Ollie Horgan's funeral mass hears of 'an incredible, passionate and honest person'

The life of the late Ollie Horgan was remembered as his Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Church of Christ the King, Salthill, this afternoon.

A teacher at St Eunan’s College in Letterkenny since 1989, Ollie’s humility, honesty and humour were recounted in his native Galway, where he passed away last Thursday after a year-long battle with cancer.

Fr Ciaran Harkin, parish priest of Aughaninshin in Letterkenny, concelebrated alongside Fr Damien Nejad, chaplain of St Eunan’s College; Fr Michael McLaughlin, Parish Priest of Salthill; Fr Des Walsh, chaplain to the Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins, who was in attendance, and Fr Michael Carney, former President of St Eunan’s College.

Staff and students from St Eunan’s College were in Salthill, as well as Loreto Convent in Letterkenny, where his wife Anita teaches, as well as friends and family, football officials, players, management and staff from Galway United, Finn Harps, Fanad United and Salthill Devon, and wider afield.

Ollie, the son of the late Joe and Bernie and brother of Martin, was mourned by Anita and their children Emma, Anthony, Brendan, Conor and David, sister Mary and brother Ger, and was laid to rest in Rahoon Cemetery.

“On behalf of the family, thanks for all the warm messages and tributes over the last number of days,” his son Brendan said in the eulogy that had everyone in stitches and, equally, tears.

“And to the doctors, nurses and staff at University Hospital in Galway and the VHI for all the care they gave over the last few weeks.

“Dad was born in Galway on January 5, 1968, to his parents Joe and Bernie, the youngest of four children - Mary, Ger and Martin, who we only lost a year and a half ago. He missed Martin dearly. Dad went to primary school in Salthill and then onto the Bish (St Joseph's Patrician College).

“His honesty was evident from a young age. My granny told me a story years ago when he was in town and she bought him an anorak that she probably shouldn’t have, making him promise that he wouldn’t tell his dad. He said he wouldn’t, and when he got home and landed in the sitting room, he told his dad: ‘We didn’t buy any anorak.’

“Growing up, dad played soccer with Salhtill Devon and Gaelic football with what’s now Salthill-Knocknacarra. I’ve been told that as a player, Dad would’ve been more than happy to take man and ball with him and over the last days, I’ve met so many of his past opponents, and they all seem to have the same limp.

“At UCG [University College Galway], he passed all of his exams in Civil Engineering, although I think some of the answers were suspiciously similar to the other college crowd. He was offered a job to go and work in the Channel Tunnel, he often reminded us. But he turned it down in order to take a sports scholarship at UCG and to continue to play football and do an HDip. That’s probably part of the reason the Channel Tunnel is still intact.

“He struggled with DoneDeal. At one stage, we had nine ride-on lawnmowers and only one that worked. He loved his carvery lunches and was known to have two in one day. 

“He didn’t care how he was perceived by others. There’s no way to capture everything here in just a few minutes. Maybe there are a few more stories we can tell later at the Salthill Hotel, ones that we can’t say on an altar.

“In 1989, he moved to Letterkenny for a job in St Eunan’s College, and he met my mother Anita, it was in the Central Bar. He taught science and maths initially, but moved more towards PE. Whether that was because of his love of sport or because of the maths class grades, I’ll leave that for you to decide.

“He won a number of All-Irelands and he liked the school and liked his colleagues. There was never a dull day, whether it was dropping teachers’ cars in the middle of the football pitch or slagging the principal at staff meetings, he always kept the craic going.

“He won’t mind me saying now that one day on the way into school, we had an incident with the lollipop man. Well, we hit the lollipop man, who spent a few seconds on the bonnet of the car, let’s say. He was fine, but it was a long while before we could tell our mother that one.

“When he first came to Donegal, he played for Fanad United for a few years but did his cruciate ligament. He came back only to do it again a short time afterwards. It was the end of his playing but it pushed him into management, to stay involved.”

With Fanad United from 2004, Ollie, alongside Colm McGonigle, won three Ulster Senior League titles and two League Cups, as well as managing the Irish Schoolboys international team alongside Sean Carr.

