Passage G.A.A. Club Hall of Fame - Ciaran O'Reilly
When the Passage footballers began to rise from obscurity to the top rank in the early eighties it was no coincidence that
a player of enormous ability and undoubted leadership qualities began to come to the forefront in the club at the same time.
The player in question was Ciaran O'Reilly whose bustling forceful play was proving to be a nightmare for many.
Like many Passage footballers before him and some after him Ciaran, inexplicably, did not get a place on the Cork minor squad. His form
in the following years indicated in no uncertain terms that a grave injustice had been done to this Passage footballer. His outstanding
performances could not be continually ignored however and in 1980 he earned a place on a star-studded under-21 Cork team which went on
to win the all-Ireland title at the expense of Dublin.
With Passage footballers moving in whirlwind fashion from to senior via intermediate status Ciaran was quickly establishing
himself as one of the leading football forwards in the county.
In 1984 two Passage players ,Jim O'Sullivan and Ciaran O'Reilly were slected in what was deemed to be the strongest ever
Cork junior football panel.By vertue of winning the 1983 Passage were entitled to the captaincy of the cork team and Jim was the man
who had the honour of receiving the Munster cup but when the team played Warickshire in the All-Ireland final, Jim rather surprisingly
was left out of the starting team which then entrusted the captain's role to Ciaran .This of course meant that Passage had two winning
captains in the one year.
Ciaran eventually got recognition from the Cork senior selectors and played in several National league games. Before
he had a chance to establish himself however,
Ciaran like many more at that time had joined the exodus out of the country seeking work.
It was indeed unfortunate that Ciaran missed out on what could have been his best years in the green and white of
Passage,but his story has happy ending as after seventeen years in exile he has now returned with his family to Passage and
is again deeply immersed in various club activities.