Anthony ‘Sconey’ Kilmartin is congratulated by his father Tony after Newmarket-on-Fergus won the Clare SHC in 2012. Photograph: James Melody
NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS came to a standstill in paying tribute to its beloved son, Anthony ‘Sconey’ Kilmartin.
Born and reared in the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus, forty year old Anthony affectionately known as Sconey died following a fall in his adopted home of New York City on July 12th.
Thousands of mourners attended his reposal on Wednesday evening over four hours with hundreds more at Our Lady of the Rosary Church for his funeral on Thursday morning which was followed by his cremation in Shannon.
People came from near and far to remember Sconey, they flew from New York City, walked from Newmarket-on-Fergus and travelled from all corners of Clare.
On Wednesday night, Newmarket-on-Fergus GAA club had one of its biggest ever guards of honour where his Clare SHC winning teammates of 2012 were joined by the current senior squad, the present minor panel who are managed by his dear friend Darren Hayes, the senior camogie squad along with members young and old. Leading the way were captain of the championship winning team Enda Barrett and man of the match from the final, Colin Ryan.
Full of fun and always up to devilment, the larger than life Sconey had the ability to bring colour to the darkest rooms. His infectious personality and generosity was adored by all who knew him.
At home in Newmarket-on-Fergus, his reputation as a character was eminent. It was evident in the harmless mischief during his school days in Newmarket-on-Fergus Boys NS and St Caimin’s Community and also his performances on the sporting field. He won honours at all levels for Newmarket-on-Fergus and represented Clare at every grade from U14 to senior. In soccer, he lined out with Newmarket Celtic and also played for Clare in successive Kennedy Cup squads even coming up against a future world-champion boxer by the name of Katie Taylor who was one of the first girls to line out in the competition featuring for Wicklow League.
When he relocated to the Big Apple over a decade ago, he brought with him all the traits that made him so endearing. A skilled blocklayer in his homeland, it was his work behind the bar where he showcased his charm and wit in New York. In the States, Sconey’s ability to source tickets, generate craic and how he looked out for others helped people to realise that he was one of a kind.
One of the best examples of his easy going and humorous nature which drew people to him is the fact that Duran Duran lead singer, Simon Le Bon was the one looking to attend a party that Sconey was going to after finishing a shift in the bar and not the other way around. The ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’ hit man had been a visitor to the bar when he struck up a conversation with Sconey.
Speaking at the funeral mass, Fr Tom Fitzpatrick stated, “it has been a trying last week and a half”. Crowds that came out to pay their respect had “energised” the Kilmartin family, he said, “the energy flowed from so many people over the last few days, it has been overwhelming”.
Symbols brought forward for Sconey’s mass included his hurley and helmet acknowledging his “hurling journey in the parish, his commitment and pride with the connection”, the phone belonging to his mother Eileen noted the daily contact he had with his mother while living on the other side of the world, “it shows the contact he had constantly had every single day over the last eleven years or so to ring his Mum, to check in and see how things were”. A snow man family which he sent to Boheroan as a Christmas gift displayed “his love of Christmas and the joy it brought to him each year”. Sconey’s trowel noted his skills as “a wonderful blocklayer” and it reminded Fr Tom of when he built a boundary wall at his former residence in Goodwood “between myself and Chris Meehan to keep us apart”. A baseball which Sconey plucked from the sky at one game in the US also came before the altar, “his hurling instincts never left him, not too long ago he plucked this ball from the air as naturally as catching a sliotar to the amazement of all around him”.
His supportive nature was remembered with a collage of horse racing moments and encouraging messages he sent to his niece Jessica O’Gorman, a promising jockey based in The Curragh, “he was always so proud of you and what you achieved,” Fr Tom told Jessica. A framed jersey by the Clare hurling team in New York, a team with which he got involved with as a coach in recent months and a miniature American flag paid homage to the community of friends and family he built across the Atlantic.
At the altar of the church where Sconey was baptised forty years ago, Fr Tom said Sconey had “a short life but a life well lived”. He added, “his sporting legacy will be remembered long after the final whistle”. The Doora/Barefield parish priest continued, “The death of someone so young and so loved and so needed has left us at ruffling and fumbling with words, his tragic death has left us struggling with answers, it is heart-breaking for his family here and his family on other side of Atlantic”.
