North Longford bids sad farewell to a hardy defender and a great storyteller
Late John Denning, Derrycasson, Dring, Longford was a Life President of Mullinalaghta St Columba's GAA Club
There was a deep sense of shock and sadness across the parish and surrounding area on Friday evening, February 9 when word spread of the death of Johnny Denning, Derrycassan, who passed away peacefully in Lisdarn Hospital, Cavan, after a short illness.
Johnny was born in May 1946 and was one of ten children of the late James and Elizabeth Denning. After his education in Cloonagh school he worked for short periods in Dublin and in England before returning to Derrycassan to work on the family farm.
While he worked for periods in forestry and construction, his main interest all his life was in the land and livestock in the home place where he was a skilled and successful farmer. He was a great neighbour to all in Derrycassan and in the parish, was well-liked by all, and loved meeting with and interacting with people.
Johnny enjoyed an active social life and was a great character and storyteller, with a great sense of humour and the ability to deliver the tallest tales with a straight face.
Above all, his great passion was football and his love of Mullinalaghta football club. He was a hardy defender during the club’s fallow years in the late 60s and early 70s and was captain of the team in 1977 when the club ended a quarter-century of famine by winning its first championship title since the glory days of the early 50s against Ballymore in Pearse Park and his final match for the club was a Division 3 title, again against Ballymore opposition in 1981.
The club’s successes in recent years gave him great pleasure and he enjoyed interacting with the players of the current era, and those who remembered his playing days were confident that he would have been able to hold his place in recent teams had he been of that generation. He was a great supporter of the club and was honoured by Mullinalaghta St Columba’s by being one of the life presidents of the club for many years until his passing.
While in indifferent health in the last few years, he still maintained a great interest in all the affairs of the club and of the parish more generally.
He was predeceased by his parents and by his sisters Kathleen, Nell, and Bridget and brothers Paddy, J.P., and Tommy.
He is survived by his brother Ollie (Derrycassan), his sisters Julia (Enaghan) and Mary (Aughnacliffe), his sister-in-law Olive, his brothers-in-law P.J. and Packie Joe, his nephews and nieces, his grandnephews and grandnieces, his relatives, neighbours and a large circle of friends to whom we offer our profound sympathies.
The high esteem in which Johnny was held was clear in the large crowds who attended his repose in Kilcogy on Saturday evening and his funeral in Mullinalaghta on Sunday.
The Funeral Mass was celebrated by Fr. Michael Bannon, P.P., and was concelebrated by Fr. Peter Beglan, a neighbour of Johnny’s in Derrycassan, and Fr. Séamus McKeon, who played alongside Johnny on the 1977 Junior Championship-winning team. Almost all of that team were present at the church grounds to form a guard of honour as Johnny’s remains arrived at the church and as the cortege travelled to Mullinalaghta cemetery for Johnny’s interment alongside his parents and brother Paddy.
He will be greatly missed by all in the parish. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.