“He really enjoyed that and watching young players progress,” Brendan continued. “When he got the Finn Harps job in 2013, it was to the surprise of many but over the course of nine years, they got promoted twice, relegated twice and they spent six of the nine years in the Premier Division.

“They often got results at Finn Park they probably shouldn’t have but they often managed to survive. He often told the story of a night they were hammered by Dundalk and he was on the road back down to Galway to see his parents and passing through Tuam, he was pulled over for speeding. He said he sat in the car thinking ‘I have nine penalty points now and Finn Harps have eight on the table. That’s surviving at the bottom’.

“In 2023, he came to Galway United [as assistant manager] and they got promoted in the first year and had a decent season then in the Premier. At one stage, he had more yellow cards than any player in the league but I’m told he wasn’t at fault for any of them.

“Dad was very strong and mentally tough and never afraid to call out an injustice. He wasn’t afraid to do what he thought was right. He did a lot for people, whether it was sitting with injured players in A&E or students in the classroom or driving people here and there. He never did it for something in return. He was a good father to us all. He had time for everyone and was so unapologetically himself.”

John Caulfield, the manager of Galway United FC, knew Ollie for 25 years and spent three hours on Sunday night with Ollie’s colleagues from St Eunan’s in Letterkenny and football circles in Donegal.

“He is the most intelligent person I ever met,” he said. “I was on Uefa pro-licence courses with him. We shared some stories last night, incredible stories.

“We met his parents one time, in Salthill, and I was managing Cork and he was with Harps. His mother said ‘can you not be like that Caulfield man and not get in so much trouble?’.

“A year or two later, Cork and Waterford were playing a match and there were five or six people sent off and I unfortunately was one of them. It appeared on the Six-One News the following evening and much to Ollie’s delight, he told his mother that he never made the six o'clock news!

“People in the last couple of days invented a word called Ollie-ness and we all knew Ollie. His work was second to none. Ollie was a phenomenal person and we’re blessed to have known such an incredible, passionate and honest person. Farewell, my friend.”

Fr Harkin continued: “As Brendan said, Ollie was a man who was himself. A man who didn’t care how he was perceived. He wasn’t consumed by winning the approval of others.

“He had a profound acceptance of who he was. He seemed extremely comfortable in his own skin, combined with a high intelligence and a phenomenal memory and great insights, and had a kind and compassionate, caring heart. All this with a real gift for reading situations of where people were at.

"There were countless acts of kindness. He sat with those who struggled with math or some who had a home life in which they might’ve struggled with poverty and he would take the necessary remedial action.

“All, of course, under the radar. He didn’t want it noticed. That was the same with his faith. He prayed regularly, being spotted going in and out of the church for a short visit.

“He’d be in the Church of the Irish Martyrs, and the car might still be running outside. He was probably in a rush and praying for a good and just referee. You could say, another unanswered prayer.

“He never wanted to be in the top seat. He had a natural humility that probably flowed from Falysford Road here in Salthill in a home where he was shaped and formed by his loving parents Joe and Bernie, and through the sibling interaction, maybe rivalry, with Mary, Gerard and Martin.

“He was a messer with pranks and divelment and he loved to party, tell the stories and play piano, and the Ollie who used to borrow my hat, without telling me, only to find it months later in the back of his car. He made such a positive contribution to so many in sport, bringing positivity to players and fans, as he did at school.

“And to Ollie the family man, who, along with Anita, brought such a loving family unit, who are making positive contributions. Ollie loved life and the drama of the sports field, getting the best out of players and the hunt and chase for new signings. 

“To us who knew him, he was without doubt magnificent company. Any time you were in his company, every conversation you felt your life was enriched. You felt better for it.”

“The last 13 or 14 months have been terribly difficult for the family. The terminal prognosis he was given at the outset, for Ollie, who loved life, was crushing.

“However, as we know, he was determined to put up a fight and took all the treatment, as severe as it was, to prolong his life. He carried on as long as possible. His passing away, in his sleep, was in many ways a relief. His suffering was at an end. He ran the race and kept the faith. We thank God for the gift of his life.”