Pádraig Horan: warrior, craftsman, leader, icon

By Kevin Egan

Due to a family camping trip to Lough Ennell in Westmeath (comes highly recommended, particularly if you’re someone who thinks that taking a shower in the morning is too simple, and you want to add layers of logistical challenge to the exercise), last week’s column had to be written early in the week, before the news came through of the passing of Pádraig Horan.

For that reason, it’s only this week that we can pay tribute to a man who was a craftsman, a warrior, a leader and icon to so many.

As a columnist with a limited amount of space each week, acknowledging every Offaly GAA figure that moves on to their eternal reward is a risky endeavor, since there’s a fine line between trying to be respectful and turning a page of the sports section into a weekly list of obituaries.

But then there are a handful of people who transcend such considerations, since their importance to the people of Offaly – not merely to Offaly GAA – is undeniable.

The record books will state that Pádraig Horan captained Offaly to the county’s first ever All-Ireland senior hurling title, and that he played for the Offaly senior team in over 150 league and championship fixtures.

It is recorded that he started in every outfield line, and that in one three-year spell from November 1980 to November 1983, he played in 32 games for the county, scoring in every single one; and those are just a couple of his numerous statistical milestones.

What set Pádraig apart, however, was not anything that could be reduced to a mere data entry point. The players who soldiered alongside him and those who were coached or managed by him were all galvanised by his unique brand of positivity, the quiet assuredness he provided that nothing was impossible, and that whatever obstacles were in the way, you would crash through them because he was going to crash through them with you.

Michael Jordan’s justification for the harsh, often brutal way he treated his fellow players with the Chicago Bulls was that he never asked players to do something that he wasn’t doing himself. And there was plenty of Jordan’s honesty and fire in the way Padraig went about hurling.

Today, the deep, eternal respect and love that Offaly people feel for him stems not so much from what he achieved, but more from his commitment to that principle of leading by example; of being exactly what he asked you to be, and doing everything in his power to help you get there alongside him.

From this grateful Offaly supporter, rest in peace Pádraig, and thank you.