The curtain came down on a singular contribution to public life in Galway this month as former teacher, education officer, County Councillor and Senator Jarlath McDonagh announced he was stepping down from all boards – after a lifetime of service.
The Turloughmore man’s longest standing commitment was to Dunmore – with four years on the old Vocational Board and 36 years on the Community School Board, a total of 40 years.
During that time, he chaired the appointments board that elected the three school principals – Pat Gilmore, Gay McManus and Declan Quinn – and chaired the school board for the last number of years.
He was also on the school board of Glenamaddy Community School for the last 25 years and was instrumental in bringing the now vibrant community college to Claregalway.
Jarlath McDonagh’s paid work was 14 years as a teacher in Sligo where he put in huge time into the promotion of hurling, training a Sligo schools team at under 16 level – mostly his own students at Tubbercurry Vocational school – to win the county’s only ever All Ireland in Hurling or Football in Croke Park in 1971 when they beat Armagh.
In the early eighties, he returned to Galway and took a break from education – to take on a role in the entertainment scene at his late brother’s Rendezvous Pub in Galway City.
He also became Chairman of Turloughmore Hurling Club, succeeding the great legendary Phelim Murphy, and at the same became Galway County GAA Board PRO, bringing out the GAA annual for eight years.
Together with Fr Michael Lyons, Galway hurling star Frank Burke and 18 other volunteers, he helped spearhead the development of Turlougmhore’s great pitch and facilities in Lackagh – with 30 FAS workers on the pitch scheme under Michael Holland and his team.
He was elected to Galway County Council in 1985 – the same year that saw Turloughmore winning the County Hurling Championship, paving the way for the huge development at Lackagh.
For the next seven years, Jarlath went back to teaching at Tuam Community Training Centre before, following the sudden death of his great friend Paddy Haverty of Craughwell, he became the new education officer for County Galway VEC.
Later on, he contested election for Seanad Eireann and in 1992, he became the first and only Turloughmore man to be elected to the Oireachtas.
He fought and won Seanad elections and six County Council elections – and in 2014 he retired from all roles other than his volunteer commitment to the schools in Dunmore and Glenamaddy, and he also became a member of Galway VEC Vocational Education and Training Board.
And along the way, he also played a key role with County Enterprise Officer Charles Lynch in setting up Radio West, now Galway Bay FM – and for a number of years, himself and his great friend Joe McDonagh covered the sport on the new local station.
Pictured: End of an era…Jarlath McDonagh.
