EDDIE IS A LEGEND AND A LEADER
Gerry McLaughlin chatted to the charismatic Eddie MacHale, who is respected as a detective, a footballer, a boxer and a charity fundraiser
IF THE ONE AND ONLY Detective Garda Eddie MacHale had been an actor (and he would have made a damn good one), then the streets of Sligo would have been his stage, just as Gaelic football fields all over the North West were also his arena when he was young and immortal.
For there are few officers who knew this patch better than the powerfully built, charismatic man from Knockmore in Co. Mayo.
He was an outstanding sportsman, playing senior Gaelic football for Sligo, Leitrim and Mayo. He excelled at boxing, winning many contests by knockout. Eddie also played soccer and also tried his hand at rugby.
On his boxing prowess, Eddie’s equally eloquent younger brother Eugene MacHale once told this writer: “I would rather get a good, tight kick from an ass than from one of Eddie’s right hooks.”
Eddie was also an exceptionally powerful athlete who played in goal for Mayo at the tender age of 18 back in 1973 and won Sligo and Connacht titles with St Mary’s in the late 1970s. He won five county titles on the trot with St Mary’s and Knockmore.
He remains a proud and passionate Mayo man and was heavily involved in producing a stunning history of the club in a book that was launched recently.
But for those of us of a certain vintage, there is a very clear image of Eddie the garda on his beloved motorbike, in his prime, in his element, with the all-black leather gear earning him the handle of “Chips”.
In an age when policing has changed rapidly and gardaí no longer live in town, Eddie was from a different era and was always in tune with what was happening on the street.
And if he didn’t know, he had various creative ways of finding out, which made him one of the greatest detectives this region has seen.
Eddie loved puzzles, but he also loved people and their stories of sadness and joy. He was a great listener and had dollops of that vastly under-rated quality called common sense.
He was the complete opposite of the desk man, preferring the rough and tumble of real life on the street, where you had to be tough, tenacious, flexible and have the emotional intelligence to know that people are all different and that the vast majority of those who commit crime do so from poverty, isolation, addiction and other ailments.
But he was also smart enough to know the real bad guys and he pursued them with all his considerable assets for many years.
Like many other officers it is a source of great sadness to him that the brutal murders of Hughie McGinley, Sam Smith, Tom Ward and David Lynch, in a period from May 2005 to January 2008, remain unsolved.
Eddie said: “There was no effort spared but sometimes you just need that extra break, or piece of luck to crack the case and it would be great to get a breakthrough for the sake of their grieving families.”
He also had the grim task as a young garda of being on duty in the morgue with the bodies of Lord Mountbatten and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell after an IRA bomb destroyed Mountbatten’s Shadow V boat in a horrific explosion in 1979.
He said: “I remember I was in High Street in Sligo when I got the call that the Shadow V was blown up.
“I went to go to Mullaghmore but I had to turn back as the ambulance was coming bringing Lord Mountbatten and young Paul Maxwell. I escorted it back and I was detailed to stay in the morgue with the bodies that day. I saw Mountbatten and I will never forget young Paul Maxwell.
“I am friendly with the Barrys, who worked for Mountbatten. It was a terrible shock for many people.” Elsewhere Eddie had notable successes, and his ability to deal with some dangerous characters and get them to admit what they had done were master classes in human psychology.
Like the great Ray MacSharry, Eddie had the emotional intelligence to “know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.”
And that was because he had natural
social skills. He had and has the soul of a maverick and did a great line in self-deprecation with his trademark lop-sided grin.
Eddie was and is a leader who could always get a consensus. He has steely determination to get results and does not suffer waffle at all.
For years he was part of a great double act with Detective Garda John MacHale. They complemented each other perfectly, with John’s organisational, administrative and people skills gelling well with Eddie’s almost Inspector Frost-like gut instinct and ability to spot a clue through his own unique talents.
