Rena Buckley joined Friday's OTB AM to share her memories of the legendary Cork LGFA boss Eamonn Ryan, whose death was announced on Thursday afternoon.
It has not taken the passing of Eamonn Ryan for Rena Buckley and her Cork teammates to realise that they were in the presence of a special person.
The man who oversaw Cork's dominance of Ladies Gaelic Football across most of the last 20 years, she has already taken precautions to remember all that he had taught them.
"As a younger player I always knew what Eamonn was saying was really good," Buckley explained, her first encounter with Ryan coming when she was only a 17-year-old on the Cork senior panel.
"It was when I got older in those last couple of years with him that I used to go home and write down what he said - I valued it that much, it was exceptional stuff.
"I still have those notebooks at home and they're very, very valuable."
With the announcement of his passing on Thursday afternoon, tributes poured in from all corners of the Gaelic games community for a man whose behaviour away from sport seemed as impressive and admirable as all that he achieved within it.
"He was the guy you wanted to be around and we hung on every word," Buckley explained of his appealing personality. "He was so interesting and his stories were phenomenal. He brought that togetherness to the group in a very, very special way.
"If he was in the back field in the farm where we trained or if he was inside in Áras an Uachtaráin, he was the same Eamonn. He displayed huge humility wherever he was."
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Valerie Mulcahy on Eamonn Ryan | 'He treated us as athletes, not female athletes'
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Nevertheless, his sporting legacy and what was particularly achieved with Cork's Ladies Footballers remains a remarkable feat.
"He was a very, very special individual," Buckley explained, outlining his strength for management. "The empathy he had for players, the passion he had for the game, the time he had for everybody, that was Eamonn Ryan - one in a million.
"As a manager, he would have been tough at times. In one sense, he would have very little sympathy for you if you hadn't looked after yourself very well or if you were under pressure. That was just his tough exterior and he was always trying to build resilience in his players.
"On the other side of Eamonn though there was a very thoughtful and kind person. He was so generous with his time and he was just superb company."
If you listen to one thing today, make it the late Eamonn Ryan's empathetic approach to players.
"The player was the last person who wanted to make a bags of it."
A huge loss to Cork, and to the GAA. pic.twitter.com/azreJgawjo— Off The Ball (@offtheball) January 14, 2021
Rena Buckley concluded by sharing her condolences with Ryan's family and expressed the team's gratitude for the time they were able to spend in his company.
You can watch back Rena Buckley sharing her memories of Eamonn Ryan here, while Valerie Mulcahy paid tribute to the former Cork manager here
