'He was just our boy, it's as simple as that'

Paddy McIntosh's rasping voice shuddered to a halt yesterday as grief over Cormac McAnallen's sudden death finally overwhelmed him.The youth coach surveyed the desolate main hall of the tiny GAA club in Eglish and tried to make sense of the loss of a young star idolised by all ages.

Months earlier, McIntosh (54), spent the proudest night of his life in the same building when McAnallen and his victorious team-mates swept in after Tyrone's historic All-Ireland win.

The local hero he nurtured from a 10-year-old into one of the finest talents of his generation had dedicated his success on the pitch to him.

But now, McAnallen had been snatched from a community that basked in his achievements and, for McIntosh, the pain was almost unbearable.

His speech crackling with emotion, the coach said: "Cormac stood on that stage the night Tyrone came here with the cup and, even before he mentioned his parents, he talked about me.

"It was the greatest thing ever said about me to have a lad who had won an All-Ireland medal say I was the biggest influence on his career." Even though he won medals at all levels and represented Ireland in the International Rules series against Australia, McAnallen was always desperate to play for his club.

"He would turn up for friendlies and pester to get on. You tell me another county player who's like that?" challenged McIntosh.

As the youth officer tried to deal with his anguish, banners celebrating the player's successes still adorned the clubhouse.

The rest of the Eglish team had also gathered in the tiny village's clubhouse. Numbed by the death of a player and friend who inspired them, they simply had to be with each other.

"This is the only place for us today," said 25-year-old midfielder Conall Martin, who readily admitted his dead team-mate had been a hero to them all.

He said: "Cormac was a role model and when he talked, everybody listened. The term legend is too lightly used but that's what he was."

Forward James Muldoon, a school teacher like McAnallen, said the depth of his loss had not even begun to sink in.

Like everyone else in the tight-knit committee, the players were dumbfounded at how someone so fit could collapse and die so suddenly.

The GAA star, who was set to marry his fiancée, Aisling, within months, had gone to the gym on Monday night with some of his club mates.

But hours after arriving back at the house where he lived with his parents, Brendan and Bridget, and brothers, Donal and Fergus, he was found dead in bed.

Pupils at St Catherine's Grammar School in Armagh, where he taught history and politics, wept in the classrooms as they learned McAnallen was dead.

But back in Eglish, villagers were making urgent arrangements to deal with their grief and offer support to the family.

Terry McCann, who runs the local grocer's and post office, told how his packed shop learned what had happened. "About a dozen people were in here when the morning news came on the radio and they just stood in stunned silence," he said.

McCann (52), insisted the area had never experienced a shock like it. The Gaelic footballer had captured the imagination of local youngsters in a way that even the top names in English soccer would be jealous of.

"Instead of running about with Michael Owen or David Beckham shirts on, all the children wanted Cormac's gear," he said.

One of the shop owner's first customers was the Sinn Féin MP for the area, Michelle Gildernew. She was left sobbing at the death of a close friend she had known since childhood.

Gildernew, who visited the family, was laden down with food to take to a local community centre where other mourners were gathering. She said: "The family are showing great dignity but the shock of this simply hasn't hit them yet.

"We have lost an ambassador, the first Eglish man to captain Tyrone football team, but they have lost a son."

As the family tried to come to terms with their shattering loss, the supermarket run by McAnallen's parents four miles away in Benburb, remained locked up.

A hand-written note on the door said simply: "Closed due to death in the family." But with the streets of Benburb desolate and the whole of Eglish seemingly coming together to comfort each other, rarely can a family have been so extended.

One woman, who asked not to be named, clutched a photo she had taken with McAnallen on that night he brought the Sam Maguire Cup to Eglish, and tried to explain what the player meant to the area.

"He was just our boy, it's as simple as that."