He has tasted great sorrow too, with the death of his beloved wife Teresa MacHale (née McGovern) in 2009. She was from the great musical Frankie Arthur clan. They had two children – Eamon, now 28, who is in Canada, and Katy, 26, who is in Qatar.
This very sprightly widower comes from a clan of people who do not know the meaning of defeat, who know, like Kipling, that triumph and tragedy are equally impostors. Eddie is a fit 66-year-old with the power and stamina of a man in his forties.
FOR EDDIE, life was aways to be lived – take it and shake it, and regret is always for the fickle of heart. And on the field of play and in life Eddie grew taller in the heat of battle and was never afraid to go into the dark places in search of justice.
He has been a strong force in his adopted club in Calry, organising several big fundraisers for Calry-St Joseph’s and even lining out in goals for them “when they were stuck” a few years ago.
Eddie has one great saying: “Everyone in life deserves at least one chance.” He has followed that mantra, and there are families in Sligo that he quietly helped in times of difficulty, and those stories will never be known. He has a razor-sharp mind, an encyclopaedic memory and an ability to get to the nub of an issue in a heartbeat. Eddie can get people from various backgrounds to come together and more importantly work together for the greater good. And that is called leadership.
Eddie was born into a large family in Knockmore in 1954. He attended Garracloon National School was the only boy in his class. Then he went to St Muredach’s College in Ballina, where his Gaelic football skills were honed.
Eddie said: “It was a good college and we got to a Connacht final in 1972 and beat Summerhill in the semi-final. James Kearins was on that team. “Tommy Ward went on to play for Mayo and is still a great friend of mine and is a retired garda in Charlestown. Anthony Egan played too, and Michael Murphy Snr from Donegal.
“I left Muredach’s in 1973 and joined up in Templemore in 1974. I was not going to third level. My dad brought me down for the exam in his car – which I still have.
“I was called up to the Mayo panel in 1973 as a goalkeeper and I was only 18. “Knockmore had won the county championship in 1973 and we won the Intermediate title in 1972. That was my first final.
“The regular Mayo goalkeeper, JJ Costello, got a trial with Peterborough and I was straight in and it was just brilliant.” Young Eddie was playing with real legends like Joe Corcoran (Eddie’s idol), John Morley, Willie McGee, PJ King and Seán Kilbride. Templemore was a culture shock for Eddie and “if I’d had any way of getting away from it the first night I was there, I would have”.
He said: “It was my first time away from home and I don’t think that I had slept in any other house than my own. In Templemore you were sharing a room with three other fellows. “I eventually graduated and I headed for Carrick-on-Shannon.”
It was at this time Eddie met up with the great Matt Connor of Offaly.
“He was a great footballer and was one of the best ever, but he would not have been as good as Mickey Kearins of Sligo, who was the best I ever seen.” Eddie was posted to the Cavan village of Dowra in 1974.
He said: “It was completely different to Carrick as there were 30 fellows there and four or five sergeants and it was a border station.
“It was very hectic and there was a big event when Jim Sheridan, later to be Chief Superintendent in Sligo, came to Dowra in 1975.
“I remember him playing for Leitrim at midfield against Mayo in 1974 and he was also captain of the Finn Harps team that won the FAI Cup in 1974 also. “I had never been on a soccer field or a rugby field until I met Jim.
“Jim was also captain of the League of Ireland team and I was working with him on his unit. And we travelled together to every match.
“We had a Garda soccer team and there was a big tournament up in Rathmullan, and all of the League of Ireland fellows from around here were up at it.
“Mickey Ferry, Harry McLoughlin and loads of lads in the North, and it was great for someone like me to be playing in midfield against all these great soccer players.”
Eddie loved the soccer “while I was playing it” – but Gaelic football was always his first love.
Eddie said: “Jim Sheridan’s father John was a great centre back too, and he played with Finn Harps before Jim. It was a great tournament and you were a kind of a big shot when you were with these guys.”
