Death of former Offaly footballer

The death has taken place of an Offaly football hero from the 1960s. Ballinamere man, Peter Daly was a key member of the first great Offaly football side – the squad that won the Leinster Senior Football Championship for the first time in the early 1960s.
Peter Daly won Leinster Senior Football Championship medals with Offaly in 1960 and 1961 and he was centre half forward on the team that lost to Down in the 1961 All-Ireland final.
He was an important member of that team. He played 25 league and championship games for Offaly from 1959 to 1962. He made his debut in a league win over Wicklow in 1959 and his last appearance was a league defeat by Louth in October 1962.
He didn't play in the first Leinster final win, against Louth in 1960 but started at midfield in the earlier championship win over Westmeath and came on as a sub in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Down.
He nailed down the centre half forward berth for all Offaly's championship games in 1961 as they went agonisingly close to a first All-Ireland win against Down in front of a record attendance in Croke Park.
Daly scored an early goal in the All-Ireland final against Down as Offaly took a grip on the game before the Northerners took control as it wore on.
Unfortunately, 1961 and his Offaly career ended with a cloud for Daly as a row erupted over a controversial tour to America in October 1962. Refused permission by Central Council to travel to the USA in 1961, Offaly got the go ahead for their 1962 trip to New York. New York GAA and Central Council were at loggerheads at that time – things thawed in 1962 with controversial, legendary New York GAA figurehead John Kerry O'Donnell attending GAA congress that year.
Sadly, there was another bitter sting in the tail for Offaly over the omission of Peter Daly from the travelling party. Then based in the Army at Kickham Barracks in Clonmel, he felt strong enough to write to local newspapers about a suggestion that he had “cried off” the trip for work reasons. He stated that he had been initially told he couldn't get off duty but was then granted leave and informed the County Board. He wrote that he contacted Offaly GAA secretary Rody O'Brien and was “dumfounded when he informed me that another player was being sent in my place and furthermore that he was not prepared to do anything which would necessitate changing his arrangement again”.
The aggrieved player outlined that he drove to Birr to speak to the chairman Fr Edmund Vaughan and was told that they were not prepared to take the option of either asking his substitute to stand down or bringing an extra player. He hoped that a meeting of the County Board or selection committee would be called to consider his case but “absolutely nothing had been done”. He went on to thank Tullamore and Ballinamere clubs for generously offering to sponsor his trip but said he could not feel justified in accepting it.
Peter Daly did not play for Offaly again after that October but left great memories from his time in the jersey and his ability as a footballer.
He won a Junior Hurling Championship medal with Ballinamere in 1959 and senior hurling with Tullamore the same year. He moved away from home at a young age after joining the Army but continued to play for Ballinamere for a number of years in the 1960s and they appreciated his dedication in an era when they were often struggling to field teams.
Throughout his life, he retained a great interest in his native area and county. After Shane Lowry won the British Open in 2019, Peter and his wife Ann made the long journey up from Clare to Esker Hills Golf Club to join the local celebrations – he told wellwishers that he felt a powerful urge to be up on home turf that evening to celebrate the greatest individual victory by an Offaly man.
A native of Ballykilmurray, he was an Army Colonel and lived in Clarecastle, Clare.  Beloved husband of Ann and proud and loving father of Adrienne, he is also survived by his grandchildren Yasmin, Peter and Steven, great-grandchildren Logan and Scott, son-in-law Carlo, Yasmin's partner Wayne, sister Maura, brothers John and Mal, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends.