JOHN EGAN:THE DEATH of John Egan at the age of 59 takes from the GAA and Kerry football one of the most distinguished players in the history of the game. It is the second untimely loss, seven years after the death of Tim Kennelly, to befall what many regard as football's greatest team.
During an inter-county career that lasted from 1973 to 1984, he was a mainstay on Mick O’Dwyer’s famous teams that would ultimately sweep eight All-Irelands in 12 years – six of which featured John Egan who contributed significantly to the successes.
Egan was a fixture in the full-forward line, although contemporaries believe he was so talented that he could have played in most positions. His ability to find space despite the tightest marking and his extraordinary talent for scoring important goals made him one of the most feared attackers in football. Egan was powerfully built and could use his strength to absorb hits from defenders and generate increased momentum as he bore down on goal.
Temperamentally, he is remembered as unflappable. “I never saw him nervous,” recalled one team-mate. This calm was evident in the sequence of vital goals he scored in big matches when Kerry were in greatest danger.
“More than anything there was a consistency to John’s performances,” remembers another team-mate. “He very rarely had a bad day and came up with crucial goals in numerous games when our backs were against the wall.” A selection includes the goal in the third minute of the 1975 All-Ireland final, which steadied a young Kerry team and inspired them to a generally unexpected victory against Kevin Heffernan’s Dublin, the team with whom they would develop a legendary rivalry which enthralled the country in the 1970s. It was also Egan who scored the goal which marked the turning of the tide in the 1978 final, the early stages of which had been dominated by Dublin.
He was appointed captain for the potentially momentous year of 1982 when Kerry were attempting to make history by becoming the first county to win five successive All-Irelands. Famously, Offaly denied them and speaking nearly 25 years later Egan acknowledged the scale of his disappointment.
“That hurt me. It was the difference between failure and being remembered as the captain of the greatest team ever. It’s such a public thing; I found it hard. Will you be remembered as the most famous captain of all time or the man who lost the five in a row? There’s a huge difference.”
Nonetheless, his career was one of the most successful in football history. Although his first All-Ireland final, as a minor against Galway in 1970, was lost Egan collected an under-21 All-Ireland medal in 1973 and the same year also won the first of four National Football League medals. He would finish his career in 1984, having won his sixth All-Ireland medal and was also awarded five All Stars in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982.
On a team of big personalities, he was known as a quiet individual. Egan trained hard and on days of great celebration slipped away with friends and family from his home in south Kerry.
Egan was from Tahilla, just outside Sneem and was one of a large family born to Patrick and Maureen (née O’Shea) Egan. He had three sisters and three brothers, including his twin Jerry, who died in an accident nearly 30 years ago. One of his sisters Margaret also predeceased him. Patrick Egan was a building contractor and later in charge of maintenance at the Parknasilla Hotel. Maureen Egan ran a small shop in Tahilla for many years.
Although Sneem was a small club it organised a famous seven-a-side competition annually and the home side, featuring the Egan brothers, had many victories over big names in Kerry football.
Egan was educated at Tahilla National School and attended secondary school in Carrignavar in Cork. After school he joined An Garda Síochána and was posted in Cobh and Portlaoise before spending most of his career stationed in Cork, firstly in Kildorrery and then in Togher.
He lived the last 20 years in Wilton in Cork and was well known and liked in the community.
Egan worked with a number of football clubs in the city, including Bishopstown with whom he also had played and St Michael’s. Although he spent most of his life in Cork he maintained his connection with Sneem and frequently returned to the area.
A neighbourhood friend remembers him as an avid reader and a prodigious walker who routinely covered 10 miles a day. “He was quiet and quite shy,” he added, “but very witty and with a great turn of phrase. He was also very popular with local kids because he always had time for them.”
He is survived by his wife Mary (née O’Halloran), daughter Máirín and son John, who is a professional soccer player on the books of English club Sunderland and who has had loan spells with Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, brothers Jimmy and Paddy and sisters Mary and Philomena.
John Egan: born June 13th, 1952; died April 8th, 2012