After listening to a lot stories over the past week, Fr Tom reached a conclusion, “every conversation about Sconey has eventually ended in the very same away, with a smile and a laugh, they begin talking about the tragedy but find themselves laughing about something he said, something he did, it tells us a great deal about a man we are honouring and celebrating. The way we live our lives is far more important than the way we die, the intensity we bring to our living is what matters most of all, Sconey brought a passion and intensity to every aspect of his life, resulting in a richness which cannot be measured or quantified”.
According to Fr Tom, Sconey had “a way of making people feel better, within minutes of entering a room the atmosphere would change, before long people were laughing, he had an easy going nature and never took himself too seriously”.
Different stages of Sconey’s life were all witnessed in his native village, “Newmarket-on-Fergus shaped him into the man that he was, he wore the Newmarket-on-Fergus jersey proudly from a very early age, his evenings and weekends were spent at the hurling field where lifelong friendships were formed”.
Claiming the Canon Hamilton in 2012 was made possible for the Blues, thanks to Sconey. “It was a tremendous day for the club but also for the man himself,” recalled Fr Tom.
Moving to New York City eleven years ago was “a new experience” but “ he embraced life in New York with the same enthusiasm which characterised his life in Newmarket-on-Fergus, he worked hard and built a wonderful circle of friends, it’s often said the Irish built America but they certainly helped to create the great country it has become, Anthony in his short time helped to do that, he built something over there other than walls, he built friendships, he built trust, those friendships were very deep and incredibly genuine, people loved him through and through. Death came far too soon for Sconey, he still had so much living to do. New York City became part of his life but Newmarket-on-Fergus was always in his heart,” Fr Tom said.
Manager of the victorious Newmarket 2012 team, Bob Enright said he was “honoured” to be asked by the Kilmartin family to speak at the mass. “I’m very conscious that there’s a line of people in the hurling club that would love to speak on his behalf. I first met Sconey during the long hot summer of 1995 in the hurling field, I was training the U11s and I spotted two big lads coming through the side gate out of the corner of my eye, I gave a second look because I thought it was John Wayne,” he commented.
In this first encounter, a nine year old Sconey asked could he join the U11s, Enright said he made his first error by trying to poke fun at his young clubmate. “I made the mistake of saying I didn’t know his name, he then said his name was Sconey and I said ‘that’s not even a real name’, even at the age of nine he gave me a look that said I’d want to sharpen up. I asked him if he was any good, he gave me what became his trademark wink and he said ‘I’m not bad at all’,”.
From here Sconey became a leader for all teams in the club. “Sconey always seemed to be the captain, he was a natural leader and everyone loved him, if you got Sconey on side you get everyone on side, everyone wanted to be like him,” the primary school teacher noted.
Reflecting on their success of 2012, Bob said he received a phone call from Sconey on New Year’s Day of that year who outlined his determination to get his place back to try win the Canon Hamilton. “He trained like a demon that spring and nothing was ever simple with Sconey so he broke jaw in April and it had to be wired together. He was not able to eat solid food for five weeks and typical Sconey said it was the best diet he was ever on because the weight fell off him”.
All-Ireland winning manager Liam Sheedy was among those in attendance at the funeral mass, the Portroe man was coach to the 2012 team and his influence was acknowledged by Bob. The influence of Sconey in creating two goals which Shane O’Brien Jnr finished were central to the success in defeating Cratloe. “Sconey slagged everyone and blagarded everyone but he never hurt anyone, he got the balance right, he had great emotional intelligence, from U12 to senior if he saw someone on periphery, the big arm would go out and they’d be pulled back into the centre”.
His partner Karen said she knew Sconey for five months but it felt like years. “It didn’t matter if you knew someone for twenty years or a week, you had the effect of making them feel like your oldest friend, he made people feel seen and safe, he never expected anything in return, he made people feel like they belonged”. His integrity was respected in New York.
Getting involved with the Clare hurling team in New York “reignited something” inside of Sconey, Karen recalled. “There was no pretending to be something you weren’t, one of the most authentic, genuine and bubbly people I’ve met”. Family always came first for Sconey, Karen said who noted “there was nobody prouder of Sconey than his parents”.
His loss leaves a big void on both sides of the Atlantic. He is deepy missed by his heartbroken family, father Tony, mother Eileen, sister Helen, brother David and his partner Elaine, Sconey’s partner Karen, brother-in-law Anthony, nephew Conor, nieces Jessica and Leanna, grandnephew CJ, uncles, aunts, cousins, extended family and his wide circle of friends far and near.
