I owe Eamon Harvey everything says Tír Chonaill AC Olympian Kelly McGrory 

Kelly McGrory says she’s lost a friend and mentor following the sad passing of Tír Chonaill Athletics Club stalwart Eamon Harvey. 

The Laghey native - who competed in the 4x400m relay alongside Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley and Phil Healy at the 2024 Paris Games - says Eamon was central to her realising dream of becoming an Olympian. 

Among the litany of roles Harvey held across his decades-long career was coach of the Irish team at the Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as the World Championships. 

But it was his personal touch and attention to the smallest of detail, back home at grass roots level in Donegal Town, that left the biggest mark on McGrory. 

“How will I remember Eamon? That’s such a vast question. When I initially heard of his passing, like everyone else, I was heartbroken. 

“I’m going through injury at the moment and I didn’t line up at the Nationals at the weekend. But I think what Eamon always had for his athletes was an unwavering belief. 

“Looking back on everything I shared with him, I owe it to him to push through, to not give up on the sport. 

“That’s what Eamon means to me. I’ll be keeping Eamon alive in my heart and soul any time I’m on the track. 

“Beyond that, to see someone so passionate in their work was a real lesson to experience. And beyond my sporting career, I’ll do my best to bring that into whatever I do down the line”. 

McGrory remembers walking through her local club’s doors for the first time as an eight-year-old girl. 

Reflecting on the bond she’d eventually forge with Harvey, she says it far transcended that of just coach and athlete. 

“It’s a really sad time. Anyone that had the pleasure of being coached by Eamon or worked with him will understand just how big a loss this is. 

“I was just eight years old when I joined Tír Chonaill Athletics Club. It was actually St John Bosco at the time. 

“He watched me go through injuries as a teenager, watched me fall in and out of love with the sport. 

“I was so grateful that Eamon eventually watched me become an Olympian. It was a full-circle moment because Eamon was a huge part in that.

“It felt like a repayment of sorts. Raising me as a young athlete, he helped bring me to that moment, stepping onto the stage at the Olympics.   

“I’m incredibly grateful for that”. 

Eamon was laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon at Clar Cemetery after his funeral mass had taken place at St Mary’s Church, Killymard. 

McGrory says looking back at the times they’ve shared, good and bad, Eamon’s ability to find solutions to every single issue that ever cropped up, allowed her the opportunity to put her absolute best foot forward on the track. 

“It’s a sad time but it’s also a reflective time. I was just thinking back to my younger years and I just remember Eamon as a mentor and educator. He was so unique. 

“He was a coach but he had those warm characteristics that forged such tight bonds with the athletes. 

“Coming in the door as a young boy or girl, he had that exceptional ability to make you feel at home and welcome. 

“His strength as a coach, and I’ll again use the word mentor as the term ‘coach’ just doesn’t do what Eamon was to all of us justice. 

“It didn’t matter if you were nine years old or 19, he was as much invested in your journey as the next person. 

“He’d such belief in us, more belief than we ever had in ourselves”.

Pinpointing what felt like a real threshold moment in her life, McGrory remembers the strain of attempting to juggle her Leaving Certificate examinations with her athletics. 

As usual, Eamon came to the rescue.  

“A typical coach will give you the tactical advice you need for your event but Eamon looked beyond that. 

“He looked beyond the track and he was invested in your journey as a person. I remember sitting down with Eamon going into my Leaving Cert year. 

“I was so disorganised but Eamon had this timetable for me to juggle everything I needed to get done outside of my studies. 

“To take that time, to sit down and do that for a teenager, he just wanted the absolute best for me. 

“He just cared. He took the time to help get me to where I needed to get to those weeks where there was real pressure, real weight. That’s what made him so special”. 

McGrory admits she sometimes wondered just how Harvey was able to get so much done as he seemed to be involved in every sporting organisation and club in the community. 

That multi-layered contribution as well as so many other things McGrory admits she wasn’t aware of, was also remembered upon reflection this week. 

“My mum used to say that same thing, ‘Eamon is always on the go’. I know we all have the same 24 hours in our days, but Eamon seemed to have even more!

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“He was involved in so many things in the community. Like, I’m reading so many tributes and there are things that I didn’t even know about. 

“He had so much knowledge to offer and he was involved in so many other sports like the GAA. 

“He loved sport and he loved helping people. He could see what sport brought to young people’s lives. 

“I just feel blessed to have grown up with someone like that in my life, in our community. He was High Performance before any of the rest of us even knew what that even represented. 

“He was so dedicated and the amount of work he got through and what he’s achieved, it’s left an unforgettable mark”.