seamo
Fanatical Member
Posts: 2,016
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Post by seamo on Dec 15, 2012 19:44:48 GMT
I don't know what to say. Too young to have seen him play, other then replays on TG4. Seemed to have everything you'd want in a wing back, the prototypical wing back in GAA.
My first memories of him are with regards to 1997 and I think he'll always be remembered fondly for ending the famine and kick-starting ~12 years at the top of football's best.
And a great story teller, none better in the GAA......and in fairness to the man, he had a point when he called us animals!!! haha
RIP to a Kerry and GAA great.
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Post by kerrygold on Dec 15, 2012 20:06:00 GMT
By Aengus Fanning
Sunday October 26 2003
LOOKING back, it was the manner in which Paidi O Se was fired, not the fact of it, which has angered him. The silent assassins were plotting for six weeks after O Se carried the can for Kerry's disastrous defeat against Tyrone. Then, in Shakespearean fashion, came the message that put the knife in his back, and when was it finally delivered, it was not from a senior officer of LOOKING back, it was the manner in which Paidi O Se was fired, not the fact of it, which has angered him. The silent assassins were plotting for six weeks after O Se carried the can for Kerry's disastrous defeat against Tyrone. Then, in Shakespearean fashion, came the message that put the knife in his back, and when was it finally delivered, it was not from a senior officer of the Kerry County Board, but an intermediary.
"How would any man feel about that after 33 years of service to Kerry as a footballer and a manager," said O Se, when I met him and his wife Maire at their Marbella home on Friday.
O Se's personality is extravagant, larger than life, he talks loquaciously, his presence is big and dominant, and his ego is built to proportion. He is classically the type of man who would miss the warning signals, the quiet rhythms of the assassins' murmurs, the hints that he was about to be ambushed. The shock he got still hurts deeply.
"I'm a Westmeath man now. But there was only one team that I ever wanted to play for and that was Kerry," he says in his characteristically expansive way by the swimming pool of his two-storey, palm-fringed house. "I am a loyal Kerry man. I will always be a loyal Kerry man, that goes without question.
"Any person who questions my allegiance to the green and gold must have something wrong with them. I lived for the green and gold. I don't want to leave the county on a sour note, or to be seen to be in any way bitter. That isn't the way Paidi Se is. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
"I have to put it on record that I was extremely disappointed in the manner in which they conveyed their message to me that my services were no longer required. I have a clear conscience on it. I felt sorry for my family and my friends and the people that I work with, selectors and my medical staff, my masseurs, the secretarial staff in Austin Stack Park in Tralee, my groundsmen, all of these people that I worked so closely with, the supporters' club.
"After 33 years of service to Kerry I didn't want a bunch of roses, but I can tell you something, it is up to the people of Kerry to find out how my services were terminated, and how that message was conveyed to me. I am not questioning that decision. I'm not saying it was right or wrong.
"Maybe it was time to freshen it up. The only problem I have is that it was unprofessional. It was untidily done. And yet I will be able to live with that and push that aside. That's done and dusted now. It's over.
"I have gone on to other pastures because I want to stay in the game. My wife Maire is totally behind me. She has given me the green light to go away and train another team. My family, that's my two daughters and my young fellow, always insisted that they stay well back from all this situation. They like to keep their own privacy, and to separate their lives from my lifestyle as a manager. They want that space.
"But for the people who supported me, my wife and my immediate family, for those people I was extremely hurt in the manner in which they conducted their business. Sin e mo sceal seo, agus ma ta breag biodh. [That's my story, and if it's a lie, so be it].
"Never will I train Kerry again. I may train my club, the Gaeltacht. In my press conference in Killarney, I said that I could never see myself training a team against the green and gold. I did say that. That was done possibly in a moment of frustration, because I obviously live with my heart on my sleeve and it had come as a sudden shock. Nobody made any contact with me for six weeks since the Tyrone game. No senior officer of the Kerry County Board made contact with me or my wife, only a person who is not in the upper echelon.
"The first contact was a third party who told me my fate. That was followed by another phonecall. That's the truth. They are the facts.
