Frosses man Paddy Burke's massive contribution to Tir Chonaill Gaels over 50 plus years

Plans are in place to build brand new dressing rooms and playing fields at the Tir Chonaill Gaels grounds at Greenford in London underlining the great progress that has been made by the exiles of Donegal especially over the last 40 years.
Ask any Tir Chonaill Gaels club member about the history of the club and they will point to the winning of the London and British Senior Championships in 1983.
The club was formed in 1962 and there was Junior Championship success the following year. But from then to the senior breakthrough there would have been some tough times with a couple of Intermediate and Junior titles the highlights.
Throughout the history of the Gaels, men from the Parish of Inver have played a huge part from the Brennans at the formation through to the present chairman, Tom Mohan. Also through the period and to this day, one name stands out when talking about Tir Chonaill Gaels and that is another man from the Inver parish, Paddy Burke, who in his own quiet way kept things going and he is heavily linked to every yard of progress.
Talking to the Frosses man, he comes across as the modest man that everyone associated with Tir Chonaill Gaels would portray him. A journeyman footballer, he says he didn't play much before leaving home at the age of 16 and a half in 1966.
The oldest of the Burke clan, "that was the way back then," says Burke.
As for football with St Naul's, he laughs: "We might have had a couple of games at U-14. Most of the time there was just one leather ball, maybe playing against Drumbar."
But his love of Gaelic games was strong and when he arrived in London in 1968, he was drawn towards Tir Chonaill Gaels and that is where he has been ever since, serving in every position and becoming a cornerstone of the club. He is the current President and longest serving member by a long distance.
The names he remembers when he arrived: "Joe Kelly was there; there were a lot of lads from Glenties and Dungloe and Jackie Greene was involved. Barney Coyle was the main man at that time and it would have been all Junior.
"I got pretty much involved during the 1970s and into the '80s," says Burke, who became a main contact for people arriving from Ireland and especially from Donegal.
"Everybody was a contact in those days. There were a lot of boys coming over for the summer," he says.
There would have been a strong Parish of Inver involvement with the club over the years with the Tullys, Mohans and McCreadys, Seamus O'Driscoll and presently Joel McInern from Mountcharles is chairman of the underage branch.
Paddy has a strong opinion that winning the first senior championship in 1983 was the big breakthrough for the club.
"We won the Intermediate in 1981 and the Tipperary Cup in 1982 but the win in the 1983 senior championship was the biggest.
"We hadn't a great team, but we got through anyway," said Paddy, who was team manager.
Asked about the best footballers that went through the club and if he could pick the best Donegal player, Burke is cautious, not wanting to cause any offence.
"God almighty, there were hundreds that went through. Best player, if I mentioned one, I'd be getting 'phone calls. I could talk to you for two hours about players," said Burke, who even to this day has a great knowledge of Donegal players and other players throughout Ireland.
But for players outside Donegal, Paddy was more forthcoming. "Tommy Maguire of Fermanagh was my outstanding player. He played for a good number of years in the 1990s."
As for his own playing days, again the modesty comes through. "I did play, but I was no super star. It would be in the backline in the corner, out of the way."
But while he didn't make any headlines as a player, Burke was to the fore in everything at the club.
"I would have started the underage back in the '80s, in 1986 and that was probably the best thing we ever did. Then we started the ladies so we have teams at all levels there now. Half the senior team are now English born players. It is not like years ago. Those lads are there now as part of the club and they won't leave."
It is easy to see that he is proud of the underage progression. "Oh God definitely. You can't beat the lads you are bringing through yourself and there are a lot of coaches there at the moment."
Burke was also instrumental in the Gaels securing their own grounds in the 1980s, which has also been a huge milestone in their development.
"We were like gypsies, down in the Scrubs and Gladstone Park. We were always moving around. We have our base now since the '80s," said Burke, who praised another Parish of Inver man, Danny Keeney for his part in securing their own grounds.
"God rest Danny Keeney, he was one of the main men. We would have used to train down there with the rugby club and the land became available and it worked out.
"It is great to have our own home. Most of the local schools are in there now and we have a good catchment area. If you go down there on a Friday night in the summer, there could be more than 100 there."
Paddy's sons Noel, Gerald, James and Paul have all played for the club and all live in the London area and he is proud of close family like nephew Shaun, who has won championships in Australia, US, London and Donegal (with Glenswilly) while there is also a family connection with the weekend British Junior Championship final replay when Warwickshire defeated London. His nephew and namesake Paddy Burke was a member of the London panel.
For Paddy, the Gaels is always a labour of love. "I enjoyed every minute of it. As I said to Joel McInern there a few weeks ago, how do you do it? I do it because I love doing it. I'd be the same."
He has seen plenty of characters from the late 1960s and mentions a few of the more recent stalwards including Maurice Carr of Kilcar.
"Maurice is one of the hardest workers. Anything that has to be done, Maurice does it. He is a quiet man but he gets everything done. He's involved with the Ladies, he's involved with the seniors, everything, grounds, head groundsman, he everything, a great bloke.
"Tiny (Brendan Vaughan) is our main photographer, insulting everybody. He would insult the Pope, everybody knows him. They all know him at this stage and every other club know him as well," quips Paddy, who breaks away to talk about an article that he was reading in that morning's Donegal Democrat about the 1996 minor team.
"I was very interested in that. I had forgotten about them Browne boys from Carndonagh. David McGinley played with us over here as well and Michael Hegarty is still playing,"
That is the sort of character that is Paddy Burke, with that great love of Donegal still running strong through his veins.
When you look at the Tir Chonaill Gaels record, winning 16 senior championships after the '83 breakthrough under Paddy, not forgetting all the other improvements under his stewardship, you see the Burke legacy.

