Over a period of forty years Johnny Ryan was a key figure in the Passage club and during that period he had several periods as chairman.

Johnny, or Seán Ó Riann as he liked to be called, was one of those very popular figures who embraced many activities in the town of Passage and he also spent a number of years as a member of the Passage Town Commissioners.The fact that he resided in the centre of the town and his work in the water department of the Cork County Council, gave him a daily presence in the locality. Johnny was certainly one of the best known figures associated with Passage.

Even though he would readily accept that he was not an expert on the finer points of hurling and football, Johnny would be an ever present at all games played by the club and he played a particular role at all those matches. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the refreshments provided for players at half-time came in the form of an orange or in some cases half an orange.

Not every team in other clubs benefitted from this half-time refreshment but it was guaranteed when Johnny Ryan arrived at a Passage match, he never came without a bag of oranges. It is also worth mentioning that Johnny never once sought any funds from the club to cover the cost of this service.

For many years he also carried out another very important function when he acted as the delegate for the Passage club at the weekly Cork County Board meetings. His political background proved an asset to him when he had to fight any issues for his club and he became well known for his qualities in this regard.

In the 1950’s when very few people in the Passage club, or any club for that matter, were in ownership of a car Johnny, once again, became a central figure when Passage were playing an away game. He had an almost miraculous ability to squeeze at least six hefty players into his mini car to enable them to get to any venue in the City or South-East divisions. When people speak of the continued progress of the Passage club over the decades the name of Johnny Ryan will always be mentioned with great fondness by all who crossed his path.