Alan Mangan (born June 1979) is a dual player of

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

, a

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

coach,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, selector and former

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er. He played football and hurling for Westmeath.

Playing career

Club

Mangan first played hurling for

Castletown Geoghegan Castletown Geoghegan () is a village in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. Castletown was the seat of the Geoghegan family of the medieval Barony of Moycashel in ...

as a 16-year-old, at which age he played as a goalkeeper in a

Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship The Westmeath Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as Slevin Coaches Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Westmeath SHC) is an annual hurling competition organized by the Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic ...

final. He won three Westmeath SHC medals while playing with his club, the first in 2004, adding another in 2013. Mangan also played football for the St Malachy's club.

Inter-county

Mangan played senior inter-county hurling for Westmeath for two years: 1999 and 2000. His inter-county football debut for Westmeath, limited to substitute appearances, was as part of the team that won the 1999 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship and retained the

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highes ...

the following year, under the management of Luke Dempsey. Then Mangan featured for the county junior team, twice scoring five points from play, with both games against Offaly. Westmeath's junior team manager Ned Moore contacted Dempsey (who had by then been promoted to the position of senior team manager) and convinced him to call Mangan into his panel. Mangan arrived onto the senior panel the following year. Mangan's first senior game for Westmeath was against All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title holder

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

at Cusack Park. He was put into the team in place of established corner-forward Ger Heavin and assigned to mark Tomás Mannion. Dempsey used Mangan as a substitute against Meath in a draw and then a replay in the 2003 championship before starting him against

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

, in what would be Dempsey's last game as manager.

Páidí Ó Sé Páidí Ó Sé (, ; 16 May 1955 – 15 December 2012) was an Irish Gaelic football manager and player, whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen seasons from 1974 to 1988. Ó Sé is wide ...

succeeded Dempsey as manager. Ó Sé left Mangan out for the first

2004 O'Byrne Cup The 2004 O'Byrne Cup was a Gaelic football competition played by the teams of Leinster GAA, as well as one college team. O'Byrne Cup * = after extra time References External linksLeinster G.A.A. Results 2004 {{O'Byrne Cup O'Byrne Cup T ...

but started him in the second game of the competition, against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

. Mangan scored three points against Kildare. He started every game for Westmeath after that (O'Byrne, league and championship) until he injured his knee in 2009. Mangan was one of those who won the

2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final The 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final was the final football match of the 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship (SFC), contested by Laois and Westmeath over two games in Croke Park, Dublin. The first game finished level so a ...

. Ó Sé made a memorable comparison between Mangan and a loaf of bread after

Darren Rooney Darren Rooney is an Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler from County Laois. His dual status makes him most unusual in the modern GAA. He currently plays for the Parnells club in Dublin. He usually plays at right half back or full back art se ...

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

knocked him over the sideline during the drawn game between the teams. Mangan then scored four points from play in Westmeath's next game.

Post-playing career

Mangan was a selector when Michael Ryan managed the Westmeath hurlers. He ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Labour Party in the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Ta ...

, with the intention of replacing the retiring

Willie Penrose Willie Penrose (born 1 August 1956) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Party from 2016 to 2020 and a Minister of State from March 2011 to November 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD ...

. Mangan was coaxed into running, as Penrose was a family friend, though Mangan's mother advised him against. He cancelled a holiday that he had paid for in New York when the elction was suddenly called. Due to his involvement in that election he also refused various coaching and management offers that he received in early 2020. Mangan then joined the Westmeath senior hurlers in a coaching capacity later in 2020. As of 2022, he was managing the

hurlers.

Personal life

Mangan is married to Corinne and is a father of four. He is from the village of

. He inherited his nickname ("Budda") from his father and is known throughout Westmeath by it. Only

Dessie Dolan Dessie Dolan (born 11 July 1979) is an Irish Gaelic football manager who has been manager of the senior Westmeath county team since 2022. He played for the Garrycastle club and for the Westmeath county team, as well as international rules foot ...

and the Westmeath hurling manager Michael Ryan ever refer to him as "Alan".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangan, Alan 1979 births Living people Castletown Geoghegan hurlers Dual players Hurling coaches Hurling managers Hurling selectors Irish sportsperson-politicians Labour Party (Ireland) politicians People from Castletown Geoghegan Westmeath inter-county Gaelic footballers