The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, has led tributes to the late Flor O\u2019Leary, former captain and president of Cork Constitution FC, who passed away on Thursday. He was 97.<\/p>\n
A lifelong stalwart of Cork Constitution, Mr O\u2019Leary helped in the early 1950s to lead the club\u2019s move from its then home on the Mardyke to its current grounds in Temple Hill, and was key to guiding the club\u2019s progress over the decades. Mr Dennehy said the late Mr O\u2019Leary was \u201ca man whose life was defined by service, commitment, and a deep love for his community and his city\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlor believed deeply in Cork and in the importance of community, giving freely of his time and energy to support others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A central part of Mr O\u2019Leary\u2019s life was his long and valued association with Cork Constitution, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlor believed passionately that Cork Constitution was about more than rugby \u2014 it was about camaraderie, respect, and fostering a sense of belonging across generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond the club, Flor was a devoted family man and a valued friend, neighbour, and citizen,\u201d Mr Dennehy said.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHis passing leaves a void for all who knew him, but his example will always inspire.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Cork Constitution past president Der O\u2019Riordan said Mr O\u2019Leary\u2019s true strength had been in his sense of care for young players coming into the club. \u201cHe would get to know them; he would give them encouragement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always a steady hand, and the person in the club you could go to for advice,\u201d Mr O\u2019Riordan said.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe was a very kind man, a great conversationalist, and until his passing, the club\u2019s oldest member.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Mr O\u2019Leary is survived by his wife Clare, their daughter Ann, sons Ian, Peter, and Kieran, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family, and a wide circle of friends.<\/p>\n
Reposing from 5pm to 6pm tomorrow at O\u2019Connor\u2019s Funeral Home, Boreenmanna Rd.<\/p>\n
Requiem Mass at noon on Monday in the Sacred Heart Church, Monkstown, with funeral afterwards to St Mary\u2019s Cemetery, Passage West.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy, has led tributes to the late Flor O\u2019Leary, former captain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[79,11040,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-238130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-news","tag-cork-people","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}