“And the Sligo-Leitrim Garda Division won an All-Ireland soccer title in 1978, which was also a great boost. “Players included Liam Fletcher, Joe Cleary, Barnes Murphy, Mick Barrett, Jim Sheridan, myself and Pat Martin. “We played Dublin in the final and beat them 3-2 in the final in Dalymount. “They had two fellows who were playing League of Ireland. I got two goals from midfield and Jim Sheridan got a goal. Jim Gallagher was also playing.
“We got through to a five-a-side final in Templemore and we lost – the winners got a trip to Rome.”
Dowra has a special place in Eddie’s heart as it was there in 1974 that he met his wife Teresa.
Eddie said: “I never worked in a place like it as everyone was on the same level. They were very friendly, grounded people and they were great people there.”
“The first day I went there, I went to a funeral of an old man and his wife was left on her own.”
Eddie offered to stay with Mrs McGoldrick for a few nights and he ended up staying for four years.
“I met Tess, who was in a band called the Shannon Aces. She also sang with Dan O’Hara. Her very musical family was from Glangevlin, a very special place, and she went on to compete in Miss Ireland. Tess also worked in Dublin for many years.”
MEANWHILE, Eddie was playing with Allen Gaels in Leitrim and played for the county senior team under the one and only Michael McGowan in 1976, when they shocked Eddie’s native Mayo in the Connacht Championship. Eddie said: “Michael McGowan got me to play with them and it was great as they had Mickey Martin, Seán Creamer, Noel Crossan, Dan Meehan and Dessie McNulty. We drew with Mayo in Charlestown with the last kick of the game. We beat them in the replay in Carrick. It that was great as we were two points down with a minute to go. I got a goal to win it.
“Michael McGowan was made Leitrim Man of the Year.
“It was no big deal playing against Mayo – look at all the inter-county managers who are plotting against their own counties these days. And they are getting paid for it. So I have no regrets playing against Mayo.”
And then Barnes Murphy was transferred to Dowra and asked Eddie if he would play with the newly-formed St Mary’s club in Sligo in 1978.
Eddie said: “They had won Sligo and Connacht titles the previous year and I missed out on the All-Ireland final against Thomond.”
But success came quickly as Eddie was part of the star-studded St Mary’s side who won three county titles on the trot from 1979 to 1981.
In 1980 they won the All-Ireland Club Sevens at the Kilmacud Croke tournament in Dublin. And they won another Connacht title in 1980, with Eddie playing a prominent role.
Eddie went back to Mayo and won titles in 1983 and 1984 with his native Knockmore to complete a remarkable double of county championships in two different counties.
“That St Mary’s team was special. John Kent was great. So were Mick Laffey, John McGowan, Eamon Delahunt, Barnes Murphy and Mick Barrett. Gerry ‘Monty’ Monaghan could play anywhere, and he scored two goals at full-forward in the Connacht final in 1980.
“But look at Mayo today – they had basketball players like Liam MacHale, and the quick hands and quick thinking is very helpful to both.
“St Mary’s was great but there is nothing quite like your own club.” Eddie lined out for Sligo in those years from 1978 to 1981 and he was on the Sligo team that lost to Mayo in the 1981 Connacht final at corner-forward. And only for injury his younger brother Eugene would have been lining out at corner-forward for Mayo.
Eddie said: “It got a bit of publicity at the time but at the end of the day it was just a game of football.
“Martin McCarrick, Mickey Laffey, Johnny Stenson and James Kearins were on the team and John Kent and Barnes Murphy was managing the team. Declan Foley, Jim Kent and Christy Murphy were also playing.” Eddie later received two cruciate ligament injuries. But he went on to win Sligo JFC and Intermediate titles with St John’s after being injured.
He said: “I had the first injury in 1985 and another in the late 1980s.”
Eddie has been living in Calry since the early 1990s and has been involved with the local club for many years. When he came to Sligo as a garda in 1978 it was a very different place. He said: “You might not get two calls for the whole night.
“There were some great colleagues there like Gerry Connolly, Seán Forde, John McCallion and Jim Sheridan. John Nicholson was a very good policeman.
