or Denis Glennon, or the Tyrrellspass teams playing in championships, and I’d always look out for them and wish them well from afar, down in Crossmolina or Castlebar.”

Maughan, who managed teams in each of the four provinces over the years, said GAA clubs like Tyrrellspass are wonderful for giving people a sense of identity.

“Pride in the parish has long been a catch call for GAA people. It sounds like a cliché, but it is still a marvellous thing that pride in the parish has not diminished in the last number of decades, even as Ireland went through a raft of social and demographic changes. Former players still give something back to the club and clubs continue to develop wonderful facilities in every town and parish in the country,” he remarked.

“The great thing about the GAA is that there is room for everyone. You don’t have to be a potential inter-county star to play a key role in your local GAA club. The GAA promoted social inclusion long before the term was even coined. It is a class free organisation where wealth or employment status is not considered. All human life goes to the club.

“Tyrrellspass, like so many clubs throughout this country of ours, has curbed the issue of loneliness for many people who may not have an immediate family member around them. In many cases, the GAA became their family, and the role the GAA has played in giving them something to live for, somewhere to go for companionship [is hugely important].”

He wished Tyrrellspass every success with the “big developments” going on at their grounds and also wished them well on the playing front.

“I will take great joy if I see Tyrrellspass shining lights as country champions; I would dearly love that. I have a soft spot for the All Whites of Moate, as well,” he added.

Maughan also spoke of Mayo's ongoing quest to claim the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 1951.

"As a Mayo man, it would be remiss of me not to mention the big issue – are we ever going to win an All-Ireland? I have the unique distinction of managing my club Crossmolina to an All-Ireland final against Nemo Rangers, a game we lost by two points. The following September, I was managing the Mayo senior team when we lost the All-Ireland final to a great Kerry team. And a week after that, believe it or not, I managed the Mayo U21 team and we lost to Armagh by a point in an All-Ireland final," he said.

"We have been through a catalogue of painful encounters in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day, but we have always displayed remarkable resilience in coming back, time and time again. Players and supporters always believe that this could be our year," Maughan added.

Tyrrellspass GAA chairman Joe Daly welcomed the large crowd to Friday's dinner dance and paid glowing tributes to the heroes of both the 1973 and '83 teams. He urged everyone to get behind the club in the ambitious development project currently underway at Tyrrellspass GAA grounds and said it will benefit the community for generations to come.

There were presentations to each of the players from both teams, while guest of honour John Maughan and club man Frank Martin, one of the main organisers of Friday's event, were both recognised.

"We are delighted to have John Maughan back with us; he is associated with our 1994 senior team which reached the county final. While his playing career ended prematurely due to a knee injury, he went on to become one of the most decorated and successful inter county football managers of his era. He holds a unique grand slam in that he managed teams in Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, which is a fantastic achievement," he said.