Hall of Fame award for worthy Ryan
VOLUNTEERS are not paid not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless. Those were the words of Sean Ryan, who was the recipient of the Hall of Fame award at the Mallow and District Sports and Leisure Council awards.
The award was sponsored by The Corkman and Cathal Lombard Solicitors.
Mr Ryan sincerely thanked everyone for the “wonderful honour” to receive the award. And with a smile, he thanked his wife, Catherine, who always gave him the freedom to get involved in so many organisations. He also thanked Roisin Moriarty, vice chairperson of the Mallow and District Sorts and Leisure Council.
“It is sad that Liam Ware isn’t here tongiht with us all, but I did call into him this week. He said to me, ‘Sean you are retired 12 years and that was the last time I saw you in a suit – you had better wear a suit on Saturday night,” said Mr Ryan with a smile.
The excellent MC, Kieran McSweeney gave the 300 crowd audience at the Springfort Hall a run down on the excellent and voluntary work of Sean Ryan.
He was born in 1945 and attended Ballygraddy NS in Kilbrin, where his father was Principal. While there was no under-age GAA team in Kilbrin at the time, so he played juvenile and minor with Castlemagner and Liscarroll. In later years, he played junior hurling with Liscarroll and Kilbrin. He is married to Catherine and they have four boys, Martin, Fergus, Barry-John and Colin and four grandchildren.
He attended St Colman’s in Fermoy with whom he played Harty Cup hurling and he was also an accomplished hand-baller.
He joined the National Bank in 1964 in Kilrush, where he also played senior football and badminton.
His next posting was Dungarvan in 1966 where he met Catherine, who was also from Cork and worked in the bank. He went on to play rugby with Kilkenny and Waterpark and was President of Waterpark RFC for the season of 1985-86.
He was manager of Bank of Ireland Mallow from 1986 until his retirement in 2005 and during his time was a district manager for Cork North East for several years with responsibility for nine branches.
He became very involved in local affairs and joined the Rotary club and was a member for many years culminating in being President in the late 1980s. He was also a founding member of Mallow Chamber of Commerce and President for a year.
He instigated the upgrading of the Christmas lights in late 1980s and organised the collection of funds from the local traders.
He was on the board of Mallow Area Development Partnership Ltd and this company merged with a similar company in Fermoy to become Blackwater Partnership Ltd. He served on this board for many years and also served as a chairperson for a term.
HE has also been treasurer of Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services for over two decades and has seen the organisation expand considerably. He was also on the board of management of Mallow Development Partnership for many years. He has also been a volunteer information provider at the Citizens Information Centre in Mallow for the past decade.
He is also in his ninth year as Treasurer of Mallow GAA and he was a selector on junior and Under 21 hurling teams in early years and is currently heavily involved in the weekly Friday night bingo at Mallow GAA, and is also one of the organisers of the upcoming first ever North Cork Country musical festival.
He is also a proud blood donor for over five decades and is still donating.
He has played many sports in his youth and still enjoys a regular round of golf.
His three big passions now are Mallow GAA, Cork hurling and Munster rugby.