A BRIGHT shining light was extinguished in Killarney this weekend when the very sad news filtered through of the passing of the much-loved Paddy O’Shea, a hugely popular sporting and community personality and one of nature’s true gentlemen.
He passed away in the early hours of this Saturday morning, after a brief illness, and his family’s great loss will be shared by so many people who had enormous respect and admiration for the soft-spoken, gentle O’Sullivan’s Place man.
A lifelong and passionate Dr Crokes stalwart, Paddy was an outstanding player for the club, playing at minor level from 1949 to 1952 and winning a minor county championship with Dick Fitzgeralds in 1951.
Affectionately known as Bomber, he had joined forces with his brothers, Murt and Sean, to win a minor county hurling championship with Killarney in 1950 and he added to that medal collection in 1951 and 1952.
A classy footballer who went on to play for Kerry at junior level, he lined out at senior grade with Crokes for a whopping 19 years and captained the team in 1956 when they won the first of seven-in-a-row East Kerry titles.
When the curtain came down on his distinguished playing career, Paddy turned his hand to coaching underage teams, with great success, and he also became one of the club’s most dedicated administrators, serving in every officer position up to and including chairman.
A very knowledgeable local historian with a particular interest in matters sporting, he was one the real driving forces behind the publication of the Dr Crokes history, A Gaelic Century, which marked the 100th anniversary of the club in 1986, and he collected and captioned the vast majority of the many photographs and illustrations published.
Paddy conducted many of the interviews featured in that fine publication and he spent countless hours in the libraries in Tralee and Killarney researching material that could be used.
He also played a major role in the follow-up history, A Decade of Glory, charting events on and off the field from 1986 to 1996 and, of course, including the memorable Dr Crokes All-Ireland Club Championship victory in 1996.
Paddy worked for many years at the Liebherr Container Cranes plant in Fossa and he was held in very high regard by management and staff throughout a long career.
While Dr Crokes was his sporting family, Paddy was extremely proud of the achievements of his own family, on and off the sporting fields, and, in more recent years, he was an adoring grandfather who watched the progress of his grandchildren with exceptional pride.
Paddy is survived by his wife, Anne, sons Padraig, John, Colm and Aidan, daughters Áine and Sinéad, daughters-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren and many relatives and friends.
Predeceased by his former Killarney town councillor brother Murt, Paddy is further survived by his sister Sheila and brother Seán.
His remains will repose at O’Shea’s Funeral Home from 4.30pm to 6.30pm on Monday followed by removal to St Mary’s Cathedral. Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday at 10.3am with burial afterwards in Aghadoe Lawn Cemetery.
KillarneyToday.com
