President leads tributes to GAA legend Mick O’Dwyer

By David Young, PA

The President of Ireland has led tributes to Mick O’Dwyer after his death at the age of 88.

O’Dwyer, who hailed from the village of Waterville in Co Kerry, won four All-Ireland titles with his beloved county as a player between 1959 and 1970 and an unrivalled eight as a manager in the 1970s and 1980s.

He would also go on to coach Kildare, Laois, Wicklow and Clare.

Known as Micko, O’Dwyer was inducted into the GAA Hall of Fame in 2014.

President Michael D Higgins hailed O’Dwyer’s legacy.

“Mick O’Dwyer will be remembered as one of the greatest figures ever to be associated with Gaelic games,” he said.

“Micko, as he was affectionately known to all, was deservingly inducted into the GAA Hall of Fame in 2014.

“As both a player, and in particular as a manager, he was astonishingly successful.

“The Kerry team which he led to eight All-Ireland titles was one of the finest that Gaelic football has ever seen.

“Beyond his native Kerry, Mick will be warmly remembered by the people of Kildare, Laois and Wicklow for the success which he subsequently brought to their counties, as well as for his contribution to Clare.

“May I express my deepest sympathies to Mick’s family, teammates, former players, and all of his many friends.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin described O’Dwyer as an “icon” of the GAA.

“Micko lived and breathed Gaelic football,” he said in a statement.

“He embodied everything good about the game – dedication, ambition, positivity and community.

“His sporting legacy is unmatched. He will forever be one of Kerry’s iconic players, winning four senior All Ireland medals in 1959, 1962, 1969 and 1970.

“During his tenure as manager in 1975 to 1989, Kerry took the Sam Maguire Cup back to the Kingdom eight times.

“Over his sporting career, Micko appeared in 21 senior All-Ireland finals – an outstanding achievement in itself.”

Mr Martin added: “Kerry, and all of us, were lucky to have him.

“My deepest sympathies to all his family and the entire GAA community.”

 

Tánaiste Simon Harris said O’Dwyer was one of the GAA’s greatest figures.

“Mick’s contribution to Irish sport and community life was extraordinary, particularly in his native county of Kerry,” he said.

“I met Mick on a number of occasions when he managed the Wicklow senior Gaelic football team.

“I was always struck by his warmth and kindness, his great sense of leadership and his ability to get the best out of young athletes.

“Mick leaves a void behind that will be incredibly difficult to fill.”

GAA president Jarlath Burns said O’Dwyer had an extraordinary, success-laden career as a player and manager.

“The passing of the great Mick O’Dwyer marks the loss of not just a Kerry legend but one of the true giants and icons of Gaelic games,” he said.

 

“He was, quite simply, the man with the Midas touch.

“The spell he weaved with that magnificent Kerry team of the 70s and 80s was a magic that was as intoxicating for us in South Armagh as it was in his own beloved South Kerry.”

He added: “There will only ever be one Micko, and while his passing is an enormous loss to his close family and great many friends, amongst the wider GAA family his memory will forever be celebrated and cherished, and we will be forever thankful that he was one of our own.”

Current Kerry manager Jack O’Connor is among those who have paid tribute to his fellow county man O’Dwyer.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, he said: “He set the standard for all of us and we’re only trotting after him.

“The record he had with that team between 1975 and ‘88, winning eight All-Irelands in 12 years, that will never be matched again.

“The standards himself and Kevin Heffernan set drove the standards of Gaelic football to new levels. Two driven men. The GAA has an awful lot to be thankful to both of them for, particularly Mick because he was such a great ambassador for the GAA. After leaving Kerry he spread the gospel to four other counties, to Kildare, Laois, Wicklow and Clare.”

Writing in The Examiner, Éamonn Fitzmaurice, another former Kerry player and manager, said that O’Dwyer had been a “living deity” in the county, “viewed through a variety of lenses, depending on a person’s particular generation”.

“The classy footballer to elders and peers ... the force of nature and all-conquering manager to Generation X and Micko to subsequent generations. Micko eventually became the universal term for him, one of affection and respect.

"He will be hugely missed, by his family in particular. He was larger than life, a warm rogue who loved football, Kerry and Waterville.”