I spent most of the 1980s and ‘90s working as circulation representative for the Evening Echo and the Irish Examiner. During that time I clocked up a lot of driving miles all over Cork and Kerry. Occasionally, especially during wet and dark winter days, it was tedious work but I really enjoyed it most days.
One reason I enjoyed my work, was the large amount of interesting people I met in the course of a day. Given the nature of the people of Cork and Kerry, it was hardly surprising that many of my conversations were dominated by the affairs of the GAA. Every year some town or village would get a run in a county championship. The people who were attached to that club were only too happy to analyse the last game or discuss the prospects of the next round. I was always eager to take part in those conversations.
In 1983, I was on the St Nick’s team that got a run to the county junior football final. Our senior team had lost the first round, and several players who were unable to play in that game became available to the junior team. We had a good team. We beat a very good Aghada team (after two replays) in the county semi-final and even though we were playing championship football for the fourth consecutive Sunday, we felt we were in good shape for the county final against Donoughmore.
Unfortunately for us, Donoughmore were also in good shape. They beat us 1-6 to 1-5 in a low-scoring, but very competitive final. Needless to say, I wasn’t in much humour to discuss football in the towns and villages of West Cork for a few weeks after that.
Because of the structure of Cork County Championships, and the difficulties attached to organising the second team within a club, it was a great achievement for St Nicks’ second team to reach the junior county final. Our adventure through the city and county championships, and especially the three games against Aghada, moulded us into a very spirited unit. It was a severe blow to lose the county final by a point; the perfect finish to a perfect season vanished into the twilight of that late November afternoon.
Both teams met up in Donoughmore the following evening. It was obvious that winning the junior county title meant the world to the Donoughmore club, but we were too caught up in our own loss to appreciate this.
I was working in West Cork and South Kerry at that time, so apart from playing the occasional inter-firm GAA game with the Examiner in Donoughmore; I did not have much contact with the Donoughmore club.
About 10 years later I was assigned to work with the newsagents in the Mid and North Cork areas. There were three shops in Donoughmore on my new route; Twomey’s, Kelleher’s and O’Shea’s. On my first visit to these shops I introduced myself as being the new ‘rep’ from The Examiner. In each shop the response was “You were playing in ’83, weren’t you?” I finally began to see the 1983 county junior football final as something more than a dark shadow.
That was the day I met Jackie O’Shea for the first time. He wasn’t happy to just stand at the counter talking football or hurling. He had a pleasant smile and a soft voice and he would say ‘come in and sit down and tell me who do you think will win next Sunday?’ Question would follow question and if I didn’t keep one eye on the clock, I could still be in the shop by lunch time.
Jackie O’Shea died unexpectedly on April 20th last. He was 85 years of age. He is survived by his wife Mamie, daughters, Norma and Maria and his sons Tadhg, Dan, Sean and Pat and a large host of grandchildren, relatives and friends.
People who know the parish of Donoughmore will know that Jackie’s shop in New Tipperary could not be described as the centre of the universe, but when Jackie was there, it was the centre of Donoughmore. There is a thriving community living in the parish and he was the engine that drove it since the 1940s.
In 1944, the Donoughmore Athletic Club was awarded the O’Duffy Cup for being the best all-round club in Cork. Jackie O’Shea was the secretary. He was 18 years old at the time. When Donoughmore Sports Day was one of the biggest on the athletics calendar, Jackie was the chief organiser. In the Dramatic Society he filled all the roles from actor to secretary to production manager, often at the same time.
It became evident in my many conversations with him that he had a special “grá” for the GAA. He was the club’s goalkeeper for 20 years. He also played in goal for several years with the Muskerry Division in the Cork county senior hurling championship. After he retired he served as secretary, board delegate, PRO or committee member. Last November he attended his 72nd consecutive AGM of the Donoughmore club.
He was also a key dynamic in the building of the Community Centre and the original Fr. Condon Memorial Field and served as PRO for the All-Ireland Club winning Ladies Football team. In more recent times, he was at the heart of the development of the new GAA club’s grounds at Lackabawn.
It is difficult to explain to a modern generation the important role that people like Jackie O’Shea played in their communities. Even the most rural of clubs now have websites and facebook pages to communicate with their local members and those who have moved away from the parish.
For most of Jackie’s life, he fulfilled the role of the website. His shop in New Tipperary was a grocery, fuel and light hardware shop. Everyone, from children to farmers had reason to call there. Messages were passed on from one person to the next. When transport was scarce, commercial reps or delivery van drivers calling to the shop they were coerced into carrying messages, and sometimes goods, across the parish or back to Cork. This was how life was lived and it was Jackie’s role to make sure it was lived as smoothly as possible. The huge crowd at his funeral was a testament to the vital role played in the community.
In recent years teams from Donoughmore have won All-Ireland titles at ladies football and basketball. The GAA club has first class facilities, as does the community centre and the community in general continue to thrive.
This wasn’t achieved overnight. It has been the work of many people who in the best traditions of rural Ireland have given thousands of hours to the development of their parish. Jackie O’Shea’s role in this was that of the conduit and facilitator. Just as in his playing day when he was the goalkeeper; the last line of defence and foundation stone.
He is a great loss to his family and the parish of Donoughmore. He was the type of person that made rural Ireland a more pleasant place. Much of the work he facilitated can now be achieved by filling in government forms, applying for grants, text messaging and various social media. What cannot be replaced is personality. In these days of economic crisis it should be remembered that lot can be achieved by a warm smile and a friendly voice. Personality and a sense of purpose is what makes the difference, and Jackie O’Shea had those in spades.