"I wish my successors Jack O'Connor, Johnny Cullotty and Ger O'Keeffe the best from the bottom of my heart, but that doesn't mean to say now that if we meet them up in Westmeath that I won't be doing my best for the Lake County.
"I am not saying that I was the saviour of Kerry football, but I got myself in trouble last Christmas over a throwaway remark which was meant to be complimentary to Kerry supporters, through the phraseology wasn't the best language to use at the time.
"I basically said that in Kerry we set the standard, that's the reason Kerry have 32 All-Irelands.
"My allegiance is no longer with Kerry now. My allegiance is 150 per cent with Westmeath. That's the way I operate.
"Everything I do in football I put my heart and soul into it. I want to move away from Kerry now and that's no disrespect to Kerry. My term is two years - and my energies are up in Westmeath now in my headquarters in Mullingar."
On whether the 'f**k**g animals' phrase he used in his famous interview with Kevin Kimmage in the Sunday Independent was used against him by his enemies, O Se says, "I'll be honest with you, I don't know. People know me, know where my heart lies. I'm not mentioning Kerry anymore in this interview. And I don't mean that in a bitter way, I have to focus myself now on the job that lies ahead for me.
"I haven't come off the papers for the last three weeks. I am on every paper every day for the last three weeks. I'm on the television. That isn't my choice. I am actually the dead opposite. I am constantly being reminded by my family 'Get off the bloody papers, because Paidi, that's not Paidi Se' and I shall get off the papers when I have my time taken out, my sabbatical taken, my back room in Westmeath put into place. Getting in comfortable up there first, then meeting my players, then putting a panel together and driving forward from there then. That's my goal at the moment."
Asked about his bouts of 'black dog' depression, which first came to public attention on a recent Eamon Dunphy television show, O Se said: "Every footballer gets depressed when he loses. He is not a footballer if he doesn't get depressed. Any player that hasn't got a problem or that doesn't get down after losing a match, losing an All-Ireland or losing a semi-final, he's not a player at all. I do, I get really down if I have a bad night with the team, if training goes bad for me on the night, if players are not responding, yes, I do get very down and depressed. I become very hard to live with.
"I mean, I become very hard to be tolerated at home because I become grumpy when things go against me. Maybe I'm a bit of a spoilt child. I don't know. Maybe my mother spoilt me too much when I was small. But certainly my wife doesn't spoil me because she stands up to me. I do get down when I lose. I am very bad loser. I make no bones about it."
Asked if he had political ambitions with Fianna Fail, O Se replied: "No". But he went on: "I am a devoted supporter of the present Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue, and at this point in time, that's where my politics are."
Maire interjects: "He supports the captain of the day, who is our present Taoiseach, and he will always do that. And I know that he supports his local minister, John O'Donoghue. That's okay with me. I am of the same party myself."
Paidi: "But you don't have a problem with me supporting Fianna Fail?"
Maire: "Support, fine, as long as that's how it is."
The greatest footballer he has ever seen was Mick O'Connell: "A great player, magnificent. Mick O'Dwyer is a man that I really admired. He was something else as a manager. Seamus Moynihan was exceptional. Mike Hassett was another great player, who underachieved I felt. He was unfair on himself because there was a lot more in him. He could have been a great, great player. If he just went the extra distance. An exceptional player with extreme talent.
"I also want to put it in record that I have always had the height of respect, irrespective of these fly-by-nights who are above in Dublin, these old smart alecs who aren't worth mentioning in print, who think that I have disrespect for Maurice Fitzgerald, because I haven't, because he is right up there with the best of them.
"An awful lot of people say that John Egan was the forgotten player of the team that I played with. He was. But then remember you had Sean Walsh. He was a Sean Purcell, he played full back, centre back, centre field, centre forward and full forward in championship football. It takes some footballer to do that. Now, he was an exceptional player, a great player. Paudi Lynch was a great player also, and Pat Spillane, magnificent!
"I would have to say, when he is up for it, and when he is in good form, Dara O Se is a great player."
