When the news filtered through on Christmas Eve of the passing of our Club President Mickey Maher, all those who knew him recognised that Lixnaw Hurling Club had lost one of its most constant and devoted members and a man who gave decades of selfless service and support, and did so without ever seeking the limelight or the accolades. 

As far back as the late 1940s and early 50s, when the club was rebuilding its senior team, Mickey, even as a young man, was central in that process. A fine hurler, he was also a leader around whom winning teams are built. He won a well-deserved Senior Championship medal in the 1954 team and was one of the last remaining links to that team. As was common at the time, Mickey lived and worked in England for a period but never forgot his home and many young hurlers in Lixnaw were gifted football boots that he brought home from England.

In the early 1970s, he was a crucial mentor to a cohort of young lads, who were ferried to matches packed into his Morris Minor - and yes, even the car boot was used in times when travel was more difficult, speeds were lower and health and safety more loosely interpreted! Mickey inspired and supported that generation to achieve unprecedented underage success and laid the foundations that led to Senior Championship success in the 1980s. He was the man not only to organise the parish leagues but also hand-crafted the trophies for them. In a time when money was scarce and hard-earned, Mickey organised fund-raising plays and events and arranged for the collection and sale of turf in Tralee Mart – all to make the funds necessary to run the club. His interest in and commitment to the club was a constant throughout his life and much of the best that is Lixnaw Hurling Club is due to him and his ilk.

Mickey had a quiet and unassuming manner and, while justifiably proud of his time as a player and teammate in some great teams, he was not one for the spotlight. Rather he was a gentleman of the very highest order, whose passing leaves us the poorer but with a great store of memories for a man whose love of club and community was steadfast. 

He has passed on now to his eternal reward in the company of his beloved wife, Mary and his old comrades and goes with the gratitude and respect of Lixnaw Hurling Club. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.