Garrymore GAA legend Bertie McHugh laid to rest

THE late Bertie McHugh has been remembered as a ‘gentleman’ with a lifelong association with his beloved Garrymore GAA Club.

A large crowd gathered in St Colman’s Church in Claremorris today (Tuesday), where Bertie’s love of family, football and decency were honoured and remembered.

The Garrymore jersey, the red geansaí he took so much pride in over his 87 years, was brought up to the altar as a symbol of his life.

A clock presented to him by his CIE colleagues for his 30 years’ service was also presented, as was a family photograph to symbolise his love of family and a measuring tape symbolising his construction skills.

Also among the gifts was a plaque presented him by the Mayo Gaelic Football club in New York for his contribution to Gaelic football during his time in America.

Born in 1936 - the year the Garrymore GAA was formed and the year Mayo first won the All-Ireland - Bertie played with Garrymore from his youth and served as the club’s secretary at just 17 years of age.

With no secondary school education, Bertie went to work after leaving primary school.

He later left for America, where he worked in construction in New York.

Bertie became immersed in the local GAA scene and fundraised to purchased the famed Exiles Cup – which ran successfully in South Mayo for several decades before its retirement in 2013.

But Garrymore never left Bertie.

^{The late Bertie McHugh (Pic: RIP.ie)}

In 1968, he returned to Mayo where he ran a successful bar in Claremorris and took employment with the CIE.

He rekindled his lifelong love of Garrymore GAA Club by becoming a driving force in the development of the club’s facilities throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

During that time, he served as chairperson, secretary, PRO, county board delegate and even ran the club’s bar.

He later served as secretary of South Mayo GAA.

On the sideline, Bertie managed the Mayo club in New York during his time in America, later managing his native Garrymore to a county Intermediate title in 1969.

A widely respected figure in Garrymore and Mayo, Bertie served as President of Mayo GAA and was given the honour of officially opening Garrymore’s new car park in 2022.

Throughout his life, he was an ever-present figure at games, be it involving Garrymore, Mayo or St Colman’s College.

Even as his health failed in his final days, Bertie was looking at social media kept abreast of all updates on various games.

Speaking at his funeral, his son TJ said his father had touched his family’s lives ‘in a profound way’.

“Family was everything for him,” said TJ, who described Bertie as a ‘very encouraging’ father’.

“He does leave a legacy behind him; kindness, love, dedication, honesty, loyalty. And while he is no longer with us, his spirit lives on in the cherished moments we all shared with him.”

Bertie’s son Danny – who is currently Chairman of Garrymore GAA – extended thanks to all who had helped his father and the family in recent times, adding that his father was a man ‘no enemies’.

Fr Peter Gannon described Bertie as ‘a very gifted man’ with ‘great organisational skills’.

“He had a huge determination to get a job done, and this, of course being very evident in his commitment and support of Garrymore club and its teams over the year, it’s club, the running of things and the heart he put into it,” said Fr Gannon.

“But Bertie had another qualification that aided everything that he took on, and that was that he was simply a nice man, he was a gentleman, he was a great believe in people and their abilities and he was a confidence booster as well to so many people over the years.”

Bertie McHugh was inducted into the Mayo News Sport’s Hall of Fame in 2020.

He has been laid to rest in St Colman’s cemetery in Claremorris.

Bertie is missed by his loving wife Teresa, daughter Mary, sons TJ, Danny, Joe and John, son in law Frank, daughters in law Catherine and Emily, Joe’s fiancée Mara, John’s fiancée Louise, grandchildren Dylan, Dayna, Ella, Charlie, Isobel, Erienne, Conàn, Dwayne, Kalel and Thea, sister Peggy, nephews, nieces, neighbours and a wide circle of friends.

Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.