Affection for Cathal Deasy shown by support for upcoming fundraisers
The late Cathal Deasy
While Cathal Deasy’s time on Earth was all too short, it was time well spent.
The Kilbrittain native died last November, three years after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. He left behind his wife Meabh and children Charlotte, Caoilainn and Darragh as well as a heartbroken family and a circle of friends that took in his various educational stages, professional life as a pharmacist in Dublin and his many sporting experiences.
Those who knew him will gather in Kilbrittain on Saturday for a seven-a-side Gaelic football tournament followed by a fundraising raffle, with money raised going to Barnardos. Then on Sunday, a collection in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association will take place outside SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh prior to the Cork-Waterford match.
The levels of support given to these fundraisers reflects the effect that Cathal had on those he met, according to Niall Murphy from Ballinspittle, one of his oldest friends.
“He was a guy who didn't have many enemies,” he says. “He was inoffensive and charming and yet, at the same time, he was no-one's fool.
“I knew Cathal a long time but there are people who I've only met recently who were just as close to him and they are the ones who are ultimately driving this. He made great friends in his 43 years.”
Having sat the Junior Certificate at Hamilton High School in Bandon, Cathal boarded at Farranferris for his senior cycle. He played for both schools as well as through the under-age grades with Kilbrittain.
When college took him to Bradford, the GAA remained a focal point.
“He wasn't what you’d call decorated in what he did from a Gaelic perspective – he was a regular club player, a regular guy,” Niall says.
“He had a very interesting journey where like he would obviously played in in Kilbrittain and his father Pat was the headmaster, he played Sciath na Scol and then went to Hammies and played whatever was there.
“Then, in fifth year, he went to Farna and again met a whole new bunch of people there and went on then to be a member of the panel that made it to the Harty Cup final in 1999.
“There's different entities along the way, from there he went to the UK after his Leaving Cert and got involved in the Irish scene over there, playing over there at a club called Brothers Pearse.
“When he came back to Dublin, he played for Na Fianna. There’s a lot of variety there, a lot of friends made, and they’re so keen to support the fundraisers this weekend.”
All of those links will come together in aid of very worthwhile causes.
“The family were keen that the funds raised on Saturday from the football and the raffle would go towards Barnardos Children’s Charity Bereavement Services,” Niall says.
“There’s teams coming from Huddersfield and from Farranferris and the Hammies and then a team from Kilmeen, Pat’s home place.
“Then on Sunday, there’ll be a collection outside the Páirc before the Cork-Waterford game and that’s in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
“Cork County Board and the Munster Council were happy to accommodate that and we’re very grateful for the support given. Aidan O’Connell, who’s in charge of the S&C for Cork GAA, was a big help and Mark Evans, who Cathal would have been in college with in the UK, was the big driver from this side.
“It has been a big collective effort and it shows what Cathal meant.”
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