Garry McMahon (31 August 1937 – 5 March 2008) was an Irish sportsperson. He played

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 ...

with his local club

Listowel Emmets Listowel Emmets is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland. They play in Division 3 of the County Football league and in the Kerry Intermediate Football Championship. Players from the club also compete in the ...

and was a member of the senior Kerry county team from the 1958 until 1962. For 58 years, from 1962 until 2020, McMahon held the record for scoring the fastest goal in the history of All-Ireland SFC finals, until

Dean Rock Dean Rock (born 26 February 1990) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who has been a senior member of the Dublin county team since 2013. He has represented Dublin at all grades, Minor, Junior, U21 and Senior. He is a noted free taker and scored the ...

knocked more than 20 seconds off it.

Playing career

McMahon started playing football at a young age. In 1954, he helped St Michael's College to win the Dunloe Cup for the first time, which brought him to the attention of the Kerry minor team. He played for them in 1955, where they were beaten in the Munster Minor Football Championship final by

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

. While attending college in Dublin, where he played for the Clan na nGael club in Raheny for two years, working his way up from the club's junior team to the senior team. Later, while training as a solicitor with his uncle in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, McMahon offered to play for Tipperary, but was denied, allegedly on the grounds of being part of the McMahon family from Fethard, who seemingly were not renowned Gaelic footballers. McMahon played with the Kerry senior football team between 1959 and 1962, winning two All-Ireland medals in that time. His debut was against

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the 1959

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

final, where he scored 2-2 in the first half, led match commentator Michael O'Hehir to say: ''"This morning, Garry McMahon was a son of a famous father, this evening Bryan McMahon is the father of a famous son"''. He was attributed with scoring the fastest goal ever in an All-Ireland SFC final - a fisted goal after 34 seconds against

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

, in what was the first live televised All-Ireland final in 1962. This record stood for 58 years, until 2020, when

knocked more than 20 seconds off it.

Post-playing days

Before his death on 5 March 2008, McMahon produced an album. The songs reflect his life reflections and he freely admits the influence of his late father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Garry 1937 births 2008 deaths Clan na nGael Raheny Gaelic footballers Gaelic football forwards Irish solicitors Listowel Emmets Gaelic footballers People from Listowel Kerry inter-county Gaelic footballers