O Se's litany of great players, he pointed out, left out some obvious names like Jack O Shea, Ogie Moran, Mikey Sheehy, Sean Murphy, Bomber Liston and many others whom he felt had received plenty of accolades over the years, but he was keen to bring to attention some footballers whom he felt might have been somewhatoverlooked.
Asked about players from other counties, O Se said: "I admire Peter Canavan , I thought he was great. Maybe not so much this year but in the past, I thought he was very brave for his height. You'd see him squaring up to Australians. Darren Fay of Meath, that's another player that I really admire. I admire Billy Morgan, the Cork goalie. I admire Mickey Kerins of Sligo, David Hickey of Dublin, who I marked myself. They were great players. Matt Connor of Offaly was another great player."
But he rates Mick O'Connell the greatest of all time. He includes O'Connell with Mohammed Ali, the Pope and CJ Haughey in his pantheon of all-time heroes.
When I was with him by the poolside, O Se took a call from the Minister of Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, telling him that a ?192,000 grant had been given to his own club, the Gaeltacht. O Se was elated and immediately was in mobile phone contact with the West Kerry County Board chairman, Derry Murphy, and Radio na Gaeltachta's Michael O Se, to tell them the good news. The joy of the news produced from Paidi a few moments of reminiscences.
"In 1984 I took over the West Kerry team. We got married that year, March 10. It was around that time as well we were renting Kruger Kavanagh's in Dunquin. Maire was teaching in Colaiste Ide and I was about to set up a new career for myself in building a pub in Ventry. I had been a Garda before that."
"I was asked to train the West Kerry team and my good and loyal friend Derry Murphy, now chairman of the West Kerry Board, and John L O'Sullivan, from Lispole, the then chairman of the West Kerry Board, approached me. West Kerry hadn't won a County Championship since 1948.
"I took West Kerry over. I was dealing with five clubs, getting the razzmatazz going, and getting a bit of spirit going, and winning that County Championship was very special for me."
But for Paidi O Se, the greatest memories are of Mick O'Connell.
"Mick O'Connell was a Maurice Fitzgerald. He would pull, if he had to, a white rabbit out of the hat. A south Kerry writer once described O'Connell and O'Dwyer as the 'princes of the pig skin'," herecalled.
The interview over, Paidi and Maire gathered themselves to head for the Havana Bar in Marbella, where a big GAA night had been organised by local businessman Jed O'Connor, from Churchill, County Kerry, and his wife Catherine, the prelude to a four-team Gaelic Football tournament in Marbella yesterday and today.
Paidi and Maire's eldest daughter Neasa, 15, is in transition year in the Presentation Convent in Dingle, headmastered by his great friend, Tom Crowley. Her younger sister Siun is sitting her Junior Certificate in the same school this year.
And Paidi Og is in the school that Paidi himself attended, Cill Mhic a Dhomnaigh, where the principal is his former desk pal, SeanO Cathain.
Maire still teaches in Colaiste Ide, between Ventry and Dingle. They have had a house in Marbella for over a year, a haven where Paidi and Maire can escape from a life of pressure at home. And, here in Spain, his next-door neighbour is no stranger to pressure himself, former EU Commissioner Padraig Flynn.
"Good luck to you, Paidi," he shouted as the Kerry hero headed out the gate to be Guest of Honour at the local GAA function. Paidi's reply, given to him by his good friend Hugh O Flaherty, was a word beloved of Boris Yeltsin.
"Bybatet!" the Ventry warlord shouted back: "It means, 'These things happen'."
- Aengus Fanning
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Dec 15, 2012 20:42:06 GMT
I feel very sad to hear about this. Páidí was/is not just one of the greatest ever players to grace the game, he was/is an incredible man from all accounts. As a Dub of the 70s, I can never forget having a special admiration for the man, and there was no doubt that he had a special connection to us too. Sympathy to all closest to him and the Kerry GAA family, especially Ciarraí Thuaidh, & even more especially those of Dingle and Fionntrá/Coirce Duibhne persuasion.
