John Maughan (born 1962) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

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 ...

and former player who most recently managed the Offaly football team. He is a former manager of the

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

, Clare,

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 ...

and

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

senior football teams. He is only the third man to lead five different counties and the first to complete a "slam", with at least one of these counties coming from each of Ireland's four provinces.

Early life

Maughan is originally from

Crossmolina Crossmolina is a town in the Barony of Tyrawley in County Mayo, Ireland, as well as the name of the parish in which Crossmolina is situated. The town sits on the River Deel near the northern shore of Lough Conn. Crossmolina is about west of ...

. He comes from a family of six children. He was the only one sent to

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

, which he attended at

Moate Moate (; ) is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. The name ''An Móta'' is derived from the term motte-and-bailey, as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here. The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the m ...

's Carmelite College. After school he joined the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The Ar ...

. He is a graduate of

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. He attended the university in the early 1980s.

Army Career

Maughan was an offer in the

from 1979 to 1999. He reached the rank of Captain and was based in

Renmore Barracks Renmore Barracks ( ga, Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa) is a military installation in Renmore, Ireland History The barracks were built by Colleran Brothers, a Dublin-based contractor, and completed in 1881. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwel ...

Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in

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 ...

. When he was appointed to the

job, he commuted from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

for the first couple of games as he was serving with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Playing career

Maughan won a

Hogan Cup The Hogan Cup ( ga, Corn Uí Ógáin), also known as the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior A Football Championship, is the top level Gaelic football championship for secondary schools (sometimes referred to as colleges) in Ireland. The com ...

medal with Moate's Carmelite College in 1980. He also won two

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

s with

in the early 1980s. This, alongside a spell with the Mayo under-21 team, led to Maughan being called up to the senior county team. Surgery on his

knee cartilage In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

in 1986 led to the end of his days as a player. He had four more operations but on the knee cartilage but was informed three years later that he could no longer play at

inter-county Inter-county, or inter county is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) terminology which refers to competitions or matches between counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term can also be used to describe the players o ...

level. He continued to play locally, switching base in 1994 and transferring to Castlebar Mitchels in the expectation of getting to play

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

football but was a runner-up in that year's

Mayo Senior Football Championship The Mayo Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connacht Gold Mayo Senior Football Championship'') is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Mayo GAA clubs. Westport are the title hol ...

final. In a 1995 Mayo Senior Football Championship quarter-final Maughan sustained a broken jaw. After being brought to Dublin's Mater Hospital, a story in a newspaper led to bother as he had flown back from Cyprus where he was on peacekeeping duty with the Irish Army.

Coaching career

Mayo's manager when Maughan's playing days ended was

John O'Mahony John Francis O'Mahony (1815 – 7 February 1877) was a Gaelic scholar and the founding member of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Despite coming from a reasonably wealthy fa ...

. O'Mahony retained Maughan's services as a team physical trainer. A call came from

Clare GAA Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

one evening to ask if Maughan would become coach for the 1990 season. Discovering that no manager had yet been appointed Maughan asked if he could take the post. He did so, at the age of 28. Eleven players attended Maughan's first training session in

Crusheen Crusheen () is a small village in County Clare, Ireland, in the civil parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan). Location The village is 10 kilometres northeast of Ennis on the R458 road to Gort. It is in the parish of Crusheen (Inchicronan) in the R ...

. He led Clare to the 1992

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 ...

. After finishing as Clare manager, Maughan went to

for United Nations peacekeeping duty in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

. He was appointed manager of the Mayo county team while still based in Cyprus and commuted for several games at the start of his spell in charge. He led his native county to the successive

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

final defeats in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. He returned for a second spell in charge and led his native county to a further All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final defeat in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. In between his spells with Mayo, he had a short stint as Fermanagh manager (winning an All-Ireland 'B' Football Championship) and, after taking charge of Mayo for the second time, he was manager of Roscommon. He resigned as Roscommon manager in the spring of 2008. He commuted from his home in

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal poi ...

to manage Offaly. Maughan announced his departure as Offaly manager in July 2022 after a four-year spell in charge during which he achieved

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

for Offaly to Division 2 of the National Football League (though

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to Division 3 followed the next year) and advanced to the semi-final of the inaugural 2022 Tailteann Cup. Maughan has also led

NUI Galway GAA NUI Galway GAA comprises the Gaelic football and hurling teams at the University of Galway. Competitions in which they feature include the Sigerson Cup, Fitzgibbon Cup, and Walsh Cup. Historically, they have won the Galway Senior Football Ch ...

Personal life

Maughan is married to Audrey, and lives in

. He is a grandfather. He had surgery on his back in 2019. As of 2021, he was working as a Procurement Officer at

Mayo County Council Mayo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

, while, as of 2019, Maughan is a member of the board of

Sport Ireland Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephi ...

. Though fully-vaccinated, Maughan isolated at his home in

Enniscrone Enniscrone – also spelt Inniscrone and officially named Inishcrone () – is a small seaside town in County Sligo, Ireland. Its sandy beach, tourist campsite, and golf course all attract visitors. As of the 2016 census, the town had a ...

after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2021 (his sense of

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

and smell he said were "completely gone").

References

External links

GAA Info Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maughan, John 1962 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Castlebar Mitchels Gaelic footballers Crossmolina Gaelic footballers Coaches of Gaelic football teams at Irish universities Gaelic football managers Irish Army personnel Mayo Gaelic footballers University of Galway Gaelic footballers Sport Ireland officials People from Crossmolina