Tributes paid to Cork star Teddy McCarthy at funeral – ‘a humble and kind man who never sought the limelight’

The 57-year-old Glanmire All Ireland winner died suddenly on Tuesday evening and tributes have continued to flow from sporting comrades, political leaders and others since then.

Mr McCarthy remains the only player to win All-Ireland senior hurling and football medals in the same year, when Cork rose to the top in both codes in 1990.

Father Pat Fogarty, co-parish priest of Glanmire, said entire community was “stopped in their tracks” upon hearing the news of Teddy’s sudden and untimely death.

“It was like a dark cloud descending over our community here in Glanmire, throughout the county, the country and beyond,” he said.

“And bringing with it a wave of emotions, shock, disbelief, sadness, and as the reality of the dreadful situation started to sink in and give way to grief and sadness, intense pain, heartache and a huge void, our thoughts and prayers then turned to those who will miss Teddy the most.

“My sincere sympathies to you Oonagh, his daughter Sinead, his sons Cian and Niall, to his adored grandchildren, you could never underestimate the joy and pride you brought your grandad, Tiernan and Joey.”

Fr Martin Barry, a native of Glanmire and a family friend, said Teddy was most noted for the “spring in his step and leap into the air”.

Tánaiste and Cork native Micheál Martin was in attendance along with President Michael D Higgins aide-de-camp Captain Paul O'Donnell, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar aide-de-camp Claire Mortimer and former president of the GAA Sean Kelly.

Fr Pat said Teddy was “so famous and so well known, admired and respected” throughout the country.

He added that Mr McCarthy was a very “humble and kind man who never sought the limelight”.

A number of symbols were brought to the altar to represent Teddy’s historic GAA career, including the Liam MacCarthy Cup, the Sam MaGuire Cup, a football, hurl and sliotar, Cork football and hurling jerseys, and the jerseys of Sarsfields Hurling Club and Glanmire Football Club.

Family gifts were also brought forward including the two jerseys worn by Teddy during Cork’s historic dual win in 1990, the two medals from the 1990 All-Ireland wins and a framed photo of his mother Mary.

His son Cian thanked everyone for their continued support during this difficult time. He said Teddy’s legacy will live on through his family and his two grandsons.

“I was thinking should I write stuff down, should I do this, should I do that, and I said realistically no because Teddy never followed a script anyway,” he said.

“So, I said I’d try and speak from the heart because that’s something he would have done himself.

“I could go on and on about all the games he played but everyone knows all those stories. I just wanted to say a few things about the last five or 10 years, especially when his grandkids were born, my two sons.

“He really mellowed out over those few years, we joked about it at home but all his life he sacrificed everything he had to play GAA. But when my two lads were born, he really put time into them.

“Teaching them how to play hurling and football, and he used to even give out to me for giving out to them.

“It was great to see because he really took pride in it, he loved hurling and football and to see his grandkids getting a kick out of it and carrying through his legacy to another generation, he was really proud of that.

“Last Monday, it was kind of a funny day because we were all with him. He came to our game and seen us play. We had few pints after, I think it was a fitting day for everything he stood for.

“Playing a game, watching a game, going out after and dissecting the game. That is what it was all about to him.

“We will drive on now and stand tall because that’s exactly what he done for all of us.”

McCarthy won two All-Ireland senior football medals, six Munster medals and an All-Star. In his career with the Cork senior hurlers, he also won two All-Ireland medals, three Munster titles and one National Hurling League.

His club career saw him line out for Sarsfields hurlers and Glanmire footballers. When he died, he was the serving vice-chairman of the Sarsfields.