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Post by Mickmack on Dec 15, 2012 21:38:23 GMT
There was another gorgeous programme called "Diarmaidin" on TG4 on sat. It refers to a great man from Cuil Aodha in Cork who was domiciled in West Kerry, near Paidi. I missed the first half and he may have been a teacher. Picture the scene on the third Tuesday in September 1985. Paidi is 5 days away from lifting Sam as captain of Kerry and he goes to bed for a few hours in the afternoon. Probably one of his piseogs. Suddenly, he hears footsteps on the stairs. its Diarmaidin.............. "Have you a speech ready Paidi". "No" Diarmaidin is a gaelgoir and sees this as an opportunity to make one of the great speeches as gaelige. Paidi is probably thinking........."this might be tempting fate". Dairmaidin gives Paidi a draft speech and Paidi prepares. Over and over again. On Sunday as Paidi is about to pount the steps, Diarmaidin appears to trust a page into his hand with the main points of the speech. afterwards Paidi descends the steps and hands the Cup to Diarmaidin saying "Twill be many years before another Corkman lifts the cup in Croker" Diarmainin was killed in a car crash a few yesr later. Magic programme from TG4. again
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Post by sullyschoice on Dec 15, 2012 21:46:03 GMT
Massive tribute to Paidi on the 9 o'clock news tonight
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2012 21:54:52 GMT
Gutted. Not only a true great on the field he was always so entertaining to listen to off it. I never had the pleasure to meet himbut I'd say he was great company. Was there ever a prouder Kerryman. God bless him and hid family.
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seamus
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Post by seamus on Dec 15, 2012 22:51:48 GMT
People around the county are visibly moved by today's news. Paidi was the expression of the raw element within every true Kerry GAA supporter. We all bonded and identified with his spirit, passion and rawness. True supporters knew instantly what he meant when he fired off the 'animal' quote. He really pricked at our football souls in a way that very few have or will.
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Post by misteallaigh abú on Dec 15, 2012 23:14:44 GMT
Deeply saddened to hear of the death of one of my idols. Very much larger than life, a fine footballer and manager and gave his heart and soul to his club, his community and his county. I got a few texts earlier today passing on the awful news from Kerry, to be honest, I didn't believe it at first. How could such an indestructible giant have slipped away so quietly from us ? A shocking loss for his family, his people, for Kerry and gaelic football fans everywhere. Rest in peace Paidi.
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osama
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Post by osama on Dec 16, 2012 12:58:03 GMT
I was trying to explain who Paidi O Se was to a friend of mine (who is not Irish) and what he meant to us as Irish people but even more so as Kerry people. The best comparison I could think of was Larry Bird for the Boston Celtics. Paidi didn't look skillful, he didn't look overly athletic, he didn't look graceful but he would beat you and he would beat you every single time. And it didn't matter how skillful you were or how graceful you were or how athletic you were he'd still beat you. At the end of the day you can look as good as you want but if you can't win you are at nothing. Paidi was all about winning but he knew how to do it and do it right.
I am doing him an injustice in many ways because Paidi was extremely skillful and had a superior footballing brain to most. There are many ways of displaying genius, in Kerry the only place that matters is on a green field with a few white lines. You can have all the letters in the world after your name but if you are a genius on a football field you will be held in higher esteem than everybody else. And rightly so.
I think Paidi's rogue like character is why we love him so much, it is inherently Kerry. He feels like one of us despite being a giant. As Bally thefireside said above they are like us but different.. He was pure West Kerry, pure rough and tumble but he wouldn't have it any other way.
I have an uncle who is pretty well known for being one of the hardest players to ever wear a Kerry jersey (as I'm sure ballythefireside will attest to), he once told me they were playing West Kerry in a Co. Championship match in Tralee must have been around 73 or 74. Paidi was only 19 and was arriving on the senior scene in Kerry. Anyway my uncle ran on to a pass after 5 mins and Paidi arrived out of nowhere like a train and sent him into the following week with a shoulder. And that was that, Paidi had won before the game had even started.
