I was saddened to hear of the passing of Councillor Dave McCarthy last week.
Dave had a great way about him. He was always interested in what you were doing, how you were getting on, and if he thought he could help, he was only too glad to lend a hand.
I can honestly say that if whenever, and wherever, I met Davey Mc, as we all called him, I walked away from the conversation with a smile on my face.
Everyone has his or her own story about Dave. I would like to share this one because for me, it summed up the nature of the man. Back in July 2003 I was coach of the Cork Minor football team that played Kerry in the Munster Final in Killarney. We were raging hot favourites to win but because the senior final was between Kerry and Limerick, we had practically no support apart from the families of the players and selectors.
Everything was going to plan for the first 26 minutes of the game. We weren’t scoring as much as we should have, but it looked as if we would overrun Kerry at any moment. Then disaster struck. A Kerry forward intercepted a pass and scored a goal. Our bubble burst and we were unable to get back into the game.
Fitzgerald Stadium, was a lonely place after that game. Nobody has time beaten minor finalists when the senior game starts. I remember standing near the dressing rooms talking to some parents of the players when I looked up and saw Dave McCarthy coming towards me.
He gave out to me and then sympathised with me, as only he could. When I asked him why he was there (there was no St Vincents player on the panel) he said. “I saw that there wasn’t going to be anyone from the City Council at the game. So I said I’d go as deputy Lord Mayor. It wouldn’t be right for a Cork team to play a Munster Final without the city being represented.”
Maybe if we had won that day, I wouldn’t have cared if he was there or not. But we didn’t, and Davey was there to say “ye did yeer best” and it meant a lot.
Dave was a real Corkman. His support and help for the people and clubs of his community was unconditional. The full extent of his help and assistance will probably never be known. I extend my deepest sympathies to Dave’s wife Frances, and sons Arthur and David and his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Diarmuid,
I only now came across your blog and congratulate you on contributions. I was particularly taken by your tribute to “Davey Mac”, who I had the privilege of knowing very well. I came out of the st. Vincent’s/St Michaels final a few weeks back thrilled with the Vincent’s victory but saddened that Davey wasn’t there to see it. I know from talking to club men there that he is very much missed by everyone.
Driving home to Wexford (where I now live) after the game gave me an opportunity to think about the impact he had on the people in and around the club, and indeed the thousands of people on the northside that he proudly represented. I have many memories of him and I often mention stories to others that never knew him. He had a down-to-earth, honest decency that you don’t see everywhere. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam!