This week both Tir na nÓg and the Randalstown parish lost a staunch and loyal friend with the death of Liam Magill on Monday evening. Whilst the greatest loss will be felt by his wife Mairead and his immediate family the wider community have also felt the loss of Liam.

 As a valued member of Tir na nÓg, Liam gave a lifetime of service since he was a child right through to his death. He played both hurling and football for the club, and in the days when the games were much tougher than they are now, he displayed a high level of skill along with the toughness required to survive in that environment.

In 1975 Liam captained the senior hurlers to the Division 3 League title by winning fourteen and drawing one of their sixteen games. In their last game, which they won by 4 goals and 5 points to 6 points, Liam scored 4 goals and 1 point from centre half back to clinch the title. By this stage in his career Liam was managing the clubs senior footballers and the previous year had managed them to win the South West Junior Championship, beating Portglenone in the final inToome.

This was the first football championship the club had ever won. He continued to coach up until the end of the 1980s when a juvenile committee was set up and Liam became part of it, along with Christy McCann, Gerry McMullan, Chris O’Boyle, Raymond Heffron and a number of others. The idea behind the setting up of this committee was to make the coaching of both hurling and football more structured in the club. They became quite innovative in their approach and enjoyed a lot of success culminating in an appearance in the county minor football final where we were beaten by St Galls.

Many of that St Gall’s team went on to win the All Ireland senior club title in 2010. They organised and annual juvenile trip where two bus-loads of players and mentors went to Donegal or Bryansford where they played four games against the local club. Afterwards everyone was treated to lunch in a local café. The club treasurer at the time Patsy O’Kane remarked at an AGM that this was the best committee in the club as they hired two buses and took four teams away for the day and fed them and it didn’t cost the club a penny. At the beginning of the nineties Down, Derry and Donegal won all Irelands and the committee sold tickets to forecast the correct score. They made a fortune and Liam was up to his eyes in this.

 As a volunteer Liam was second to none when work was being done, and indeed when his building firm started it was not uncommon to see equipment and a few workers arrive when a more professional approach was required. When asked by the above mentioned Patsy O’Kane what he needed, Liam would reply that he had no work for them that day anyway.

Liam served on the club committee for a number of years and always willingly did whatever job that was required.

 After Liam married All Ireland Camogie winner Mairead McAtamney they set up home in Randalstown. Liam actually managed the Geraldine’s Portglenone club to Antrim and Ulster senior titles in 1982. When Mairead retired she, along with a few other girls, reintroduced Camogie in Tir na nÓg. Liam and the late Seamus Kerr were the main men involved in organising it. As usual Liam threw his everything into making it successful and right up to his death he had a special place in his heart for Camogie and especially for the girls who started as under 10s and stuck at it right through to senior.

They were leaving their own children with their father while they went to play. His proudest day with the Camogs was in Lurgan in 2010 when the girls in blue lifted the cup after winning the Ulster title. 

Liam gave a lot to our club and up until the pandemic he was at Whitehill five or six nights a week. It is men like Liam in all clubs who make the GAA what it is today and without them we would be lost.

Many years ago when the parish hall was still standing Liam was on the committee and did the door every Sunday night at the dances. He also played snooker and billiards in the South Derry League along with such notable players as the late Paddy Gilmour and Seamus Martin. Table tennis was another pastime. The thing about Liam was the fact he was good at every game he played.

I was lucky enough to come under Liam’s influence and to travel the country with him to matches. That included the weekend trips to the All Ireland hurling and football finals where we stayed in one of those ‘high grade’ establishments near Amiens Street, where you slept 6 to a room and the toilet was 2 floors up. The next day you went to Hill 16 and swayed for two hours. Little did we know we were travelling with a man who would one day sit in the VIP area in Croke Park at an All Ireland final and would break bread on more than one occasion with the President of Ireland. It was only right of course that Liam was a guest in such company as he was a man of integrity who helped people whom he saw needed help in his community, and never sought any acknowledgement or reward for the help he gave. 

Liam Magill left a lasting legacy in the Tir na nÓg club. He will be hard to replace.

Rest in Peace Liam