ONE of the best-kept secrets to the great success enjoyed by Dr Crokes GAA club down through the years can now be revealed…. Bridie O’Shea’s prayers.
Her funeral Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral this Friday morning heard that the club’s vice president had an unshakable faith and every day of her life started and ended with a prayer.
And she never prayed with greater enthusiasm than when her beloved black and amber were taking to the field, asking God to allow them “just one more win” which was a request she repeated again before the next game and in advance of every other game that followed.
Principal celebrant Fr Kieran O’Brien said some of the Crokes players took to the field wearing jerseys with miraculous medals sown into them by Bridie such was the trust she placed in divine intervention when it was most needed.
A deeply religious woman who organised the annual Dr Crokes trip to Ardfert Retreat Centre, she also travelled to the Holy Land, Rome, Medjugorje and Lourdes and she never missed Mass or any novenas held in town.
But despite her great devotion, Bridie was never slow to let an opponent of Dr Crokes know exactly what she was feeling during the course of a game, Fr O’Brien told the congregation.
“She was not shy when it came to watching a game and telling a player very quickly to mark up. She very sharply told each player how he rated and how they were doing,” he said.
Bridie, who passed away on Tuesday following a difficult number of years with failing health, was one of most loved and best known personalities in the GAA in Killarney.
Outside of her family, Dr Crokes was the big love of her life and she was an ever present at games, at all age levels, for several decades, willing on and encouraging the young players from the sideline and warmly congratulating and praising them for their great effort, whatever the result.
One of her proudest days was when her son, Pat, managed Kerry to an All-Ireland senior championship title in 2007 and she took immense pride from a great occasion on St Patrick’s Day 1992 when Pat and his brother, Seanie, steered Crokes to the All-Ireland Club Championship crown.
“She loved football and she loved the Crokes. It was a huge part of her life, her second family,” Pat reflected.
The last great sporting occasion Bridie attended was in September when Dr Crokes welcomed Sam Maguire to the clubhouse and she got to hold the cup for the last time.
Thousands of people queued in the rain on Thursday evening to express their sympathy to Bridie’s husband of 58-years, Murt, her two sons and her daughters, Margaret, Sheila, Bernie, Mary and Tracey.
At a packed St Mary’s Cathedral this Friday, Fr O’Brien described Bridie as a practical and logical woman who was like a magnet for getting to know people who were naturally drawn to her such was her warmth and charming personality.
He said her family was always her main priority and she often described her marriage to Murt as the highlight of her life because everything stemmed from their great relationship.
“Her seven children always came first and although she had to make many sacrifices, she would do it all again,” said the Killarney parish administrator who first met Bridie and Murt 20 years ago.
“Her death creates a void but the family will have to live their lives the best way they can, to continue to look out for one another, to support each other and to love each other,” he said.
The best tribute that they can pay to Bridie is to keep winning matches and keep the faith, Fr O’Brien added.
In a moving eulogy at the close of Mass, Bridie’s daughter, former INMO President and current Killarney-London Person of the Year Sheila Dickson, said her mother’s own happy childhood in Headford gave her a real sense of family and she lived for her children, her 20 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“We would have loved for her to stay with us a bit longer, especially for Christmas. We would have all been expected to gather at the family home in Marian Terrace for a get-together on Christmas Eve by 6 o’clock and if we were 20 minutes late we got the look – and we know what that meant,” Sheila smiled.
And before Bridie was laid to rest in Aghadoe, overlooking the town in which she was held with such genuine affection, Sheila made her beloved mum one last promise: “We’ll look after himself.”