Like a friend of mine said "There are two Gods in heaven now"
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Post by Mickmack on Dec 16, 2012 13:34:30 GMT
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Post by glengael on Dec 16, 2012 14:15:55 GMT
So many memories come to mind on this grim damp afternoon and little wonder. Paidi has been part of my life for as long as I have been aware of Kerry football, that is to say the best part of 40 years. He and his colleagues brought colour and life to my childhood in a way that nothing else ever did. And when I was lucky enough to grow up and begin to weave my own path in life, there he was again, a vibrant presence on Sunday afternoons, bringing forth the next generation to create their own legends.
One memory comes back to me. Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Wet , damp, July 1996. The slow but inexorable rise of that new generation claiming its first senior crown. The noise, the rain, the crowds, the joy. And Paidi , playing every ball with his men, patrolling, pacing, almost dancing on that sideline.
Slan Abhaile Paidi. I take comfort from those memories and hope that those who loved you will have the strength to carry the burden of losing you so soon.
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Post by Ballyfireside on Dec 16, 2012 14:59:05 GMT
This is a copy of the condolence I left on Páidí's site and which I would like to share with you. The word 'inspiration' comes to mind, and that is the final test of a man.
I just learned that Páidí was also a story teller and it reminds of a tale I penned myself entitled “Two Beautiful Kerrymen”, one being the king himself. It can be found easily in Google and while it tells its own story of our subsequent encounters, there is an irony here of a good looking seanchaí, although the elephant in the room is more iron I hasten to add.
Along with his late brother Micheál, Páidí was also part of “Efficiency, on and off the pitch”, well he would be wouldn’t he? And we could well dedicate “Different Kings of Kingdom” to him. These are all poems at “Ballythefireside” and I hope I am not overdoing it here but he’d hardly want us to suppress the inspiration?
What I would certainly like to dedicate to him, and because I have only just today penned it, is “Ventry Sunset”. The cúpla focail therein reminds of the ‘novices’ of ’75, one of Páidí’s own abiding memories, and in that vein hopefully his kin might pardon my own novice Gaeilge.
Sincere condolences to the family. RIP Páidí.
Ventry Sunset The king isn’t dead, long live the king never far away, he remains nigh He feared nothing or nobody looking danger in the eye
He just moved his seat from The Kingdom of Kerry to another Kingdom Heavenly high As there be no frontier beyond fear he didn’t have to say good bye
Fear go an-sásta ar fad ag ardú An Chorn Somhairle Mag Uidhir Codladh samh a Páidí i Árd Neamh anois ó Árd a Bhóthair suas an staighre
Just as he defended the throne all he wishes for is that his subjects will carry on The sun now sets over Ventry harbour at the setting of that sun, the days work is done
P.S. The last two lines, and therefore the title, are inspired of the famous black and white photo of Páidí delivering his acceptance speech in ‘85, hands on hips. Fear go an-sásta ar fad, agus daoine go an-sásta ar fad.
P.S. 2 To those who have complimented this work, all I say is that it would be easy with the inspiration, I just held the pen, honestly!
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Post by Chinatown on Dec 16, 2012 15:14:46 GMT
Kerry and GAA to the core. We often say his likes will not be seen again, sadly I think it may be true this time. RIP and my thoughts are with his loved ones.
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Post by Chinatown on Dec 16, 2012 15:22:59 GMT
"Anything, I do, I do with the ball around me" So much said with so few words.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Dec 16, 2012 16:54:40 GMT
Paidi was larger than life and had the time of day for you whether you were An Taoiseach or just somebody on the street. I remember being around his company while he was telling yarns. It was a very small group and for reasons unknown to myself the person Paidi was talking to introduced him to me. Paidi told the next story to me and kept addressing me by name. To be honest I thought it quite unnecessary on his part but I suppose it was his way of welcoming me to the conversation and not to be intimidated by his reputation. It was classy.
Perhaps the Golden Era team would still have won quite few All-Irelands without him but without him I feel safe in saying that the modern team would not have won many All-Irelands.
He brought an end to the famine but even more importantly inspired his three nephews to incredible heights.
Watching the video posted by MM it is clear that he was his own man, an independent man who did things on his own terms. It is sad that he left too soon and not on his own terms.
Strip away everything and we are left with a grieving family faced with an enormous loss and right before Christmas. They are in my thoughts now.
