Patrick Flanagan (29 November 1930 – 19 April 2022) was an Irish

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er and hurler who played for club sides

Mullingar Shamrocks Mullingar Shamrocks is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the town of Mullingar in County Westmeath, Ireland. History The team was founded in 1953 and participates in both men's and women's leagues. Honours * Westmeath Senior Footba ...

, The Downs, and St Loman's and at inter-county level as a

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

with the Westmeath senior teams. He usually lined out as a defender. Paddy married Judy Harte in August 1957. They had four children, Fergal, Brian, Kevin and Claire. They have six grandchildren, Paul, Aoife, Ailish, Niamh, Sean and Tara. Paddy was very proud of his children and grandchildren.

Early life

Born in

Reynella Reynella is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide in the north of the City of Onkaparinga. It is bordered to the east by Main South Road, to the south by ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

he moved to

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

at a young age where he was initially introduced to

. He won his first medal with St Mary's CBS playing with the college in the Columb Cup Final in

Athy Athy ( ; ) is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 11,035 (as of the 2022 census) made it the sixth largest town in Kil ...

in 1946. He played his minor football with Mullingar, winning championship medals in 1946 and 1947. In 1948 he played Junior football with the Downs. Paddy remarkably represented

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

at minor, senior and junior level all while juggling his job as county secretary. He captained the Westmeath Junior team beaten by Wexford in the

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Final of 1963. In 1948 he entered the

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services and transferred to St Lomans Mental Hospital. Paddy was part of the historic 1961 and 1963 Championship winning teams. He was elected secretary of the mental hospital club and three years later appointed assistant secretary of the Westmeath county board. On top of this he wrote a weekly column for the examiner under the name "Aindrias O" which lasted all of fifty years. He was elected county secretary in 1954 and held that position until 1969. As well as this he also served as delegate to the Leinster council and treasurer of the council. Paddy served as the first PRO for Westmeath from 1970 until 2000 collecting 6 McNamee awards for "best county final programme"- a testament to his tremendous work. In 2004 Flanagan was the first Westmeath/ St Loman's man to receive the GAA president's award for services to the GAA and in the same year joined the "hall of fame of Leinster greats" - the first from his club and county. In 2007 he received the inaugural ''

Westmeath Examiner The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a weekly newspaper in County Westmeath, Ireland. It was founded in 1882. The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a sister paper of the ''Westmeath Independent'' which circulates in the Athlone area of the county. The ''West ...

''/Park Hotel football hall of fame sports award for his contribution to sport. He was also recognized by the Westmeath/Dublin association who selected Paddy as "Westmeath man of the year" in 1974. During his time on

council, paddy was chairman of the Leinster Centenary committee. Paddy retired from St Lomans in the late sixties and thoroughly enjoyed the recent success of the Club. His sons Brian and Kevin, grandchildren Ailish, Niamh, Sean and Tara have worn the blue jersey, his daughter in law Cait has also won junior, intermediate and Senior honors with the Blues. In 2013 Paddy Flanagan proudly presented the Flanagan Cup to Lomans Captains Paul Sharry and John Heslin after a fifty year drought. In truth he had a huge love for the Gaa and worked tirelessly devoting his entire life to the sport.

Playing career

Flanagan played

as a schoolboy at St. Mary's College in

. He later played at club football with

before later lining out with The Downs. As a player with the St Loman's club, he won two Westmeath SFC titles. Flanagan first appeared at inter-county level as a member of the Westmeath minor football team. He made his senior team debut in 1949 and was a mainstay of the team until 1965. Flanagan also lined out with the Westmeath senior hurling team.

Administrative career

Paddy Flanagan first became involved in the administrative affairs of the

Association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

when he was appointed secretary of the St. Loman's club in 1949. He subsequently served as assistant secretary of the Westmeath County Board before taking the position of secretary from 1956 to 1969. Flanagan was the county board's

PRO Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African ret ...

from 1970 to 2000 and also served as a Leinster Council delegate. The cup awarded to the winners of the Westmeath SFC is named in his honour.

Death

Paddy Flanagan died on 19 April 2022, aged 91. Surrounded by his loving family.

Honours

;St. Loman's *

Westmeath Senior Football Championship The Westmeath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Westmeath GAA between the top Gaelic football clubs in County Westmeath. The winner of the Westmeath Championship qualifies to represe ...

: 1961, 1963

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Paddy 1930 births 2022 deaths Mullingar Shamrocks Gaelic footballers Westmeath inter-county Gaelic footballers Westmeath inter-county hurlers Gaelic games administrators Sportspeople from Mullingar 20th-century Irish sportsmen