The Late Michael Hehir Michael Hehir, Rindifin, Gort, who died recently was President of the Gort GAA Club. Michael (affectionately known as Joe Pete) was a gentle person, remembered by his wide circle of friends for his kind and compassionate manner. A great raconteur, he could regale his listeners with accounts of his exploits in the field of sports. In recognition of his commitment to hurling, Gort Hurling Club honoured him for over 30 years with the office of President. Joe Pete presided at the 2004 annual general meeting of the club. The Honourary-Secretary of Gort Hurling Club, Jerry Sheehan said of Joe Pete Hehir: "He always paid royal tribute to all those Gaels who passed before him. It was fitting the current and past GAA personnel, neighbours, friends and other organisation, paid due respect on the journey to his final resting place in Kilmacduagh. "He played on the Gort minor team in 1938, when they won the South Championship. He featured on the Senior Team in 1946, when they won the South Senior Championship," Jerry Sheehan continued. "As manager, he instilled in his team the need to keep the eyes open and keep the ball flying'. In all his 86 years, he saw many shapes and sizes of camans and sliotars. "We now celebrate his life, in the knowledge that he will continue to relate a 'scéal eile' to those who entered God's house before him", Jerry Sheehan concluded. Joe Pete Hehir recorded his memories of Gort during the first half of the 20th century in a 1990s edition of "Guaire," the Gort magazine. He recalled his first hurling medal, Gort's first taste of senior football, sports at Derrybrien and pitch-in-toss: "I was full forward on the Gort minor hurling team that won the South Board in 1938, I still treasure the medal from that game. I was selected on the Gort senior team on the same day as Josie Gallagher against Kilbeacanty in Barry's field. I think that would be 1940, around the start of the war. "During those years it was tough not a bob to be got anywhere. Strange as it may seem, Gort on a County Junior Football tile in those years. They had the assistance of the army men stationed in Lough Cultra. They had to go senior the following year and met Wolfe Tone's, Galway in the first round. I cycled to Galway with four pence in my pocket. The admission to the mat was sixpence. I waited until there was a big crowd going in and slipped in with them. I still had my four pence and bought six or seven large biscuits. Gort were whitewashed that day. "Seven-a-side hurling was very popular during the war years. While we took the game seriously while we were playing it, we also had some great craic. I remember a sports and a seven-a-side in Derrybrien. We took part in a 100 yard sprint. There was a great parish loyalty then, and a Gort colleague and I figured out that a Kinvara man would win it, but as the Kinvara man was breaking through to win, I heeled him. He went sprawling and my Gort colleague went on to win. That evening, we were entertained in Egan's of Derrybrien. It was the first time I had seen or tasted white bread after the black bread of the war years. Hurlers or athletes were entertained very little in those years. "But the dark days of the war had their own bright spots. The pitch and toss and the card games. Every street in the town had its own characters, and the craic was good. You could spend the night around the town without a penny in your pocket. On Sundays, the pitch and toss lasted all day, from after Mass until darkness. In the pitching, I was always fairly cos, but the trouble was that when I was sent for a loaf of bread or other message, I often left the price of it at the pitch and toss school. I was reluctant to go home with trying to make some other provisions. Of course, the pubs in these days were completely out for young people, you had no business there without money." Michael Hehir explained how he became known far and wide as Joe Pete Hehir. It resulted from a chance remark by a partner in a card game following the winning of a trick. "Good man, Joe Pete" said the partner, obviously thinking of somebody else. The other players and onlookers were amused. The name stuck. Courtesy of the Connacht Tribune 3rd June 2005 Tweet

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