The death has taken place of the legendary Leitrim footballer Packie McGarty.
The Mohill native, widely described as the greatest footballer ever to emerge from the county, passed away in Dublin. McGarty made his senior debut for Leitrim while still a teenager in 1949 at the age of sixteen and went on to play county football for a total of 22 years until his retirement in 1971.
He was classed as one of the finest forwards of his generation and was a member of the Leitrim junior team beaten by Meath in the 1952 All-Ireland final. He was still only 20 when selected on a Connacht Railway Cup team in 1954 and he went on to play in a total of four Connacht finals.
He had the rare distinction of being the only Leitrim player to be named on the Connacht GAA Team of the Millennium and was well known for playing football outside of Leitrim with clubs in London as well as most notably Round Towers in Clondalkin, Dublin.
Stephen Flynn, secretary of Mohill GAA club says he was an absolute superstar of football :
You can hear the full tribute from Stephen here:
