Michael Ring retained common touch and never got too big for his boots

by Auld Stock

I HAVE known Michael Ring since he was a gasur.

He won an All-Ireland Gaelic football medal with Westport Vocational School.

It wasn’t from the wind Michael took his sporting prowess.

His relative, ‘Bellum’ McNally, was an All-Ireland handball champion and a star soccer player with Westport Town.

I occasionally came across Michael when he was a bread salesman and he always gave me a loaf of bread with the words, ‘give the loaf to your wife Mary; like myself, she’s a covey.’

Michael Ring always maintained his common touch and never became too big for his boots, a genuine man of the people.

He achieved a great deal for the people of Mayo and always put his native county first.

I wish Michael, his wife Anne and family health and happiness in the future.

Anne Ring is sister of Christy Fitzgerald, a former member of Castlebar Urban Council.