14/07/2023
This is a lovely piece.
Forty-eight hours after his grandmother was laid to rest, Conall Higgins donned a hand-knitted red and white scarf as an All-Ireland winner. It was a simple act of remembrance using a garment that she had created with her own hand and presented to Conall just two weeks ago ahead of the All-Ireland final. Mairead Mulholland (née O'Connell) passed away on 3rd July, 2023.
Mairead Mulholland is a woman with connections woven tightly into the tapestry of Derry GAA. Mairead’s brother, Sean O’Connell, was once described as ‘a prince of Gaelic football’, and admired from Kerry to Derry, with eight-time All-Ireland winner Mikey Sheehy declaring him a personal hero. Along with Fr Seamus Shields, Sean O’Connell managed Derry to the county’s first All-Ireland minor title in 1965, whilst continuing to play for the Derry senior team, captaining the team to Ulster success in 1970.
Mairead Mulholland is survived by her husband, the great Colm Mulholland, team-mate of Sean O’Connell on the Derry teams of the 50s and early 60s. Two of their grandsons, Conall Higgins and Charlie Mulholland (pictured) continued a proud tradition yesterday in Armagh - with Conall emulating his brother Dan - an All-Ireland minor winner two years ago, his father Geoffrey representing Derry in the 1986 Ulster minor final, Charlie's father, Don Mulholland, winning an All-Ireland senior club medal with Lavey in 1991.
Above all, people like Mairead Mulholland represent the service, the attitude and the spirit of our association. We salute all the families of all players across all codes of Gaelic games in our county, especially those who nurtured the thirty four young men to yesterday’s success.
With values and bonds of sharing and caring, families are the fabric of any society, any great club, any great team. It is the common thread intertwined and hung around the neck of a 17-year-old on the biggest sporting day of his life.
Rest in peace, Mairead Mulholland.
