THE gates of Pairc Eoghan Rua are closed as Kilcoo mourn the passing of their president Paddy Morgan, a man who was instrumental in leading the county Down club to greatness.
The definition of the selfless and totally dedicated GAA volunteer, Morgan passed away on Tuesday.
A statement issued by the club described him as a “true legend”.
“It’s with great regret this afternoon that we learned of the death of our present Paddy Morgan,” it read.
“Pairc Eoghan Rua will be closed with immediate effect to after Paddy’s funeral. RIP Paddy, a true legend of Cill Chua.”
On the eve of Kilcoo’s greatest day, the 2022 All-Ireland club final, Magpies’ clubman Jerome Johnston senior paid tribute to Morgan who he said had been his mentor and inspiration.
“I got involved with U10s,” Johnston explained.
“Boys like Anthony Devlin, Noel Devlin, Sean O’Hanlon, Mark Branagan, the eldest of the Branagan brothers. Me and the man who drove the bus, Paddy Morgan, took the team.
“Paddy Morgan was my idol… Not a football idol but what he did for our club. Paddy managed every underage team in Kilcoo when I was growing up, he refereed the match, he was secretary, he drove the bus, he’s now the club president.
“You mightn’t have agreed with everything Paddy did but he was a great man. And he had some of the best phrases as a manager, you could’ve read him like a book.
“One of his favourites, every match you went to play he said the same thing to every team, and the famous speak was: ‘Spread out and don’t be running after the ball like sheep after a bucket of meal’.
“Only for him, we didn’t have football.”
The talented young players that Morgan and Johnson brought through the underage ranks began to have success and in 1996 they ended the club’s long wait for a county title.
“Paddy Morgan came to me with tears running down his face: ‘You’ve done it, I didn’t think
you could do it, but you’ve done it today’,” recalled Johnston.
“That was the start. The conveyor belt was starting to go.”
