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Warm tributes paid to Danny Dowling at Wicklow GAA meeting

“Danny was our main warrior on the field, and a great character off the field. A huge void has been left in the community”

The Avondale CC players pause for a moment's silence in honour of the late Danny Dowling at a schools final last week.

Brendan Lawrence
© Wicklow People

The untimely and devastating passing of Danny Dowling of the Ballinacor GAA Club in recent weeks was the first item to be discussed at the recent Wicklow GAA County Board meeting in Echelon Park Aughrim.

Wicklow GAA Chairman Damien Byrne said that the Ballinacor footballer was an “absolute gentleman”.

“It has been a couple of tough weeks for a couple of clubs, but none more so than the Ballinacor club,” he began. “The losing of stalwart Danny Dowling is a huge loss to his club, community and to the county.

“Anybody who knew him, he always met you with a smile, even on the field. I can say from refereeing, whatever happened on the field was left on the field. He was an absolute gentleman off it.

“Huge sympathies to his family and to his club.

“And also, to the Glenealy club, the loss of Bernie Byrne who played in goals for the county and club, and then they had a sudden death at the weekend as well. We are thinking about those clubs.

“We’re all in this together as a unit, and it’s great to see the support that clubs give to each other. Whatever happens on the field happens, but when something like that happens in Wicklow, it’s an unbelievable county. You go to the funeral, and you see the support from every club. I want to complement every club in that regard,” he added.

Ballinacor GAA Club delegate Stephen Arthur replied to Damien Byrne, saying that Danny Sowling was the club’s “main warrior”.

“The loss we have suffered is unbelievable,” he began. “Danny was our main warrior on the field, and a great character off the field. A huge void has been left in the community.

“I’d like to acknowledge the support we got from every club, the phone calls, the texts, those who turned up in their jerseys, we really, really appreciated it.

“We’d like to acknowledge yourself and Chris (O’Connor) for your support.

“It really shows that the GAA is a very close community. While we might knock lumps out of each other on the pitch. That man we carried to his grave today, he was the ultimate warrior, he’d knock lumps out of you, and he’d walk over to you, and he’d pull you up off the ground, slap you on the back and away he’d go again.

“We just want to acknowledge your support and tell you how much it was appreciated,” he added.