Mattie Forde is well-regarded as Wexford’s best ever Gaelic footballer – and he’s often in talks amongst the greats…
The Kilanerin clubman enjoyed a lenghty spell with both club and county, a spell which was impacted positively by those around him. One of those people, who kept him “grounded” along the way, was his father, Paddy Forde.
His father, Paddy, passed away just five weeks ago. Speaking on the BBC’s GAA Social Podcast with Armagh’s Oisin McConville, the Wexford man opened up about his father’s recent passing and the impact that this had on him:
“It’s a really weird one. You can’t explain it to people that it hasn’t happened to. I’ve had really nice conversations with people over the last five weeks. We knew this was coming. We were probably spoilt to have him for as long as we had and to have him healthy — and with that, comes a bit of taking it for granted and thinking he’s always going to be there. Even still, we all still live close by within 200 metres, there most evenings — and I find myself going down some evenings still expecting him to still be there, which is a weird one. It probably won’t go away any time soon and I hope it doesn’t,” Forde shared.
The Wexford man also shared a funny story about the time when Mattie’s heroics saved the day for Wexford football, but his father gave his brother – who was also playing – the plaudits:
“He was a quiet man until he got to a match, where he went mental — and I mean that in the best possible way. Referees were his best target. He was never one to try and coach us. You were definitely kept grounded in our house.”
“In 2004, in a qualifier in Wexford Park against Offaly, I think we won 2-14 to 0-15. I scored 2-10. But my brother Pat played that evening too — and played quite well. In Daddy’s own unique way, he wouldn’t be bigging anyone up or putting anyone down. I went home the next day, probably a bit worse for wear. When I landed in, he said ‘jaysus you’s got on well yesterday’ and I replied ‘yeah, we did’… and he replied ‘Pat played quare well’ and moved on. I remember I went outside after and telling Pat about it — and we both were roaring laughing. It was his way of doing it,” Forde said.
The full GAA Social podcast with the BBC can be watched below:
Jason Redmond
From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly. He is also a post-primary English and History teacher.
Read also:
Remember to submit your news to Wexford Weekly! To advertise on our socials or website, email our team at info@wexfordweekly.com
One Reply to “”