FORMER county footballer Michael McGinley will be laid to rest tomorrow following his passing on Sunday.
The Dunfanaghy native died peacefully at home in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, in the loving care of his family.
Mr McGinley was a talented footballer and helped St Eunan’s College to the Rannafast Cup while a pupil at the Letterkenny school.
He also starred with Donegal as they won the Ulster Minor Championship.
He went on to play for the senior team for three years and continued to support the county throughout his lifetime.
He was also a highly successful businessman, setting up the telecommunications company Sigma Wireless.
Mr McGinley’s son, former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, announced his passing in an emotional tribute on social media on Sunday evening.
Paul said: “We lost dad today after a long battle with dementia.
“Could not have asked for a better mentor, friend and dad.
“We are all brokenhearted and sad.”
Joining the tributes, St Eunan’s College said: “It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Mick McGinley.
“Mick was a former student, a stalwart of St Eunan’s College football teams, having won the Rannafast Cup and playing in the MacCrory Cup Final.
“Mick has been a long term friend of St Eunan’s College helping with and sponsoring our Alumni Golf.
“We wish to express our most sincere condolences to his family and friends.”
CLG Naomh Micheál, Mr McGinley’s local GAA club, also paid tribute to their former player: “Having moved away from the area at a young age, Mick never forgot his roots, supporting the club financially and physically at every opportunity, and indeed was always a constant figure at our home games with his sons when time allowed him.”
The Donegal Association in Dublin said they were “greatly saddened” at the news of Mr McGinley’s passing.
A tribute on social media read: “Mick was a proud Dunfanaghy man.
“He was involved with St Michael’s GAA club from its early years in the 1950s.
“He was also a lifelong member of Dunfanaghy Golf Club.
“Mick never forgot his roots and was a staunch supporter of everything that was for the benefit of Donegal, in particular Donegal GAA.
“We were very fortunate in the Donegal Association in Dublin to have Mick as a sponsor and active participant, along with his late wife Julia, in the many activities of the association.”
Mr McGinley’s remains will be reposing at Fanagan’s Funeral Home, Willbrook, Rathfarnham today, Thursday, January 1 from 5.30pm until 7.30pm.
Requiem Mass will take place tomorrow, Friday, at 1pm in the Church of the Annunciation, Rathfarnham followed by burial in Kilmashogue Cemetery.
Mr McGinley was the beloved husband of the late Julia (née Sheridan) and loving father of Paul, Mary, Karen, Michael and Suzanne.
He will be sadly missed by his family and in-laws, his grandchildren, Niamh, Killian and Maia, Niall, James, Meabh and Michael, Sean, Luke and Liam, his sisters Marette and Kathleen, (predeceased by his brother Brian and sister Betty), sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