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Post by parishexile on Dec 16, 2012 20:00:14 GMT
So sad to hear of the passing of Paidi O Se. As a young boy growing up in Kerry in the early 70's & 80's football meant everything and I suppose there was no better a time to be a Kerry supporter. Paidi was unique in the way he played the game, collar up; the way he would make that long looping hop of the ball; the Kerry supporters would always rise when Paidi was on the ball. He was the quinntensial Kerry footballer; hard and fair is how he played the game. At the field at home, in school or in the football club, Paidi was one of those players you would try and play like. As a manager Paidi also inspired a whole new generation of great Kerry footballers, his nephews, Seamus Moynihan, Declan O' Keefe, Mike McCarthy, the Hassets, Mike Frank Russell, Donal Daly, Willam Kirby etc. all won u21 and senior all irelands with Paidi at the helm. Farewell Paidi, deppest sympathies to his family.
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Post by Mickmack on Dec 16, 2012 21:17:49 GMT
Páidí a man without pretence who could light up any room, writes Colm O'Rourke
Another great oak has tumbled in the Kerry forest with Páidí ó Sé taking the long sleep. If anybody or anything demonstrated in one person what pride of place meant then Páidí was that man. A product of West Kerry, of sea and mountain and rugged beauty, Páidí had a passion for Kerry and everything his county stood for.
The team he was on played the beautiful game at others' expense during the 1970s and '80s; he had enough gold medals that he would need a strong mule and a couple of saddlebags to transport them to the bank but he never changed, he was always the West Kerry rogue. If others wanted to portray him as less than sophisticated, then he left them in their ignorance; he hated pretence and had the common sense of land and water that does not surface on any third-level curriculum.
As a player, he minded his man and the house, he was not the flashy half-back who needed to be up scoring. His job was to make sure his man made no contribution and he carried it out time after time with military precision. With his collar up and a short back and sides, he looked as if he continually was in a state of intense motivation in those big games against Dublin. Occasionally he strayed over the edge in some games against the Dubs and Cork but it was never personal and he got away with a multitude of sins as he was impossible to dislike.
When Páidí turned to management he brought the same full-on style as he did to playing. Being in charge of Kerry was the for him the greatest honour in the world and if his methods at times seemed a little unorthodox, he brought an All-Ireland back to Kerry after 11 years without one. What he really did was to get players to show the same love – and it was love – for the jersey that he had. After that the football looked after itself.
He transferred the same motivation to Westmeath and it brought a Leinster title there but he probably always longed for another go at the Kerry job. No matter where he went, home and heart stayed in West Kerry.
An hour in Paídí ó Sé's company at any time left a person feeling better about the world. He told great stories of selection meetings where he wore everybody down, of encounters with Charlie Haughey, of his time in the Gardaí and a thousand other things. And they were never to make himself look better in any way, he just had a way of telling stories that made them amusing and everybody laughed a lot in his company.
With Tim Kennelly and John Egan already gone over the river, another great hero now joins them before his time. They were all great footballers on a really great team; they were also hard men on the pitch and sometimes a bit too hard on themselves off it. At least now Páidí can bring them up to date on what they have missed and they will hear it in his own style which will make them laugh a lot. Páidí was a great Irishman as well as a great Kerryman and will be sadly missed by farmers, fishermen and every other strata of society. Sincere sympathy to all the ó Sé family.
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Post by An Tarbh Rua on Dec 16, 2012 21:41:18 GMT
Condolences to Paidi's family, muintir Chorca Dhuibhne and the wider Kerry GAA family. Paidi was indeed a great footballer, a great character and was liked by all who met him even if they were on opposing sides - whether football or politics. Kerry and Ireland is a poorer place for his passing.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
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Post by betfairking on Dec 16, 2012 22:31:14 GMT
Páidí Ó Sé was in the obituaries at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards. It was a very moving gesture and made me very proud to be a Kerry man. Well done to the BBC for acknowledging a true Sporting Legend. RIP Páidí Ó Sé.
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Post by Tadhgeen on Dec 16, 2012 22:52:30 GMT
Sincere sympathies to Paidi's family and friends.
