Sudden Loss

at

This afternoon.

Kn writes:

Having seen the many reports of athletes collapsing and some dying in various sports recently, I thought it would be beneficial to see if the same thing is happening in GAA.

The unexpected death of any club athlete usually receives prominent local and often even national press coverage, befitting the GAA’s place at the heart of community life on the island.

Below is a list of all reported deaths by heart attacks, sudden deaths, unexpected deaths or deaths after unspecified short illnesses for all male and female GAA players and referees under 50, between 2018 until this month.

This does not include deaths after long illnesses or accidents. Nor does it include other sports. Recent reports from 2021-22 are short on detail regarding cause of death and do not give ages in many cases.

Finally, this is not meant to provoke outrage, merely a conversation that probably needs to be had.

2018:

January: (48), Naomh Comhghail GAA Club, County Antrim – dies from heart attack.
January:  (12), Bray Emmets GAA Club, County Wicklow – dies after collapse at home.
February:(14), Ballygalget GAA Club, County Down – dies suddenly.
September: (38), Tir na Nog GAA Club, County Antrim – dies suddenly.
November: Eoin Byrne (18), Clonmore GAA Club, County Carlow – dies tragically.

2019

March:(20) St Mary’s GAA, Granard, county Longford – dies suddenly.
May: (20s) Bective Cannistown GAA Club, County Meath -Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.
September: (17) Oldcastle GAA Club, County Meath – dies suddenly.
September: (19) St Patrick’s Grammar School, Downpatrick, Northern ireland – dies suddenly.

2020

February:  (30s) Clann nan Gael GAA Club, County Roscommon –  cardiac arrest.
March: (44) Creggs GAA Club, County Roscommon –  dies suddenly
March:  (29) St Brigid’s Kiltoom GAA Club, County Roscommon – dies suddenly
October: (33), Na Fianna GAA Club, County Tyrone – dies suddenly
October: (31), Killarney Legion GAA Club, County Kerry – dies after being taken ill at work.

2021

July: (16),  Lisnaskea Emmetts GAA Club, County Fermanagh – dies suddenly.
July:  (teens-20s), Drumgath GAA Club, County Down – dies suddenly.
July: (teens-20s), Beagh GAA Club, County Galway – dies unexpectedly
August: (35), Silverbridge Harps GFC, County Armagh – dies suddenly.
September: (40s), Colligan GAA Club, County Waterford – dies suddenly.
October: Conor Montague (teens-20s) St Paul’s GAA Club, County Laois – dies unexpectedly.
December : Sarah Mullen (23), Good Counsel GAA Club, County Dublin – dies suddenly.

2022:

January: (teens-20s), Drung GAC, County Cavan – dies suddenly.
February:  (40s), Stabannon Parnells GAC, County Louth – dies suddenly.
February: (32), County Down, founder of Shunde Gaels in Guangdong– dies suddenly
February:  (19), Glynn Barntown, County Wexford – dies suddenly.
March: (20s), St Vincent’s GAC and Castleview FC, County Cork – dies unexpectedly.
March: (20s), Fr Sheehy’s GAC, County Tipperary – dies unexpectedly.
March: (40s), Charleville Kilbeggan GAC, County Offaly – dies unexpectedly.
March:  (20s), Fuerty GAA, County Roscommon – died tragically.
March:  (40), Ballyhale Shamrocks GAC, County Kilkenny –  suspected heart attack
April: (22), Ballyea GAC, County Clare – dies suddenly.
April:  (20s) Westport GAC, County Mayo – dies suddenly.
April:  (20s) (Lurgan Ladies GFC), County Cavan, a Long QT sufferer, dies unexpectedly.
April:  (21), Curry GAA Club, County Sligo, dies suddenly
April:  (20s) John Mitchels GFC – dies tragically.
May:  (30) Graigcullen GAA, Co Laois, dies suddenly
May: (30s-40s), Bord na nOg Acla GAC, County Mayo – dies unexpectedly.

Previously: Heartbreaking

Pic: Sky Sports

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43 thoughts on “Sudden Loss

  1. Sara

    Nothing statistically unusual about this. Pre-covid the figures are pretty much the same. The vaccine has saved millions. But hey, lizardworldgovernment and all that.

    1. Mr .T

      Eh?
      Pre-covid average is around 7 per year, 6 months into 2022 and we have 17.
      This is statistically unusual

      1. Sara

        No it’s not. Someone’s having difficultly reading the secular trend of deaths in this State. But hey, reptilealiengovermentwakeupsheeple and all that.

        1. GiggidyGoo

          So, what is your ‘reading’ of secular trends of death in the GAA as put forward above (that’s what the article is about by the way)? Easy to make a statement, but backing it up? What’s your reference literature?

