Carrickmore St Colmcille’s mourns one of its greats, Declan Quinn

CARRICKMORE St Colmcille’s is in mourning after the sad passing of one of its greatest gaelic footballers, Declan Quinn, after a battle with illness.

Mr Quinn was a central component in the celebrated Carrickmore side that won three Tyrone Senior Championship titles in-a-row between 1977 and 1979.

Declan, whose father Michael starred on the Tyrone team that claimed Ulster Senior Championship honours in 1956, emerged as a talented young footballer that lined out on Tyrone Minor and Vocational teams.

He went on to enjoy considerable success with his club Carrickmore St Colmcille’s, particularly in the late seventies when they dominated the club scene at the highest level.

A talented all-rounder on the pitch, Declan played and won his first Tyrone Senior Championship medal in 1977 when Carrickmore got the better of Dromore on championship final day.

Carrickmore achieved the elusive back-to-back for the first time in the club’s illustrious history the following year with another victory over Dromore, and, on this occasion, Declan was particularly prominent, scoring a crucial second-half goal and winning the official man of the match award.

In more recent times, Declan lived in neighbouring Ballygawley, but his memories of playing and starring for his home club never left him.

In an interview with the UH last year, he spoke about how their various league and championship successes meant the world to all involved with the club during the dark days of the Troubles.

“It was fantastic, they were troubled enough times and it was fantastic to have something light and joyous like that in your own community.

“The football was a great release, it gave everyone a focus away from everything else and pulled us all together.”

Declan was predeceased by his late wife, Margaret, and will be fondly remembered by his cherished children Stephen, Paul, Cara and Nuala.

He was also a devoted grandfather to Maggie, Connla, Dáithí, Éanna, Fiadh, Ross and Aoibhinn. His funeral Mass will take place on Friday at 11am in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Ballygawley.