Dunshaughlin prepares to say farewell to Denis Kealy

Funeral of former footballer on Friday morning

Dunshaughlin is preparing to say farewell to Denis Kealy as the village and community tries to come to terms with his death in a road traffic collision on Saturday last.

The funeral of the former Dunshaughlin and Meath footballer will take place in Dunshaughlin tomorrow (Friday) morning at 11am.

The 43 year-old building contractor died following a single-vehicle collision at Piercetown, Dunboyne, around 2.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

As word of his untimely passing filtered through the county, the attendance at Croke Park fell into silence on Sunday to remember the father of three.

Afterwards, receiving his man of the match award in Meath's Tailteannn Cup semi-final defeat of Antrim, Mathew Costello paid a poignant tribute to his fellow clubman and the Kealy family.

The local community is once again rallying around the family, just over six months after the passing of Denis' sister, Maria, following an illness. Maria and Denis were the two youngest children of the renowned GAA family of Pat and Ead Kealy.

Denis is also survived by his wife, Charlene McAuley of Rathbeggan, and their three children, Ciarán, Daniel, and Evan. They lived at Rathbeggan, and had set up the Keamc construction company.

The defender was a key player in the celebrated three-in-a-row Meath SFC winning Dunshaughlin team of two decades ago, bringing followers on a Leinster and All-Ireland championship journey.

“As shocking and mind-numbing as the news is to all of us in the club, our sadness pales into insignificance when we think of the grief of his wife Charlene and their three young boys Ciarán, Daniel, and Evan, his parents Ead and Patsy and his brothers and sisters,” Dunshaughlin and Royal Gaels GFC said on Monday.

“Coming within six months of the death of his sister Maria, his death is a devastating blow and we send our profound sympathy to the whole family.

“Denis, like all the Kealys, was central to our club for many decades. As a player, as a builder and recently as a parent, he committed his time, his expertise and his enthusiasm to the Black and Amber. As an outstanding player he combined skill, determination, commitment and bravery in a stellar career that saw him win three Meath senior, an intermediate and an Under-21 championship as well as a Leinster senior,” the club stated.

His leadership qualities were evident in winning the Under-21 title in 2000 and he was also club captain in 2009. He represented the Royal County at minor, Under-21 and senior level.

Denis was versatile and skilful, featuring in attack in his youth before reverting to defence, where he was the epitome of determination and top-class defending. Always the go-to man to mark the opposition’s best player, he often had to stifle his own natural talent in the interest of the team.

The Kealy brothers were the backbone of the Dunshaughlin teams that won those three Meath championships from 2000 to 2002, winning their first ever senior title on a celebrated day in the millennium year. Kevin, Dermot, Brendan, Aiden, Richie and Denis were all on the pitch when that breakthrough came in a victory over Kilmainhamwood under Eamon Barry, retaining the Keegan Cup in 2001 at Skryne's expense, and again in 2002, beating Trim.

The Leinster Club final saw victory over Louth's Mattock Rangers, with Dunshaughlin reaching an All-Ireland semi-final against Crossmolina. No one in the club will ever forget his tussles in Leinster with the Rathnew attack, tussles in which he invariably triumphed.

After Meath won the All-Ireland in 1999, with Denis' brother Richie on the squad, Denis got to go on a team trip to Boston. He went back to Boston a few years later with Caoimhin King, Peadar Byrne and Kevin Reilly, and won an SFC with Aidan McAnespie's.

As well as his championship medals, Denis also had two Feis Cups, two Division 1 Leagues, and an O'Byrne Cup medal with Meath. He continued playing with Dunshaughlin until he moved to Los Angeles in 2013.

Denis was one of those players who came through Jim Gilligan's football academy at St Seachnall's National School, where they won a Division 2 title in 1991, as well as an under-12 blitz with St Martin's.

Soccer

But not alone was Denis a force on the GAA pitch, he was also a determined and formidable soccer player at underage level, winning an under-12 league with Dunshaughlin Youth 1991-'92, and a shield the same season.

He holds a unique place in the history of the then North Eastern Counties Schoolboys' League as the first captain of a league team to win a trophy, when the Under-16 Lakelands Inter-County Erne Cup was won in 1996. Other Dunshaughlin players in the panel were Paul Hendrick and David Tonge.

Also that year, the same panel of players and management took part in the St Johnstone FC tournament in Perth in Scotland where the NECSL finished third after narrowly missing out on a place in the final following a scoreless draw with Perthshire in the final Group game.

Denis also featured for the NECSL at Under-14 level in the prestigious SFAI Kennedy Cup in 1994.

The NECSL team didn't qualify for the knock-out phase of the Cup, but made it to the semi-final of the subsidiary Plate competition after an inspirational goal from Denis Kealy helped them to a quarter-final victory against Waterford.

Prior to that competition, Denis captained the Meath team to the Under-14 County Shield with a 2-0 victory over Louth at United Park in Drogheda.

Graduating to under-17 level, Denis, with David Tonge and Paul Hendrick, went to play with Castleknock Celtic, along with Ciaran Macken of Seneschalstown. They reached the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Under-17 Cup, where they lost by a goal to Cherry Orchard in 1997, the same year that Dunshaughlin made its intermediate championship breakthrough. From then on, Denis concentrated more on the Gaelic game.

Construction business

Denis was both a gentleman and a gentle man, quietly spoken, engaging and chatty who always made time for everyone, the club tribute continued.

Denis and Charlene got married in 2010 and established their building company on their return from America in 2014, where he worked for Kealy Construction in California.

The company names represents a binding together of the two family names, and carried out most of its work between Navan and Dublin.

In 2018, a home they built on the Main Street, Dunshaughlin, for the Hartigan family, featured in the Sunday Times newspaper.

With Keamc Building Contractors, Denis was on hand to assist the football club with his building expertise and played a major role in completing the upstairs section of the clubhouse and entrance to the club. His company also provided sponsorship and in recent years he was once again a regular in the club as his young boys became involved at underage level.

He is also survived by his parents in law, Barbara and Syl McAuley, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, relatives and wide circle of friends.

Following a funeral Mass in Dunshaughlin Church at 11am, burial will follow in Derrockstown Burial Gardens, Dunshaughlin.