          Awaiting Nilbert, Tom3 & Co.’s tuppence worth too.

          1. Oro

            Never stop the search for the ‘gotcha’ G, even if the call is coming from inside the house ;)

            Maybe if this one doesn’t stick you can try her on ‘misspelling’ ‘Sarah’.

          2. SOQ

            So Sara, spinning around on the planet homophobia, thinks the poorly tested experimental gene therapy injections saved millions is it?

            Does she work for The Irish Times by any chance?

          3. GiggidyGoo

            No ‘gotcha’ Oro. Sara has a habit of writing posts she can’t back up and ends up doing a runner then.
            And Sara is the correct spelling of Sara. Sarah is the correct spelling of Sarah. Same way as Daisy is the correct spelling for Daisy.
            As for yourself, ‘idiot’ is the correct spelling of ‘idiot’

  2. Ten Pin's Fictitious Mrs.

    KN has never written anything factual on this site, why should any of the above be believed.
    ‘Finally, this is not meant to provoke outrage’ at least be truthful with your intentions, scoundrel!

  3. Spider

    Could it be anything to do with access to performance enhancing drugs? Energy drink consumption?

  4. Tumbelina

    I don’t know anything about spin sorry secular variation but it does seem a tragic increase. I remember a spate of deaths like this in Tyrone previously but not as many and not countrywide.

  5. barry

    A quick check on 2019 and first death that comes up isn’t on the list. Took less than one minute to find. So the lists are not reliable and compiled by someone who is biased. Untrustworthy.
    https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/09/20/news/young-gaelic-footballer-dies-suddenly-1717147/

    Here are 3 more:
    https://www.longfordleader.ie/news/home/370729/granard-community-in-deep-shock-following-tragic-death-of-local-gaa-player-niall-ohara.html

    https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/tributes-pour-after-death-young-15021591

    https://www.irishpost.com/sport/talented-gaa-player-red-og-murphys-sudden-passing-shocks-sligo-community-232435

    In less than 5 mins, I have quadrupled the list.

    1. ce

      “”merely a conversation that probably needs to be had”… the phrase “conversation to be had” is usually accompanied by fingers going into the ears of the person who utters/types the terms or a list of demands… it should be banned with the likes of “going forward”, “mistake where made, lesson have been learned”, “the ____ Quarter” of an town or city that was not historically known as such or is not 1/4 part of a thing … etc…

      I look forward to more replies to barry’s comment… failed at the first google…

        1. ce

          yeah, there’s a few euphemisms for suicide in several of the selections and the occasional reach out if you need help comment too

    1. uh-oh

      This was definitely a vaccine induced heart attack…

      April: (21), Curry GAA Club, County Sligo, dies suddenly, article qoutes the priest:
      “Fr Henry urged all young people to make a pledge to “talk about your feelings, express your anger, vent your rage,” and said there is help there for anyone who needs it.”

      Absolutely have a conversation about vaccine vs heart attacks if you want, but base it on actual research instead of this half baked google search. Family members coming across this post and seeing the death of family members being attributed to conspiracy theories…

  6. Nilbert

    imagine if there had been no vaccine, those numbers would have been a lot higher.

    1. Chris

      Have you seen the official death figures ‘from’ covid? Perhaps you’re just ignoring them, but your statement is quite laughable.

  7. Cian

    The FA did a *real* study and they also found that

    Young footballers are dying from heart problems at a higher rate than was previously thought, according to doctors who oversee the cardiac screening programme for the Football Association.
    […]
    [Prof Sanjay Sharma] and his team, who have published their results in the New England Journal of Medicine, found a death rate of one in 14,700 people – considerably higher than the previous estimates of one in 50,000 or one in 200,000.

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/08/more-young-footballers-dying-of-heart-problems-than-thought-fa-study-finds

    1. ce

      Yeah, but Cian that was the set up to the whole thing – big pharma on instructions from bill gates bumps off a couple of football player in 2018 to test the efficiency of the killer-vaxx, then unless the fake covid on the world, and then give everybody the killer-vaxx, and let the great replacement begin… but the main question is – how are you managing to post from the death camp you’ve been sent to…

    2. SOQ

      You are actually still trying to spin this criminality and malfeasance Cian?

      In the eyes of a court, what does that make you I wonder?

      1. Nigel

        That’s an odd thing to say, since in every single one of these stories, Cian is not the person who turns out to be spinning.

  8. SailorGerry

    To anybody with eyes to see and ears to hear, the shots do more harm than good, and are not “safe and effective”
    My hands up, but strangely my middle right finger will not collapse into a fist like the rest of my digits, it might just be a side effect of of my “vaccine hesitancy”

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