Patrick crosses his final finish line

Nenagh man Patrick Naughton who died on Saturday last, April 19, aged 92, must surely have been Ireland’s most decorated athlete.

Pat or Paddy, as he was known to many, competed in track and field over an incredible span of ten decades.

In that period, he won hundreds of medals and distinguishing himself as a top-class competitor at county, provincial, national and international levels.

Pat was born in September 1933, one of six children of John and Bridget Naughton of Pearse Street, Nenagh. His father was one of the proprietors of a clothes, shoes and home provisions store in a partnership involving two other local men, Dan O’ Keeffe and Maurice Gough.

Pat grew up in living quarters in the four-storey building above the store with his two brothers and three sisters. The business, which traded under the name Gough O’ Keeffe and Naughton’s, was one of the highest buildings in the town, a vantage from the roof affording a view of Lough Derg 10 kilometres away.

Pat spent his early working years based in Cork in the 1960s, where he was based as a commercial salesman. While there he met his future wife and, Joan, his partner of over five decades.

His love of sports, which was cultivated by his father, led him to compete in athletics in the southern capital and he also lined out on local rugby teams.

Patrick ultimately returned to Nenagh around 1970 as a new generation took over the management of the Pearse Street store following the death of its founders.

There, he joined directors David O’ Keeffe, a son of one of the original founders, Dan, and his own younger brother, Sean Naughton.

Like Pat, Sean was also severely bitten by the athletics bug. He was a highly accomplished sprinter who went on to become the national hurdles coach as well as being selected to manager and coach national teams competing at world and olympic level.

CLUB FOUNDERS

Both Pat and Sean were two of the founders of Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club in the mid-1950s. They both ate, drank and slept athletics, and they spread their love of the sport to literally thousands of young children.

With a small group of other highly dedicated men, they began coaching with Nenagh Olympic in the late 1960s and under their guidance the club became the best in the nation.

Nenagh Olympic punched way above its weight in a glorious all-conquering period in the 1980s. Though only a modest-sized provincial club, it frequently out-gunned much bigger city clubs in domestic competitions - due to the dedication of coaches like Pat and Sean and Donal Murphy.

From humble beginnings, the club became a spawning ground for young athletes who went on to become Munster and National medal winners, while others competed at European, World and Olympic level.

Most athletes retire from competitive athletics by their mid-30s, but not Pat. He was competitive for almost 60 years after that, and was still winning titles at national level right up to his early 90s last year.

He absolutely wallowed in competition. For Pat, old age was merely another hurdle to clear and he approached all his races and field competitions with childlike gusto and enthusiasm.

It was because of this never-say-die attitude that he did not appear to grow old like his comtemporaries.

SUPERB ATHLETE

Pat was great at almost all disciplines of athletics - be it sprinting, hurdling, jumping or throwing. Among the highlights of his own sporting life was winning the Irish senior national title in the decathlon on three separate occasions.

On reaching the age of 40, he entered the arena of Masters athletics and over the following five decades enjoyed tremendous success in both track and field competitions.

His major accomplishments included a silver medal in the pentathlon at the European Outdoor Masters Championships in Slovenia in 2008 and a bronze medal for the high jump in the European Indoors in Italy the following year.

In the European Masters Track and Field Championships in Hungary in 2010, at 77, he was placed third in the high jump for competitors in the Over 75 age category.

Three years later he won bronze medals in both the high jump and pentathlon at the European indoor championships in San Sebastian in Spain.

Though he frequently laughed about the fact that the number of his competitors were reducing as the years went on, Pat’s love for competition never waned. Right up to almost the end of his life, he competed in national championships, and in all-conquering fashion.

powerful PHYSIQUE

Standing over six feet tall, old age never stooped him and he walked with the bound and stride of a teenager into the final year of his life.

He had a self-designed and unconventional training regime that, he maintained, ensured his winning ways.

A keen gardener, he said working a shovel and the stooping and standing of planting and weeding built the strength and agility he needed.

He was also a part-time farmer and believed that running after his cattle, cutting the ditches in his fields and hauling bales of hay gave him the stamina he needed for his running, jumping and throwing events.

He didn’t sit down on the sofa in the evening to watch the main news of the day on television. Instead, he spent his viewing time doing strength and stretching exercises down on the floor in front of the screen. When he didn’t have time to get down to the indoor athletics arena - the facility he and other dedicated people managed to develop near his home in Ballygraigue - the hallway of his house became his area for striding and sprinting.

He was so active and so fit at the age of 90 that he was chosen to feature in the acclaimed documentary ‘SuperAgers’, which featured a host of older people around Ireland who had defied old age and were living their lives like youngsters. The highly motivating programme was screened during prime time viewing on RTÉ One television in 2023.

Pat was a shining inspiration to legions children who under his guidance went on to enjoy many years of fulfilling enjoyment in athletics themselves. His children and grandchildren followed in his footsteps, some equally as accomplised and talented.

He was also a wonderful example to all on how to live our very best life right up to the day the reaper calls.

Pat retired from Gough O’ Keeffe and Naughton’s in 2013 when the store eventually closed after 83 years of trading. During many of those years the store also acted as a recruitment centre for literally thousands of young local children who were persuaded by Pat and Sean to join the local athletics club.

Patrick Naughton, Farnamurray, Ballygraigue Road, Nenagh, died peacefully, at his home, surrounded by his loving family. He is survived by his beloved wife Joan  and family Síobhan, Pádraig, Joseph and Eoin.

Pat will be sadly missed and fondly remembered by his loving family, his sister Mary (Canning), his adored grandchildren Joseph, Jack, Sarah, Ellie, Sophia, Luke, Patrick, Jakob, Kasper and Abigail, son-in-law Johnson, daughters-in-law Layla, Julia and Danielle, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends.