White’s Cross GAA were rocked by the passing of our neighbour Martin Atkinson, on Monday afternoon 26 December 2022. Martin wasn’t just a dear neighbour of ours in White’s Cross GAA – Martin was a valued member of our Club who upon his retirement from playing gave back with distinction as a selector and committee member.
Martin moved to White’s Cross in his youth, and caught the eye right-away – this youngster had a touch of class about him when it came to a hurley. Throughout his playing career his silken skills earned us many a score – it wasn’t just coincidental that Martin’s progression into our Junior team coincided with a golden era on the playing field for the Cross at adult level. Ackie was instrumental in so many of those successes. Ackie was our Joe Deane.
In more recent years he was a selector with our Junior hurlers – here again he was part of a management team that delivered various championship successes for the Club, as well as a number of other league and cup successes, culminating in the historic County Junior B Hurling success in 2018 – our Club’s first and only ever county title. This was a prize that had just alluded him as a player, falling at the final hurdle back in 1991, when the Cross had been defeated by Castlelyons in the county final. Ackie took great satisfaction from the 2018 win.
Fittingly, a huge crowd turned out for his funeral mass, guard-of-honour and burial to honor his contribution and to show support to his partner Suzanne, his children Caitríona and Éabha and his extended family. We will miss his presence greatly in White’s Cross – his great humour and sense of fun – always up for a laugh… May Martin rest in peace and be reunited with his mother and father, a man who was also taken much too young from this world.