Joe Niland, RIP, teacher, footballer and family man
Many tributes have been paid to the late Joe Niland, a Galway man whose adopted home was Mullingar for more than 40 years. He is remembered as a wonderful teacher, a sports encyclopaedia, a talented footballer and a quiet, unassuming family man. Joe passed away peacefully on December 23 at University Hospital Galway, with his loving family by his side.
A native of Corofin, Joe was educated at St Jarlath’s College, Tuam, and University College Galway. He moved to Mullingar in the late 1960s and taught English, history, geography and religion at St Mary’s CBS for four decades, until his retirement at the age of 66.
In 1974, Joe married Mary, a native of Moycullen, County Galway. They had met in Galway on St Stephen’s night in the early 1970s. The couple had five children – Joe who lives in Mullingar, Elizabeth, New York, Richard, London, George, Rome, and Catherine, who lives in Dublin.
Teaching was Joe’s vocation and Gaelic games and sport in general were his passion. He showed his prowess on the playing field with the Galway county team who won the famous three-in-a-row in the 1960s, and with his club Corofin.
Joe came to national notice when he won the RTÉ television sports quiz Know Your Sport in 1992. The show was presented by George Hamilton and Jimmy Magee was question master.
His other great passion was his family and to them Joe was a soft, gentle kind of man, quiet spoken and easy going. He and his wife moved back to Galway, to Moycullen, when Joe retired.
Many tributes were paid to Joe since his death at the age of 82 years, and judging by the eloquence of many of them, he was an excellent English teacher.
He is remembered by past pupils as a calm and courteous teacher with a terrific sense of humour, a true gentleman who inspired and encouraged his students to achieve their potential in a positive and dignified manner.
A former colleague pointed out that Joe and the late John O’Hara, who died within days of each other, led the English department in CBS Mullingar with wisdom, generosity and a deep love of the language. Their legacy endures in the students they guided and in the minds they shaped.
Another described him as a wonderful colleague, a fabulous teacher and a sports encyclopaedia. Joe was also an advocate for his fellow teachers through his lifelong involvement with the trade union, ASTI.
One of his former history pupils said Joe made the classes far more interesting than they probably should have been for a young boy, and gave him an abiding interest in the subject.
One of his English students said Joe was frank, but always fair – a calming beacon in the stormy seas of adolescence. “He taught us to be consistent and disciplined in the use of the English language… and in life itself. He also taught us all to accept responsibility for our actions and not to evade hardship. When we triumphed, be it large or small, there’d be a word of praise. When you got that, you knew you’d earned it,” the tribute read.
Another contributor remembered Joe on the football pitch as a ruthless full forward who showed little mercy to defenders, and none at all to the scoreboard.
Joe Niland will be sadly missed by his heartbroken wife Mary, his beloved children Joseph, Richard, Elizabeth, Catherine and George, son-in-law Cathal, daughters-in-law Elizabeth, Annmarie and Arianna, grandchildren Rosa, Liam, Evie, Eleanor and Éabha, brothers Sean, TP and Francis, sisters Philomena, Elizabeth, Sal and Mary, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and many friends.
He reposed at his residence. Following requiem Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Moycullen. Joe was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.