League of Ireland goalkeeper with international caps

OBITUARY: DINNY LOWRY, KILMESSAN

For many years, Dinny Lowry was a familar face on the street of Kilmessan as he and his dog took their daily constitutional. A former goalkeeper with St Patrick's, Bohemians, and Sligo Rovers football clubs, Dinny and his late wife, Dolores, moved to the banks of the Skane some two decades ago, after he retired from his job with Dubin City Council. They had fallen in love with the village when visiting relatives there.

Dinny also won a senior international cap with the Republic of Ireland in 1962, against Austria in Dalymount Park in Dublin. Regular 'keeper Alan Kelly (father of future goalie Alan Kelly jnr) picked up an injury late in the first half. Dinny, who was playing with Inchicore side St Patrick's Athletic at the time, came off the bench.

“When Alan got injured I remember saying ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be going on’,” Lowry recalled in an interview with the Meath Chronicle in 2008.

“I was passing Charlie Hurley on the way onto the pitch and he said to me, ‘Good luck Paddy’. He didn’t know my name, but that didn’t bother me. In those days the players didn’t meet up until the day before the game or even the morning of the game. There was no such thing as any pre-match preparations.”

The Crumlin native made the breakthrough as a goalkeeper with St Patrick's Athletic where he won a league title in 1955 and and added an FAI Cup medal in 1956 and another in 1961. He twice won the FAI Cup with the Saints and turned out for the club in a European Cup Winners’ Cup game against Dunfermline.

He moved to city rivals Bohemians in 1969, following Tony O'Connell as one of the early professional players with the Gypsies when they ditched their amateur status and was rewarded with another FAI Cup medal in 1970. He later lined out for Sligo Rovers for a period.

When he was signed by Bohs Lowry felt he had hit the jackpot, receiving then the substantial sum of £10 a week as a semi-professional. It was a nice little extra to what he earned with Dublin City Council. There were also occasions when Lowry was selected for the League of Ireland representative side in the 1950s.

He remembered an occasion when the Irish played an English League side packed with superstars including Billy Wright, Nat Lofthouse, John Atyeo and the Ronaldo of the day, Tom Finney. Not surprisingly the Irish lost (0-5).

He spent time with Shamrock Rovers as the team’s goalkeeping coach as well as “bottle man and kit man.” He was at Milltown when Johnny Giles took charge in the late 1970s, and during the glorious 1980s when Rovers dominated the domestic scene. He was still involved with the Hoops until shortly before he moved to Kilmessan.

Paying tribute, St Patrick's Athletic football club said: “It is with great sadness we learn of the passing of one of our greatest ever players, Dinny Lowry. Graduating from our nursery club Bulfin United, Dinny played nearly 20 years with the club winning multiple leagues and FAI Cups. He was a regular for the LOI XI and earned a full Ireland international cap in 1962.”

Shamrock Rovers said: “We were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Dinny Lowry who was a member of the backroom team during the four-in-a-row era of the 1980s. Dinny served under several managers at Milltown and after that up to his retirement from the game. Having begun his League of Ireland career in the early 1950s in goal for St Patrick’s Athletic with whom he won two league championships, Dinny later moved to Bohemians and finished his career with Sligo Rovers. He joined Shamrock Rovers as goalkeeping coach but also performed the role of physio.

“An unassuming type of man, Dinny’s experience in the game was a huge benefit to the Hoops during the period 1983/84 to 1986/87 when the team captured the league title four times in a row.”

Sligo Rovers added: "We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Dinny Lowry. Dinny was an outstanding goalkeeper and will be fondly remembered by all who had the pleasure of watching him play.”

Centenarian and former Republic of Ireland kitman Charlie O'Leary wrote: "I had the privilege of refereeing Dinny on so many occasions and we became good friends. A true gentleman both on and off the pitch.”

Formerly of Perrystown, Dublin 12, Dinny Lowry died on Wednesday at Care Choice Nursing Home, Trim, aged 90. Predeceased by his wife Dolores in 2018, brother Sean, and sisters Kathleen, Detta, Cora, Margaret and Maureen, he is survived by family, Derek, Elaine and Gill; five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild; sisters, Dolores and Nuala; brother, Barry; extended family, friends, and his many colleagues in the League of Ireland. His funeral took place from on the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady, Kilmessan, to the adjoining cemetery, on Monday of this week.