Ballincollig mourns the loss of one of Cork's oldest citizens; Joe Kavanagh passed away aged 105

One of Cork’s oldest citizens, 105-year-old Joseph Kavanagh from Ballincollig, passed away yesterday at Ballincollig Community Nursing Unit, surrounded by family.

Joe was a well-known character who played GAA for Ballincollig very successfully, winning three Intermediate County medals for his town in 1934, 1935 and 1939.

Vice President of Ballincollig GAA Aubert Twomey said that Joe had lived a healthy life and had no enemies.

“He had a fantastic run, I would have known him very well since I was a small fella. We would always be fooling about games.” 

Ballincollig GAA chairman Dave Walsh said they were very lucky to have Joe around for so long and so close to the club.

Joe was one of the first people they visited with the Intermediate County Cup after their win in 2018.

“Not many clubs have players from the 1930s around this long. It was history in the making to visit him with the cup and we were just lucky to have him around for so long.” 

Mr Kavanagh was a father of five, leaving behind four daughters, Margaret, Helen, Bernie and Christine along with his son Brendan.

His wife Agnes had passed away previously and he has two siblings, Eileen and Chris.

Mr Kavanagh’s mass will be held on Saturday at Church of St Mary and St John, Ballincollig at 2pm.

Funeral afterwards to the adjoining cemetery.