Glorious careers detailed in Offaly GAA Hall of Fame citations

THE careers of the hall of fame recipients, Paddy Kirwan (hurling) and Brendan Lowry (football) were outlined in the citations read out at the Offaly GAA awards on Friday evening.

They were as follows:

Hurling hall of fame – Paddy Kirwan, Ballyskenach and Birr

Pictured: Hurling Hall of Fame recipient Paddy Kirwan pictured with family and friends after receiving his award at the Offaly GAA Awards Night in the Tullamore Court Hotel standing at back L.- R.Cillian Fennessy, Nicola, Ciaran and Jonathan Kirwan, Ellen Henry and Adrian Brooks with seated Orla, Sandra, Paddy and Cathal Kirwan. 

The provider of some of the most important scores in Offaly and Birr GAA history, the hurling hall of fame recipient played a very significant part in the great breakthrough successes of the early 1980s.

He was a physically strong, hard working, accurate forward on the hurling team that won a first Leinster senior hurling title in 1980, retaining it a year later when they snatched a famous victory from Galway's grasp in the All-Ireland final.

His contribution to Offaly hurling was profound. A native of Ballyskenach, he won a Leinster U21 hurling medal in 1978 and was one of a few of that team who went onto play big parts in the 1980s glory years. He had a terrific game when Offaly won their first Leinster senior hurling title in 1980, scoring an invaluable four points from play in a nerve tingling 3-17 to 5-10 win over Kilkenny.

He also played very well in 1981 and came on as a sub in the 1984 All-Ireland senior hurling centenary final when Cork swamped them in Thurles. He was not there in 1985 when Offaly won a second All-Ireland title and made a brief comeback in 1987 when he played a couple of league games.

Kirwan got two of the most iconic scores in Offaly hurling history. He got a huge late free to earn Offaly a dramatic 3-20 to 6-10 win over Laois in the 1981 Leinster hurling semi-final. Padraig Horan was the Offaly free taker in that era but that free was outside his range and Kirwan went back and nailed it. It was well inside the Offaly half of the field and was one of the most memorable images of those years as they came so close to bowing out, conceding some disastrous goals.

Kirwan was later modest about that score and joined other team mates in labelling the preceding point to level it as Offaly's most important that day – slotted over by the late Pat Carroll, under pressure, and off his weaker side. His free, however, was massive and who knows what would have happened in a replay?

He has lived in Birr for years and transferred to them during the 1980s. He was the goalkeeper when Birr bridged a long twenty year famine when winning the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship in 1991. He also got the winning score in that final against Seir Kieran, sending a last gasp “65” sailing between the posts – it was a tap over compared to the one against Laois a decade earlier but the pressure was huge and he showed nerves of steel.

Birr won their first Leinster club senior hurling title that year and them, Seir Kieran and St Rynagh's engaged in a fantastic rivalry in the 1990s before Birr embarked on a spell of great dominance from 1999 to 2008, when they won their last title. Hurling was very much his game but he also enjoyed playing football and was very effective as Birr won the Junior Football Championship in 1992.

After the end of his playing career, he was a prolific trainer/manager of teams. He managed Offaly minor and U21 hurlers, guiding them to a Leinster minor hurling title in 2000, was a senior selector, he was nominated occasionally as the Offaly senior hurling manager without getting the job and he enjoyed success with a host of club teams, both inside and outside Offaly.

One of Offaly hurling's great personalties, he had a fierce drive to succeed and rightly joins the pantheon of Offaly's greats tonight when we welcome Paddy Kirwan into the hall of fame.

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Football hall of fame – Brendan Lowry, Ferbane

A member of one of Offaly's great footballing families, his induction into the hall of fame is richly deserved.

His long career spanned three decades and he was sensational as Offaly won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title in 1982.

One of the deadliest, most lethal finishers that Offaly has produced, he was a classic corner forward of his time, staying in close to goals, waiting for his chance and pouncing when he got an inch of space.

A brilliant underage talent, he won Leinster U21 football medals in 1977 and 1979. Still a minor in 1977, he made his debut for Offaly senior footballers in 1978. It was in the winter of 1980 when he fully committed to county senior football and his presence was one of the final pieces of Eugene McGee's winning jigsaw. He was in great form as Offaly won the Leinster title in 1981 and reached that All-Ireland final, winning his All-Star award that year.

He continued that great form in 1982, scoring freely all year – the 1-3 he scored in a tough win over Laois and the 1-1 he got in the one point All-Ireland semi-final win when Offaly's dreams so nearly unravelled against Galway were hugely important. In ways, these were trumped by the three excellent first half points in kicked in the All-Ireland final win over Kerry, all scored from almost the same spot.

He was one of three brothers playing that year with older brother Sean, a survivor from the 1972 All-Ireland champions, centre half back, and younger brother, Mick at corner back.

That 1982 team quickly broke up after the win over Kerry with some either going or declining before their time. Lowry was one of the most notable exceptions as he continued playing into the early 1990s, scoring regularly during an era when the wheels quickly came off Offaly and they plummeted into Division 4 football.

He was also brilliant on the great Ferbane team that dominated Offaly football from 1986 to 1994, winning five in a row from '86 to '90. He formed an almost unstoppable full forward line with Paul Mollen in full and Pat Doyle on the other side and they broke the hearts of many a team.

Lowry was the classic opportunist, who stayed close to where he could inflict maximum pain. He was an excellent goal scorer and his speciality was the daisy cutter. While some players loved to go for power and to see the net shake, Lowry knew that the goalkeeper's chances were greatly minimised with the hard low shot, either into the corner or close to him but under his body and he very seldom missed when in one on one with the goalkeeper.

He later managed Westmeath senior footballers and remains one of Offaly's great supporters. Married to Bridget Scanlon, a member of a big, very popular Clara family, they have lived in Clara for decades, rearing their family there and he was a selector for the Clara team that won the Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship title this year.

The golfing exploits of son Shane have brought him a measure of international fame in recent years but in Ferbane and Offaly, his name stands on its own. He is Brendan Lowry, one of the county's greatest footballers, favourite personalities, an All-Star and All-Ireland medal winner, a man who has retained an infectious passion for GAA throughout his life and now a richly deserved inductee into the hall of fame.