A FUNDRAISER will be held in O’Donovan Rossa GAA Club’s pavilion at the end of the month for one of their finest footballers.
Cathal O'Regan is regarded as one of the best underage footballers to line out for the Skibbereen club, and played his role in their dominance in the 1970s, into the 80s.
Currently living in Los Angeles, the Skibb man has been battling cancer, has been through some very difficult months and has a long way to go in his recovery process.
His friends in America have set up a GoFundMe page to help O’Regan, while at home in Skibbereen his friends and former team-mates are organising a night out in the club’s recently-refurbished pavilion on Saturday, October 29th (7.30pm start), with all proceeds going to the Cathal O’Regan Fund. Tickets cost €20, and are on sale at various locations around Skibbereen. There will be entertainment and finger food on the night.
O’Regan starred for Skibb at underage level. He was on the first Rossas team to win a West Cork U12 championship in 1973, and that kickstarted a run of eight U12 titles between ’73 and 1982.
He then captained the Rossa team that won the South West U16 football championship, while he also captained St Fachtna's De La Salle to a Munster U16 football title. In 1984 O’Regan emigrated to Los Angeles, but returned home to Skibb in ’85 when the Rossas reached the county intermediate semi-final.
He played in the semi, and famously scored 2-1 in the 3-11 to 0-8 county final win over Glanmire. His heroics that day are the stuff of legend in Skibb. ‘Small’ Mick McCarthy also scored 0-6 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. A few weeks later O’Regan returned to the States.