“Big John MacHale was my partner and you could travel the length and breadth of the country and you would not get better than him. He was solid, had great attention to detail, was organised and had common sense.
“And when my wife Tess passed away in 2009, John and his wife were very
“I escorted the ambulance and was detailed to stay in the morgue with the bodies. I saw Mountbatten and I will never forget young Paul Maxwell”
good to me and still are. I am in contact with him every day.”
Eddie became a detective in 1990. He said: “I was on the bike for years and that was the best of all. On a summer’s day it was wonderful and you met so many people. It was a great way to get to know the town and the people. “Crime was my forte and even though I was in uniform I was always in a crime unit. Crime will never change – it is always the same.
“Breaking into cars was a big thing in Sligo in the early 1980s – robbing stereos. And there were quite a few murders in the town.”
Eddie worked on the tragic case of Lindita Kukaj from Albania, who was strangled by an Albanian man in 2004. That murder was solved.
There are still four major unsolved murders in the town – those of Hughie McGinley, Sam Smith, Tom Ward and David Lynch.
On the four unsolved murders, Eddie said: “You always wanted to solve those cases and you would know who was involved in the murders, but understandably there was a lot of fear. There might be just one little piece missing in the jigsaw that would mean you were not going to get it across the line.” Eddie also worked on the shocking murder of Melissa Mahon, which was solved.
He said: “All murders affect you. There were quite a few suicides too, which were very distressing. Going to fatal road traffic accidents was also very harrowing.
“I remember going out to fatal road traffic accident out in Dromard near Mickey Kearins’ house. I had met the man who died just three quarters of an hour before that. I knew him, played football against him and he was a hardy boy – so sad.
“Things like that affect you deeply and just show you how life hangs by a thread.
“People might think that a garda can go out there and switch on and off like a light bulb, but you can’t.
“You could go out there to a suicide and you would see the father and mother of someone who had ended their life, sometimes young people with the whole world in front of them. “There are often just no words and then you go home and think about it.” Both Eddie and his brother Eugene MacHale have very good people skills. For Eddie it is about getting to know people – often through sport.
He said: “When I came to Sligo first I was involved with soccer, Gaelic and boxing.
“I boxed for Ardnaree when I was in school. And I boxed in Carrick and won a Garda All-Ireland Light MiddleWeight title in 1974. I gave up the boxing in 1978.”
EDDIE CONTINUED his soccer career and lined out with Glenview Stars from Forthill. He played along with the famous Rooneys, Tucker Burns, Jimmy Burnside and Francie Dunleavy.
Eddie said: “I also played soccer with Coolera as well for a while.”
“I was very involved with the late Frank Kennedy and the Kennedys, who are a great family for soccer.
“I have loads of medals, but they are all over the place – not like Jim Sheridan, who has everything he ever won on a shelf.”
Eddie lived in Cartron and has been living in Calry for the past 25 years. He was chairman of Bord na nÓg for four years and was adult club chairman at Calry-St Joseph’s for four years as well. He said: “But sure these positions are like most clubs – they are jobs that nobody else wants.
“We set up a fundraising committee and we ran a Strictly Come Dancing and we had great people like Michelle Griffin, Marcy Coyne and Loretta Kearins. It is dual club.
“Henry Cox was very good with the hurling and Calry have some great footballers out there now like Conor Griffin,
John and Michelle’s son, the two Cummins lads, as well as Keowns and Coxes in the hurling. But emigration is a big factor, with Paddy Heraghty, a great footballer out in Canada, my young fellow Eamon, who is out there as well, young Melvin and Ciaran O’Brien’s young lad. The Griffins are great in the club too.”
Eddie suffered a terrible blow when he lost his wife Tess to cancer in 2009. He said: “She was a young woman and had worked in the Health Board and she came from a big family like ourselves as there was seven girls and a boy in it.
“They are very down to earth people. We got married in 1991. She had been working in Dublin for years.
