Mayo's Castlebar RFC bids final farewell to a club legend
John Melvin
Castlebar Rugby Club recently bade a fitting and very moving farewell to one of their most endearing and cherished members, George O’Malley, who was laid to rest on Friday of last week.
The club, along with members of the Fianna Fáil party to which George was a long-serving member, formed a guard of honour as the remains were taken to Castlebar Church from Coady’s Funeral Home on the prior Thursday evening, a massive turnout of sympathisers paying their final respects to the O’Malley family on the loss of a husband, father, grandfather and friend.
Six members of Castlebar Rugby Club carried his remains shoulder high into Castlebar Church, showing that the strong bond between George and the club was maintained right to the end.
A colourful and hugely popular character, George served Mayo and beyond as a veterinary surgeon for the last four decades, following in the footsteps of his late father, Paddy O’Malley, who had started the practice backs in the 1920s.
The vast rural area which he covered along the Atlantic coast of Mayo took George to places wild and wonderful, and it was through meeting so many people that the popular Castlebar vet garnered his vast array of stories which entertained so many of us who were fortunate to share his company over a pint or two, and maybe even three.
From the far side of Louisburgh, Clare Island and Achill and up to Blacksod, George covered over 1,100 herds with his large animal practice in Castlebar town. He continued to work in the field literally up when he became ill less than two years ago.
George’s father greatly influenced his decision to study veterinary medicine. He watched him as a young boy growing up, and he said to himself: “If ever I can do it, I will become a vet.”
He graduated from University College Dublin in 1973 and worked in many practices around Ireland before returning to Castlebar in 1976 to help his father run the family practice. “It didn’t suit me to come home at the time, but my loyalty was to him,” said George in an interview with ThatsFarming.com back in 2018.
George ran a two-vet practice and with the help of locum vets, they covered a very large client area. George is invariably on the west side of Mayo and knows all the back roads at this stage. “I know them too many, too often and too late at night,” he said in the interview.
George enjoyed the work. “I run a very personalised type of practice. When I deal with clients it’s on a first-name basis. I know everyone,” he said.
And know them he did as he took an interest in his clients, in their families and, of course, in their animals. He was greeted in many home as if he was the Parish Priest as he sat and supped and chatted with the people he called to.
Held in very high esteem, George was a talker and a listener – and he was certainly an expert on the best poitín that could be sourced in the vast area he covered, as I can vouch for from personal knowledge!
His engaging personality, his wit, his wisdom his love of life made him a popular figure and it would take reams of paper do justice to the life and times of the affable George, who endeared himself to so many people but in particular to the farming community in north and west Mayo that he served so diligently for close on five decades.
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His political career has been well documented but George also had a huge love of sport, excelling in rugby in particular, but he was also a noted Gaelic footballer too having played junior with Castlebar Mitchels, while he also donned the Castlebar Celtic shirt and was a keen tennis player. He basically could turn his hand to anything.
He had a great passion for the gee gees, not just in his profession as a vet but also as a knowledgeable punter who enjoyed the odd flutter.
If you were in town you always asked George for his nap of the day and while it may not always finish first, you certainly got to know what the particular horse had for breakfast, when he last went to the loo and who the father and mother of the animal were.
I can recall George’s famous saying which I heard him say on a few occasions: “I’ll eat my hat if this horse doesn’t win.” I have feeling there could be a bagful of hats hidden somewhere in George's residence in Mountain View, one or two with a few bites taken out of them.
That said, he was a clever punter and knew his horse. Just a few years ago he returned from Cheltenham to regale us all in The Castle Inn with a bagful of cash having landed an accumulator, a small outlay which yielded a tidy sum of over 20 grand in sterling. I can see the smile on his face still. Nice picking George.
But it was as a rugby player that George really excelled, earning the respect of his peers for his ability on the field and later as a club official, but above all as a storyteller and entertainer. You listened and laughed when George was holding court, and a fitting tribute was made on behalf of Castlebar RFC by their president, Jimmy Staunton.
“George will be sadly missed by all his friends at Castlebar RFC, where he was so influential to the club over the many great years involved. George learned his rugby in Presentation College Bray. He was a marvellous and courageous wing forward, a great club captain, club president and, as a trustee along with several others, was instrumental in securing and developing our wonderful facilities that exist today at Castlebar RFC today.”
Jimmy added: “He was a colourful and charismatic character, loved by all and respected by so many. The club has lost a true friend, the town of Castlebar has lost a great a character and a wonderful human being.”
Farewell to George. He leaves a void that will never be filled but there is solace for his family in particularly and his legion of and friends because he will live on through the stories and the great memories that will always remain of a true Castlebar man who left such a lasting impression on all who knew him.