Frankie Connolly (1961-2005)

Frankie Connolly

The news of the death of Ballinagh native Frankie Connolly in New York saddened all local gaels. A former stalwart of the club in the '70s', Frankie maintained close links with the club and his many friends in Ballinagh.

On his last trip home he attended the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ballinagh’s 1979 Intermediate Championship victory. The following is a tribute from his friends in New York.

'There is no such place as Ballinagh, New York'. At the many gatherings over the past couple of decades at Cait Gailligan O’Connor’s house in Throngs Neck, the Bronx, and later at Pelham Manor, one might be excused for disputing the validity of this statement. A bunch of guys and gals of different ages, different backgrounds and different walks of life would come together to celebrate an event or simply each other’s company. They would all be wearing something yellow, unified by a strong common bond: they all came from Ballinagh and vicinity, a place they all loved and never ceased to call "HOME".

Frankie was born in 1961, raised on Main Street above Moore’s grocery store and later on the Cavan Road across from our beloved curate, Fr. Michael Cooke. His academic pursuits took him through Ballinagh N.S., St. Patrick’s College, Cavan and the Regional College in Dundalk where he completed a course in Electronic Engineering.

While doing very well in the classroom, Frankie really excelled on the football field. With his beloved Ballinagh, he won a Minor League medal in 1977, an U-21 Championship medal in 1978 and an Intermediate Championship medal in 1979. A knee injury in 1980 prematurely ended a great footballing career.

Frankie emigrated to New York in 1984. He arrived with just 50 punts in his pocket, thanks to his good friend, Johnny Kane. Through dogged determination, relentless perseverance and sheer hard work, he would soon become the owner of a thriving construction company, with partner Seamus Brady of Lacken. The called it "COBRA" Construction: CO for Connolly; BRA for Brady.

Later Frankie would delve into the bar and restaurant business and in a short time had three flourishing concerns in this field, The Parlour, The Coach House and Papillon. At the time of his passing he was one of New York’s premier businessmen. He was indeed your classic American success story.

Frankie married Katie Reid, a lovely wee Scottish lass from Glasgow on November 20th, 1999. Besides Katie, he is sadly survived by his two beautiful children, Oisin (5), and Brianna (2), his sister Ann (Vancouver, Canada), Patrick (Mayo), Ivan (England) and Philip (Ballinagh).

Back in the 80’s, when he came to New York, there was a raging British rock band named "Frankie Goes to Hollywood". Light-heartedly, the Ballinagh emigrés would address Frankie as "Frankie Goes to New York". He was always very much amused by that. Now we have a new name for him "Frankie Goes to Heaven."

Godspeed Frankie. We love you, we miss you and we will never forget you.