Love of sport has characterised adopted Offaly man's life

I was born Padraig Pearse in 1937 in Whitehall, Dublin. Six months after I was born our family moved to Buncranna, Co. Donegal as my father, a garda and was transferred. I spent the first 10 years of my life there and to this day still have a slight Donegal twang. The family then moved to Dunboyne, Co. Meath in 1947. There were 5 of us in the family; two brothers Kevin and Aidan and two sisters Maureen and Nuala. My sister Maureen passed away a few years ago but I meet the rest of my family regularly. If you asked me now where I’m from, I would tell you I am still a proud Meath man. I went to school in Dunboyne and played on the football team. In 1949 when Meath won the All-Ireland I had the pleasure of leading the team across the county border between Dublin and Meath as I was the captain of the U14 team. I played both hurling and football for Meath at minor, junior and senior. I was also a youths Boxing champion.

In 1965 I married the love of my life Brighidín Hardiman and blessed with 7 children, Kevin, Shelly, Oonagh, Sarah, Enda, Geraldine and Ginny. We started out in Leixlip and then onto Maynooth, Co.Kildare. For many years I worked in Irish Meat Packers in Leixlip as dispatch manager which involved traveling to many parts of the world to manage the shipments. The stories I could tell from some of those places would make a book. There is no doubt though that traveling opens the mind and I met many wonderful people during that time.

Sport has always been a big part of my life, I had stopped playing football but wanted to try something different. A group of us that I worked with decided to enter a rugby competition for business and this was the beginning of Barnhall Rugby Club in 1969. The club is now one of the most successful clubs in Ireland. With my children I wanted to instil my love of sport so they joined Dunboyne Athletic Club as there was no club in Maynooth at the time. This lead myself and other parents to form Maynooth Athletic club for the local kids and to introduce them to Community Games. I coached in the club and also took part as a runner. I ran many Dublin City Marathons and myself and Brighidin were results officials at the very first Dublin City Marathon.

Once all the children had finished school myself and Brighidin decided it was time for us to up sticks once more and opt for a slower pace of life. In 1998 we landed in Ballinvalley, Killeigh. When viewing the house, myself and my son Enda went for a drink in Doyles pub and that's what sealed the deal from the welcome that we got. We have made great friends and feel very much part of the Killeigh community. Myself and Brighidin loved having the sing songs in the pub. Brighdin was a great singer and we loved to dance.

As I said I loved my sport, one thing I always kept up was golf. I always loved to get put for a round. I joined the Killegh Golf Society and never looked back since. Myself and Brighidion would have gone on many Killeigh outings but what goes on tour stays on tour. I had a knee replacement when I was 81, I made sure I did all my rehab work to get back out on those greens. I am playing better than ever, perhaps I could have been a pro! I helped coach the Killeigh ladies football and camogie teams a few years ago and we had great success both on and off the pitch celebrating our wins and losses.

Sadly Brighidín passed away in 2014 and I miss her greatly. Fortunately my daughters Shelly and Ginny along with my grandson Jody now live in Killeigh. It’s great to see Jody being a real part of the community, attending the local school and playing on the football, hurling and soccer teams. For a small village like Killeigh there is something for everyone but having a community centre is an integral part of any community, a focal point in which people can gather together, great for clubs and societies. A meeting place for everyone to connect, something which the last two years has shown is vital for our health and wellbeing so I wish the committee success in their endeavors.

Reflecting on all my travels and the places we have lived but happy now to call Killeigh home and couldn’t dream of being anywhere else.

Killeigh Community Centre Development Association needs your support! If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a fantastic new three-bedroom house in Enfield valued at €355,000 and support our fundraising efforts, please visit www.winahouseinenfield.com