1. RememberingShaun– A memorial to abrother
On the 22 August 1976,(40years ago) we lostour dear brotherShaun. He was 21 years
old and the eldest of seven. He was full to the brim with life and love, with faith and
ambition.
That very day 40 years ago was spent on BuncranaBeach in Donegal; Shaun,my mother
and father, my younger brotherGary and me. A gloriousscorcher of a summer day.
Shaunplayed footballwith Gary on the beach and thenswam in the sea with me. My
mother was having a panic attackas she watched usswim further and furtherout, until
we were only dots on the horizon. After the usualfish andchips and ice-cream in The
FourLanterns,we were taken home to Derry and Letty andJohn droppedoff to meet
relatives. Shaun thenheaded back down the road to The White Strand to meet with
cousins and friends. It was on his way there thathe was involved in a horrific roadcrash
thattook the lives of three people – young Damien Breslin, Mrs Annie McMonegaland
our Shaun,all from Derry City.
That day has defined the lives of our whole family; each one in their own way marked for
evermore.
Our Shaun(Shaunie) was well known in Derry and further afield because of the game of
soccer. That love of footballwas nurtured in him from a very young age, by my father
and by ourlocal community. He joined Athletic FC in Cregganat 7 or 8 years of age, along
with almostevery young ladin the area. Underthe soundleadership of Jim O’Hea Shaun
made it ‘across the water’ as they say. He was only 15 years old. We were of coursevery
proudof him, my father in particular,while my motherwas in despair at her sonheading
into the wilds of the world so young.
**Shaun signed for Leicester City firstly and stayed there for nearly two years before
moving to Hibernian in Scotland, where he spent another two years. Homesickness got
the better of him andhe returnedto Derry. At 19 he signed for Finn Harps then went on
to play for DundalkFC under the managementof Jim McLaughlin in 1975, andtogether
with his fellow Derry teammates Seamus McDowall andJoe Nicoll, they won the league
in ’76.
Footballwas his life’s passionand he played endlessly. At local level he played for Foyle
Harps, Celtic Swifts, CrusadersandDerry Athletic among others…**
He worked as a trainee accountantfor DuPont in Derry but office work was not for him
so he took a job runninga milk roundfor Vinney Morrison. A job he absolutelyloved!
The early morningstarts,the meeting and greeting of people youngand old, the tests of
how fast he could runfrom cart to door delivering the milk, puttingup a challengeto the
young helper, usuallyThomas. He’d bring home exotic foods from the diary - strawberry
yogurt, naturalyogurt. Yes…
And while the people knew Shaun as the footballer,or the milkman, to us he was our big
brother,head of the house, the one who laid down good example and was there for each
of us when we needed him. Daily life in ourhouse when Shaunwas alive was upbeat and

2. full of goodlaughs. He’s the one my father would listen to andtrust. He’s the one my
mother leaned on for support,when my father was abroadworking. There was good
Irish dinners every day, there was ambition in us alland unity.
Match of the Day was a ritual on a Saturday night in the early days. Jim O’Hea would
come over to watch it with my father and Shaunbut the reception wasn’t always great
so Tina was made holdthe aerial and move around with it, up and down, left and right,
according to instruction, untilthe reception was clear and the shoutingand spouting
would begin with the game… My mother would cook them all chips.
He helped my mother in many ways butparticularly with the minding of usyounger ones.
Numeroustimes, he loaded us andour friends from the street, into his car and off to
Lisfannon Beach we’d go, where we’d have greatcraic, a swim in the sea and a game or
two of football on the beach before heading for home. He’d buy us alla ‘poke’ on the
way back; he’d havea Brunch.
He was like a father to me and Gary, usbeing the youngesttwo. I remember him giving
Gary piggy backs, everywhere. He helped us with ourhomework, showed usmaths,
taughtme how to breathe properly when jogging and how to dive into the water and
when If I got spooked in the night, he’d blessme with the sign of the cross andsay
everything’s goingto be alright.
He loved his car. Not many people had a car in thosedays, they were rare. He minded it;
washed it with a hose from the kitchen sink. My mother, either busy in the kitchen, or
armed with a spade or cuttersin the garden, usuallydressedin a denim shirt, jeans rolled
to her knee (for kneeling to wash the floors or on grass)anda bandanaon her head,
would be caughtoff guard,grabbedby him and showered with the hose. The screams of
her; the laughsof us…
He trained morning and night,dedicated and disciplined to the end. He watched Paul
and Pat play football too and encouragedthem all the way. He was Paul'sidol, a great
example to him, yet he’d repeatedly say to Paul thathe hadto trainso hardfor what Paul
had naturallyathis feet. He ran after Pat, across the brokenfenced back gardensof
CircularRoad towards OaklandPitch one day, raging because Pat threw a stone and it hit
me on the head. A chase ensued andboy was he fast, but he couldn’tmatch the speed
of ourPat. He doubledup and laughedin the end.
Maria was his best pal. Like most families in those days space was scarce so they shared
a room, the wee room; bunk beds and conversationsinto the wee hours… They fought
too when they were young - I remember she accidently broke the head off one of his
many footballingtrophies while she was cleaning and in her panic, she chewed down a
piece of Juicy Fruit and tried her utmost to stick it back on – butthat wee head kept
falling off. When Shaunseen the damage he broke her hair brush in retaliation. But they
had a special bond,they understoodeach other and confided in each other. Shaun’s
death broke Maria’s heartin two and to this day she grieves.

3. People who met him either throughhis footballingcareer or as their milk man, loved him
– he had integrity beyond his years.
A whole community it seemed were in mourningwith us when he died. The condolences
we received and handwritten letters of sorrowand regret filled up a whole wardrobe in
our house. People spoke of him for years and years. Someone said to me recently that
he remembered queues outside ourhouse at 2am in the morning waiting in line to pay
their respects. I remember on the morning of his funeral when his body left our house
for the lasttime, I stood on the step at the front door and couldsee only people,
hundredsandhundredsof them. It was and is a great source of comfort to know how
well regarded he was.
After Shaun, our parentswere brokenpeople, they didn’t have the tools to deal with this
loss, norwas bereavement counsellingor the likes the done thing. So they suffered…
We as a family were plungedinto horrendousgrief and over the years this took its tollon
each of us in ourown way. In Shaun’sshortlife, he was an example to behold. He was
dedicated, disciplined andpassionate aboutboth soccer andlife. He was a tower of
strengthto ourfamily, kind, compassionate and just so decent to those he met alongthe
way. This is his legacy andit has stayed the course in the end and we grew strongagain.
So today Shaun,40 years on, we remember you fondly, we loved you dearly in life and
always will. You are very much part of our lives, still. Ourchildren who never met you,
know you well.
Jackie McLaughlin