Thursday, January 26, 2012

Sporting priest to be honoured in Westmeath

A Cork-born Carmelite priest, Fr Michael Cremin has been chosen for the Hall of Fame award in this year’s Westmeath Independent / Hodson Bay Sports Awards for his contribution to the GAA in Westmeath.

Fr Cremin led Carmelite College Moate, to All-Ireland Colleges senior football titles in 1976, 1980 and 1981 and six Leinster crowns, four of them in a row.

He also coached the Westmeath minor footballers who won a Leinster title in 1963 only to lose out to Kerry in the All-Ireland, and managed the Westmeath senior team for a number of years, including 1981 when they were narrowly beaten for the Leinster championship.

Fr Cremin taught in the Carmelite College and served as principal of the school, which closed its doors in 1996.  

Because 2011 was the 30th anniversary of the Carmelite College’s last Hogan Cup success, it was deemed fitting to recognise Fr Cremin’s contribution to sporting life in the midlands.

In 2009, he was among those honoured in the GAA President's Awards and will receive his latest award at a gala night in the Hodson Bay Hotel later in two weeks’ time.

He is now based in the Carmelite house in Gort Mhuire in Dublin, but still keeps in touch with his many friends in Westmeath. 

Talking some time ago about his success as a mentor, Fr Cremin said, “Good players came along and I made use of them, I studied Gaelic football closely and also rugby and soccer, and I picked up tips from those sports.”  

He said he worked on fitness and, “having a system of play is most important.”

“We had a few principles, and I put a lot of emphasis on free-taking and not losing possession."