The late Con Ryan: A tribute from Navan O'Mahonys

Navan O'Mahonys stalwart and Tipperary native Con Ryan passed away on Wednesday and his club released a fine tribute to the man on their Facebook page yesterday, it read.

It was with heavy hearts this morning that we learned of the death of Con Ryan in his beloved Tipperary.
Con was a well-known presence to everyone in the club with his trademark cap and pipe and céili music blaring from the “wireless” in the car.
From an early age, his life was dedicated to the promotion of Gaelic Games, culture, music and language. This began in his hometown of Golden in County Tipperary before he moved to the capital where he worked in The King’s Hospital School. Here he became involved with Na Fianna as well as the Junior Hurling Board where he oversaw the massive expansion of underage hurling in Dublin. The 32 years of service given to Dublin GAA were massively appreciated in the capital, as evidenced by the Gradam an Uachtaráin award he received and his induction into the Friends of Dublin Hurling Hall of Fame.
Con joined us in 2004 and Dublin’s loss was most certainly Navan’s gain. Often the first to arrive in the morning and last to leave at night after ensuring everything was locked up and as it should be, much of Con’s work was done behind the scenes and away from the limelight. His organisational skills were to the fore during his time in Navan – from scheduling of pitches to gate collections, from organising the scoreboard to paying referees. Con also represented the club at Minor Board and would be seen sitting inside the green gate of Páirc Tailteann whenever there was a game in HQ.
Con visited every GAA ground in County Meath in his time here and if there was an evening that he wasn’t in our own club grounds you could rest assured he would be on the side-line of another supporting one or other of our teams. Never one to mince his words, Con was always willing to share his opinion. He was the go-to man if a query arose about rules and could quote An Treoir Oifigiul at will.
Ill health forced Con to leave Navan and in 2016 he returned to his beloved home county of Tipperary. He kept in touch with the friends he made in Navan and stayed up to date with local results on Teletext. In February of this year at our Dinner Dance, the club presented Con with a testimonial in acknowledgement of his years of service. Padraic O’Brien paid tribute to Con who then received a standing ovation from all present before Joe Cassells presented the testimonial.
Con will be sorely missed by his family and wide circle of friends.

Codladh sámh, a chara.

Funeral Arrangements to follow

Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.