Last week we received a hand-written letter in memory of the well-known and loved Pat McAuliffe, who sadly passed away earlier this month. Local mechanic, Danny Cullinane, recalls his playing days from years gone by, in what is a poignant tribute.
Writes Dan Cullinane
In the early hours of Monday Morning April 1st, almost one month ago, a great friend to sport and a very kind man passed away. Pat McAuliffe’s sporting interests ranged far and wide, and only came second to his partner, Christine Roddy, his brother Matthew and all of his family.
Pat’s interest in sport started with League of Ireland soccer from a very young age, during the days of Cork Celtic and Cork Hibernians. Pat’s playing days stated with Rockmount School Boys and he also played League of Ireland B with Cork Hibernians. In the early 1980s he then moved on to two clubs, where he spent most of his playing days. These were Rochestown GAA club and Hibernians Soccer Club in Shanbally and Ringaskiddy.
Pat went on to manage both clubs and he was still the Manager of Rochestown up until his untimely passing on the 1st April Two years ago Rochestown won a City Division League and in the words of his brother Matthew, “that win was as important as if he managed Cork to win an All-Ireland. That was Pat McAuliffe, all things local!
In his playing days Pat never missed a penalty kick in GAA or in soccer and his total amounted to about 80 goals. Pat made a lot of friends in his life but one friend stood out for me, Maurice Dinan. Pat and Maurice met up for a chat almost every Thursday night for over 20 years. Pat’s love of music got him involved in Pirate Radio in the late 1970s and from there he moved on to Cork local radio, which enabled him to combine both his interests of music and sport.
Pat’s weekly workload was enormous. As well as covering matches across the Munster region for RTE radio, he also paid special attention to his two League of Ireland clubs, Cobh Ramblers and Cork City. Pat also refereed soccer matches across four leagues; Munster Senior League, Cork AUL, Cork Business League and Cork over 35 Flood Lit League, along with writing print reports for the Cork Evening Echo. He was a real sports person back in his local radio days and was the first to introduce a Sunday evening sports result program for all sports.
People will have different memories of Pat, but for me it will be his voice on radio, a voice that will never be replaced. Pat McAuliffe, may you rest in peace.
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