{{Short description|Irish Gaelic footballer (1931–2014)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox Gaelic games biography | name = Cyril Haran | image = The Very Reverend Cyril Haran - RIP - from the Parish of Ahamlish and Inishmurray.jpg | alt = | caption = | irish = | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|2|7|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|6|25|1931|2|7|df=yes}} | death_place = North West Hospice, The Mall,<br>Rathquarter, Sligo | height = | feet = | inches = | nickname = "Cyrilly", "Dosser" | occupation = Priest, schoolteacher | sport = [[Gaelic football]] | clposition = | icposition = | managing_years = | managing_club = [[St Mary's GAA (Sligo)|St Mary's]]<br>[[Roscommon Gaels GAA|Roscommon Gaels]]<br>[[St Michael's GAA (Sligo)|St Michael's]] | managing_winningclub = | managing_clallireland = | managing_clprovince = | managing_clcounty = | managing_iccounty = [[Sligo county football team|Sligo]] | managing_icyears = 1983–1985 | managing_winningcounties = | managing_icprovince = | managing_icallireland = | managing_league = }} '''Cyril Haran''' (7 February 1931 – 25 June 2014) was a [[Gaelic football]]er and [[Manager (Gaelic games)|manager]], [[priest]], scholar<ref name=champion_obit/> and schoolteacher. He managed the [[Sligo county football team|Sligo county team]].
==Biography== Cyril Haran was born in February 1931.<ref name=ahamlish_obit/> He had three sisters: Grace Liddy (who predeceased him), Margo (based in Sligo at her brother's death) and Sr Vickey Haran ([[California]]. He played Gaelic football for [[Naomh Molaise Gaels GAA|Grange]] as a youth during the 1940s and would go on to become club president.<ref name=champion_obit/><ref name=ahamlish_obit/><ref name=kilfeather_obit/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/sport/st-molaise-gaels-27586887.html|title=St Molaise Gaels |work=[[The Sligo Champion]] |date=14 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510012641/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/sport/st-molaise-gaels-27586887.html |archive-date=10 May 2019 }}</ref>
Fr. Haran spent 58 years as a priest.<ref name=ahamlish_obit/> having been [[Holy orders|ordained]] in [[1956 in Ireland|1956]]. His first appointment was as [[curate]] in [[Roscommon]] and [[Sooey]].<ref name=champion_obit/> He spent most of his priestly life as a teacher, first teaching English at [[Summerhill College]] in [[Sligo]] (where he was known as "Cyrilly" or "Dosser"),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.summerhill72.com/nick_names.htm |title=Nick Names |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505235814/http://www.summerhill72.com/nick_names.htm |archive-date=5 May 2017 }}</ref> as well as training the school's soccer and Gaelic football teams.<ref name=ahamlish_obit/><ref name=champion_obit/> He also taught at [[St Muredach's College]] in [[Ballina, County Mayo]], and spent time teaching at the [[University of San Diego]] in 1968.<ref name=champion_obit/>
In 1988, he was posted to [[Grange, County Sligo|Grange]] as CC and became parish priest of Ahamlish and Inishmurray in 1997. His retirement came in 2003.<ref name=ahamlish_obit/> He received a celebration Mass and presentation.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/localnotes/north-sligo-presentation-to-fr-haran-27533163.html |title=North Sligo: Presentation to Fr. Haran |work=[[The Sligo Champion]] |date=21 January 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510010145/https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/localnotes/north-sligo-presentation-to-fr-haran-27533163.html |archive-date=10 May 2019 }}</ref> He spent it at Streedagh until he died from a short illness at the North West Hospice in June 2014 at the age of 83.<ref name=kilfeather_obit>{{cite web |url=http://www.sligogaa.ie/ArticleDetail.aspx?articleid=16612 |title=Fr. Cyril Haran R.I.P. |date=30 June 2014 |first=Thomas |last=Kilfeather }}</ref><ref name=champion_obit/><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.elphindiocese.ie/clergy-recently-deceased/ |title=Recently Deceased |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510012955/https://www.elphindiocese.ie/clergy-recently-deceased/| archive-date=10 May 2019 }}</ref> His funeral was held at Church of Mary Immaculate, Grange, and he was buried afterwards in Sligo Cemetery.<ref name=champion_obit/>
He managed [[St Mary's GAA (Sligo)|St Mary's]] to their first [[Sligo Senior Football Championship]] title; in 1977, they were the first Sligo club to win a [[Connacht Senior Club Football Championship]] title. In 1978, he managed St Mary's to a Sligo Football Championship semi-final against Grange, won by Grange in a replay.<ref name=ahamlish_obit/>
He managed the [[Sligo county football team|Sligo county team]] between 1983 and 1985.<ref name=ahamlish_obit>{{cite news |url=http://ahamlish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/28Jun2014.pdf |title=Very Rev. Fr. Cyril Haran, P.E., Ahamlish, Grange, Co. Sligo |date=28 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507171436/http://ahamlish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/28Jun2014.pdf |archive-date=7 May 2019 }}</ref> Other teams he managed were [[Roscommon Gaels GAA|Roscommon Gaels]] and [[St Michael's GAA (Sligo)|St Michael's]]. He was noted for telling his teams: "Lads, winning isn't everything", then to pause and follow through with "It's the only thing".<ref name="ahamlish_obit" /> His enjoyments included literature and fishing.<ref name="champion_obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/the-sligo-champion/20140701/281573763789187 |title=Fr Cyril Haran played huge role in Sligo GAA circles: Priest also remembered as renowned scholar and teacher |work=[[The Sligo Champion]] |date=1 July 2014 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Sligo county football team managers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haran, Cyril}} [[Category:1931 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Gaelic football managers]] [[Category:Gaelic games club administrators]] [[Category:20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:Irish schoolteachers]] [[Category:Sportspeople from County Sligo]] [[Category:Teachers of English]] [[Category:People from Grange, County Sligo]] [[Category:Christian clergy from County Sligo]]