It's a tribute to the man that those of us who never met him or did not know him well feel that we have lost a friend.
His legacy lives on though and will only get stronger.
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Post by lár na páirce on Dec 16, 2012 23:14:28 GMT
Páidí Ó Sé was in the obituaries at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards. It was a very moving gesture and made me very proud to be a Kerry man. Well done to the BBC for acknowledging a true Sporting Legend. RIP Páidí Ó Sé. +1
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Post by Mickmack on Dec 16, 2012 23:52:19 GMT
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Post by Ard Mhacha on Dec 17, 2012 0:15:09 GMT
Páidí Ó Sé was in the obituaries at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards. It was a very moving gesture and made me very proud to be a Kerry man. Well done to the BBC for acknowledging a true Sporting Legend. RIP Páidí Ó Sé. Yes, I seen that. It was a nice gesture. I just realised Paidi was the first man I seen lift Sam, in 1985.
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peig
Senior Member
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Post by peig on Dec 17, 2012 1:56:34 GMT
Suaimhneas sÃoraà ort, a Ph.O.
As the youtube version appears dodgy, I've tried looking for another link to his famous speech in '85 but I've failed. A new upload to youtube or vimeo would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Dec 17, 2012 3:44:24 GMT
Páidí Ó Sé was in the obituaries at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards. It was a very moving gesture and made me very proud to be a Kerry man. Well done to the BBC for acknowledging a true Sporting Legend. RIP Páidí Ó Sé. Here, here.
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Post by kerrystar on Dec 17, 2012 10:39:20 GMT
Nice touch from the BBC.
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Post by kerrystar on Dec 17, 2012 11:08:36 GMT
Did anyone see a documentary last year on TG4 called Fearaibh Fionntra?
A brilliant, simple documentary featuring men from Ventry in their fifties and sixties, including Paidi albeit briefly, talking about their health and lives.
In the week that's in it, I think TG4 would be doing some service by repeating this documentary.
It was great television and I do not think enough people saw it.
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Post by veteran on Dec 17, 2012 11:56:49 GMT
Over the past twelve months we have lost Dr. Jim Brosnan, John Egan, Con Houlihan and Paidi. Heroes all to me. I have a feeling of emptiness deep down inside which I fear may never be filled.
With reference to Paidi. In the midst of all the tributes, I wonder did Weeshie put it best of all when he said it was like having one of the mountains in Kerry removed. Weeshie said another thing which stopped me in my tracks. He posed the question, has anybody ever loved Kerry football more? That reminded me of when my kids were small we regularly holidayed in West Kerry. Needless to say, I made it my business to visit Kruger's pub when Paid was the landlord there and subsequently to Paidi's own pub. Of course the purpose of my visit was to discuss football. Now, most guys in Paidi's position must be sick of bores like me talking about football. You never got that impression with Paidi. It seemed his love for Kerry football was so overwhelming that he felt it was his duty to talk about it to non entity like me. I would go further and say that he would be astonished , indeed offended, if a Kerry man did not want to talk football to him.
When John B. Keane died there were numerous tributes paid to him. Two have stuck in my mind. Professor John A. Murphy described him as "an extraordinary, ordinary man". A local woman, simple in her ways, came up to me in the street on the day of John B's funeral and proclaimed " I suppose Listowel will be only an ordinary town now". Paidi was an extraordinary man and I suppose West Kerry will only be an ordinary peninsula now.
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Post by austinstacksabu on Dec 17, 2012 12:24:05 GMT
Oh Paidi oh Paidi oh Paidi.
Tim, then John, then Paidi.
Heroes, gone, gone too soon.
Leaving behind memories and an empty sadness that the foundations of my youth are eroding away far too quickly to be protected.
Paidi, you were the soul of that Kerry team. Not of the old tradition. Driven to do your best for the Green and Gold and then then driven to enjoy every moment that came your way.
The west will mourn tonight - that rugged wonder of nature will darken earlier.
Enjoy the kick around up stairs with the two lads.
Slan Paidi.
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Post by leftoutside on Dec 17, 2012 12:26:48 GMT
What a legend, will be sadly missed.
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