Mayo GAA man John gets county championship medal 55 years late

Tom Shiel

A former star Gaelic footballer’s 55-year wait for a county club championship medal ended today when the prized memento was delivered to him on his doorstep.

John Deacy (81) was ‘utterly gobsmacked’ when Liam McHale, current manager of the Athlone GAA senior football team arrived at his home on the outskirts of Castlebar to make the long overdue presentation.

“I had no idea the medal was coming," John, corner back on the Athlone team which defeated Ballymore in the 1965 Westmeath senior championship final admitted.

“To be honest, I had probably given up hope of ever getting my hands on it."

John, a native of Toomore, Foxford, moved to Athlone with his wife, Angela, in the 1960s and was quickly snapped by the local GAA club because of his prowess as a defender.

But, due to family reasons, he missed out on the medal presentation and never received his ‘gong’ since despite a number of attempts to remedy this situation.

Nigel Johnson, current secretary of Athlone GAA Club, had been looking forward with surviving members of the 1965 team making the trip from Athlone for today’s surprise presentation.

Due to Covid concerns, however, it was decided that only one club representative, Liam McHale, would be involved.

Veterans of the 1965 squad hoping to re-unite with their former teammate today included Dessie Dolan, father or RTE pundit Dessie, Martin Flynn, Seamus Nugent, Liam Finnegan, Eddie Kelly, Brian Gahan, Mick Thornton and Frank Colclough.

After hearing numerous mentions over the years about his dad never getting a medal, one of John’s sons, John (Junior) decided to have “one last go” and came up trumps after contacting Nigel Johnson.

“It took a while," John (Jnr) admitted, “but all’s well that ends well”.

Proud medal recipient John said he could not have been more chuffed to have been finally presented with his award by Liam McHale, the former inter-county star, whom he “hugely admired” as a footballer and basketballer.

Cradling his memento which has been handsomely mounted on a mahogany board for display purposes, John said: “It’s a great occasion, I must say for Angela, myself and our extended family.

“Now that I’ve finally got the medal it’s going to occupy a special spot for the remainder of my years on the mantlepiece."