Tom Scully (football manager)

Thomas Scully OMI (19 May 1930 – 7 April 2020) was a Gaelic football manager, priest and schoolteacher. He managed the Offaly county team, where he was pivotal in establishing them as a rising side in the sport.[1][2]

Tom Scully
Personal information
SportGaelic football
Born(1930-05-19)19 May 1930
Died7 April 2020(2020-04-07) (aged 89)
St James's Hospital,
Dublin
NicknameFr Tom[1]
OccupationPriest, schoolteacher
Inter-county management
Years County
1969 Offaly

Biography

Scully was a native of Aharney in Tullamore.[3][4] He had two brothers and six sisters: Ned, Michael, Nance (Hanlon), Mary (Garry), Rose (Cleary), Margaret (Henry), Lily (MacDonald) and Emily (Hanlon). All bar Emily predeceased him.[4] He studied philosophy at UCD[5] and theology at the Oblates Scholasticate in Piltown Co. Kilkenny.

During the 1960s, Scully trained the Belcamp College boarding school team in Dublin to three Leinster Schools' Football Championships.[1] He led Offaly to the final of the 1968–69 National Football League (their first), the Leinster Senior Football Championship title (their third) and then to the 1969 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final (their first since 1961), having only taken over that year (though he would have trained any Offaly players living in Dublin).[1][6]

Scully departed for South Africa in 1970 to teach mathematics in Johannesburg.[1] However, apartheid did not suit him and he moved to England instead.[1] While in England he lived in both London and Manchester.[6] He there became involved in the Lancashire GAA.[2] By 1988, Scully had become Director of the Irish Centre in London.[1] He established a day centre for the elderly and encouraged the older Irish to mix with the older English and the older Europeans living there.[1] In May that year, RTÉ's reporter Leo Enright was in Camden Town and Scully spoke to him on camera.[1][7] He was selected as Offaly Person of the Year in 1989.[6]

Later life

By 2018, Scully's eyesight had deteriorated.[1][6] Based in later life in the House of Retreat in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore, Scully heard confessions and ministered to the sick.[6] He died in Dublin of COVID-19 on the morning of 7 April.[1][3][8] He was one month short of his 90th birthday.[1][6] His death occurred at St James's Hospital.[2] He had been in hospital for less than a week and had spoken over the phone during those final days.[1]

References
  1. Rouse, Paul (13 April 2020). "Belief central to Fr Tom Scully's sermon to the Faithful". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 April 2020. It's May 1988... He has been in England for nearly two decades now...
  2. "Death of former Offaly football manager". Hogan Stand. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. Nolan, Pat (7 April 2020). "Former Offaly football manager Fr Tom Scully dies after contracting coronavirus". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. "Thomas 'Tom' Scully". RIP.ie. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. Fr. Thomas Scully – A biography Oblate Official Website, www.oblates.ie
  6. Nolan, Pat (9 April 2020). "A tribute to legendary former Offaly football manager Father Tom Scully". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  7. "Irish Day Centre For The Old". RTÉ Libraries and Archives. 25 May 1988. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  8. O'Toole, Fintan (8 April 2020). "Offaly GAA pay tribute after passing of coach who guided them to All-Ireland football final". The42.ie. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
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