Patrick James Gormley (8th December 1932 – 25 August 2022) was a

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 from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. At club level he played with

Claudy Claudy () is a village and townland (of 1,154 acres) in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber Upp ...

and was also a member of the

Derry senior football team The Derry county football team represents Derry GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the Gaelic sport of football. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Football C ...

. Gormley usually lined out as a goalkeeper.

Career

Gormley first played

when he made the school's team as a 14-year-old, before later lining out at adult level with the

club. He first appeared on the inter-county scene with

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

as a member of the minor team in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. Gormley claimed his first inter-county silverware when he won an Ulster JFC medal in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. This success earned him an immediate call-up to the senior team. Gormley, having earlier won

Dr McKenna Cup The Dr McKenna Cup is an annual Gaelic football competition played between Counties of Ireland, counties and List of universities in Northern Ireland, universities in the province of Ulster GAA, Ulster. It is the secondary Gaelic football comp ...

and Ulster SFC medals, lined out in goal when Derry were beaten by

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the 1958 All-Ireland final. What was exceptional about Derry’s goalkeeper was that he played at the highest level with only one eye, after losing an eye as a child following an accident on the farm yard.

Death

Gormley died at

Wrexham Maelor Hospital The Wrexham Maelor Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam) is a district general hospital for the north east region of Wales. It is managed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. History The hospital has its origins in the Wrexham Union Workho ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 25 August 2022, at the age of 89.

Honours

;Derry *

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in early May. The final is usu ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

* Dr McKenna Cup: 1958, 1960 * Ulster Junior Football Championship:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormley, Patsy 1934 births 2022 deaths Derry inter-county Gaelic footballers Ulster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Gaelic football goalkeepers