“Eamon was born in 1992 and Katie was born in 1994. Eamon has a one-man band out in Vancouver, and Katie is in Qatar in the Middle East.
“This was the first Christmas that we weren’t together and you miss that. “Tess was very different than I was – she was quiet and kept to herself. She was a fine singer and sang with the Shannon Aces.”
Eddie segued into golden memories of his days in and around Tess’s country, around Belcoo and the famous seven-a-sides on August 15.
He said: “I played there for many years and they were great days. One of the best players I ever saw was Eamon McPartland from Belcoo.
“He played with Loughan House and I played with the Gardaí. We won a few of them and I played directly on Frank McGuigan of Ardboe at midfileld and he never gave me a ball.”
Eddie is very well known in Sligo and fundraised for Rehab for many years after his brother was hurt in an accident many years ago.
“Philip later died at 26 in 1978 and I did walks and various things.
“Then I was involved with the hospice when Tess got sick and we had fundraisers for that.”
“I did a campaign for cystic fibrosis for a girl called Kate Moore from Knockmore. She was a first cousin of Liam O’Neill. He ran a charity match in Knockmore and it was a great success. I also knew Gary Dillon here in Sligo. “At the charity game for Kate we had Martin McHugh, Dessie Farrell, Kieran McGeeney, Jim Sheridan, Johnny Hughes, Mick Laffey, James Kearins, Mickey Kearins, Barnes Murphy, and all the Mayo team of 1989, Ciaran McDonald, and Kevin O’Neill from Galway. Nearly 4,000 turned up. It was the most successful thing we ever ran.” In those years Eddie was also assistant to Sligo GAA treasurer Peter Greene. He said: “Peter was excellent and we had a very good County Board. Some people knock them and give them stick. It is not that easy doing what they do, organising things and getting things done.
“Scarden is a great facility and people can knock it or say what they like about it – it is great.
“The debt is coming down and the whole county board and Peter Green did mighty work on it.
“He will be a fierce loss to Sligo as he has gone from the position as treasurer. I knew him long before I came to Sligo.”
Even though Knockmore and Mayo will be forever stitched in his heart, Eddie also has a great interest in the fortunes of his adopted Sligo.
“Apart from the county board I have been involved with two or three clubs in Sligo
“It is all voluntary and I often think, and I don’t mind saying it, that Gaelic football is for three different types of people.
“The whole ethos of the GAA is built on volunteerism and you still have people there who love doing something for the good of their parish and nothing out of it apart from the satisfaction of doing it.
“You have others who are trying to get on county boards, get to Croke Park and get on the bandwagon and once they get up there they forget about their club.
“And then you have the fellow that is in it for what he can get out of it.
“And there are managers who are on the merry-go-round and whatever they can get out of it, well that’s it.
“You don’t expect managers to travel long distances for nothing but it has gone crazy with some counties spending over a million, and nobody will ever tell you what a manager of a county team is getting.”
On the growing army of outside managers for county teams, he said: “In a proper world there would be no outside managers because there are plenty of good managers in their own counties. “Even clubs in Sligo, Mayo and other counties have managers from outside. If those managers are good enough to manage in their own counties, they should not be going elsewhere. “But the big problem in their own clubs is that quite often their own have no respect for them because they know them and know they are useless.”
“But bring another fellow in and it takes them a year to realise that he’s a lot worse than their own.
“But the great strength of the GAA is still in the small parishes like our own in Knockmore, where quite often a few families make up the team, and that is the positive side of it.”
DOES EDDIE have a view on Eamonn O’Hara not getting the manager’s job in his native Sligo? Eddie said: “I don’t know the background, but Eamonn O’Hara is right up there with Mickey Kearins as one of Sligo’s greatest footballers.
“I would not rate anyone as good as Mickey Kearins. He was the best ever as he could play it any way you want. “Mickey took a lot of abuse and you could play him anywhere. And he would be the best of them all in the modern game.
“He was not the quickest and I saw
“I remember a fatal road traffic accident. I had met the man who died just three quarters of an hour earlier”