Philip McGuinness (29 February 1984 – 19 April 2010) was an Irish

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 who was a panel member on the Leitrim county team until 2010. He died on 19 April 2010 after an accidental collision in a club game in County Leitrim. Mohill GAA club renamed its home ground the

Philly McGuinness Memorial Park Philly McGuinness Memorial Park is a Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA Park in Mohill, County Leitrim, Ireland. It is the home of Mohill's Gaelic football, football team. It was named after Philip McGuinness, a Mohill GAA player who died after s ...

in his honour.

Career

McGuinness played with the Mohill club for his whole career and featured in their 2006 Senior Championship victory over St Mary's, the club's first title since 1971. In 2001 he was selected on the Connacht international rules football team that travelled to Australia. He also won a Connacht Vocational Schools title. In the 2009 Connacht Championship game 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 ...

he kicked two points from wing-forward. He was an accomplished hurler, and played for the county on a number of occasions in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, but once called up to the Leitrim football panel, he began concentrating more on the big ball game.

Death

On 17 April 2010, McGuinness was playing for the Mohill club in a league match against Melvin Gaels when he sustained a knock to the head after falling on an opponent's knee. Spectators said it was five minutes before half-time when Mr McGuinness went up for a high ball and fell towards the other player and collided with his knee. He was taken to Sligo General Hospital before being moved to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where he died on 19 April 2010. GAA president Christy Cooney paid his respects by saying "Philip’s passing is as untimely as it is tragic and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this most difficult time".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, Philip 1984 births 2010 deaths Dual players Irish engineers Leitrim inter-county Gaelic footballers Leitrim inter-county hurlers Mohill Gaelic footballers Mohill hurlers Sport deaths in the Republic of Ireland