Paddy Burke receiving the GAA President's Award from Liam O'Neill in 2014. Picture: Sportsfile

WHAT OTHERS THINK
One of the players who was part of the 1983 breakthrough, Seamus Carr, talks of Paddy's great work but not in the spotlight. "Only for him; he used to go into the pubs on a Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon to collect boys to go out to New Eltham to get 15 to play.
"He kept the team going when we were Junior and Intermediate," said Carr.
"He would be there picking up players at the airport and arranging jobs and flats for them. He was a modest footballer but he always had 15 out on the field. He was also the man to build bridges when there was a disagreement. He was very good to us. He reminds me of what Donal Gallagher of Killybegs does in New York, very diplomatic and working behind the scenes, but running the show at the same time," said Carr, who said there were always stories of players arriving back then who might end up with the wrong club.
"There was the story of Donal Reid and Marty Carlin who came to play for us. They saw Taras playing in the Donegal colours and didn't know that the Gaels played in red and white. So the two boys joined the Taras for the summer," said Carr.

FIRST MAN YOU WOULD RING
"I'm here 35 years and he's always been about. It was him and a few others that started the underage. Any work that's need to be done, he's one of the boys you can call on. He would be one of the first I would ring first and he will always put his name forward," says former Kilcar and All-Ireland U-21 winner Maurice Carr.
"The underage was huge and they have a very good committee there now under Joel McInern.
"Paddy has always a smile on his face. He is one of them boys that is very well liked and very well known throughout the GAA. And the amount of knowledge that man has is unreal, about teams in Ireland, players and teams that I played on that I wouldn't even know. His memory is unreal.
"Paddy would have been one of the first people I met when I came over and there was a big welcome for you, especially if you were from Donegal. He knew all about me and stuff like that. That's the kind of boy he is. He loves the craic, watching the Sunday Game with the boys and is a very proud Donegal man.
"He would also be very positive. People would be giving out about Donegal and he would say 'they are doing their best, doing their best'."

A SPECIAL FRIEND
Current Donegal GAA chairman, Mick McGrath, remembers meeting Paddy shortly after he went to London in 1971. "He became a friend until I left in 1987. He would have been a huge part of keeping the Gaels together," said McGrath, who said it was difficult keeping a team together in the 1970s.
"Paddy would always have encouraged Donegal people to come over and he never really left Donegal. If you were talking to him you would still think that he has never left Frosses.
"We went to an AGM in the 1970s when there was a vote to amalgamate with Tara. I remember Paddy getting up and making a passionate speech to stay on our own. There were nine at the meeting and the vote was 5-4 in favour of staying on our own. Eddie McGinty was there that time," said McGrath.

ALWAYS LOOKS OUT FOR OTHERS
The current Tir Chonaill Gaels chairman is a fellow Frosses man, Tom Mohan, and he remembers first meeting Paddy on the bus to work on his first day in London. "I was just 16 and it was 5.30 on a Monday morning the first time I met Paddy and he said 'Young Mohan, welcome to London'. He has always looked out for others," says Mohan.
"He was the man who started the underage with Willie Tully and that led to the great success from the '90s on. He has served the club in every position and kept things going when there were only small numbers, washing jerseys and keeping everything going.
"Even yet he can be seen working behind the scenes, cleaning dressing rooms and not looking for any recognition for it. He received the President's Award from Liam O'Neill in 2014 for his work for the GAA overseas. He is still President of the club and couldn't say a bad word about anybody. He would say 'ah, he's not a bad lad'.
"Tir Chonaill Gaels would not have survived in the '70s and '80s without Paddy. The contribution by the Burke family has led to the Gaels being the first club to field a homegrown team" said Mohan.

HOME FROM HOME
One of the stories that is typical of the Burke family and Paddy is told by Fr Paul McGeehin, who was a star player for the Gaels in the late '70s and early '80s.
"I went over to London in '79 after we were knocked out of the championship. I met Joe Kelly, who was a sort of recruitment agency for the Gaels, on a Saturday and I was in London on Sunday night. I arrived in London Heuston Station with an address for Paddy Burke and arrived at the Burke home at two in the morning and you would swear we were lifelong friends.
"I was supposed to get a flat but I never left the house. I stayed there every single summer I went over and since. They were so welcoming and Paddy couldn't do enough for me," said Fr Paul, who had the same story as everyone else about Paddy's personality and positivity.
"When everybody else was giving out about somebody, Paddy would never say a bad word about them. Football is in his blood and he lived for the Gaels.
"In my first year over there it wasn't great but then we won an Intermediate and went up to senior and we never looked back," said Fr Paul, who said that after he was ordained he spent a full year in London and played with the Gaels.
"Always when I was over I would stay with Paddy and Marion, it was a home away from home. He lives in Willesden but it is like being home in Frosses. There's Mandy's Irish shop around the corner and that's where everything is bought.
"An absolute gentleman who lives for football and his family," said Fr Paul.

Paddy and Marion Burke with Tony McFadden after Paddy was Donegal Person of the Year in London in 2018. 
Picture: Brendan Vaughan