Johnny Mulvey: Tributes have been pouring in for the legendary Mayo and Connacht GAA figure and author Johnny Mulvey, who died peacefully at his home in Castlebar yesterday morning.

Mulvey (85) served as secretary on the Mayo GAA Board for over 20 years, and later gave another 20 years as secretary of the Connacht Council.

A native of Louisburgh, he played football for the county before chronic ill-health intervened in the late 1940s. Earlier this month he expressed the wish that his beloved Mayo would win this year's All-Ireland title.

In a radio interview on MWR-FM during the build-up to the final between Mayo and Kerry, he said, "I'd say thanks be to God I lived to see it. I'm getting on now, nearly 86. It would be a great pleasure for me at the end of my days if Mayo pulled it off. They richly deserve it. I hope they do."

Johnny Prenty, secretary of the Connacht Council, said Mulvey was a "legendary figure in the GAA. He was an authority on the rules of the GAA, and he also had a calm and collected manner that rubbed off on everyone around him.

"He will be sadly missed. We thought Johnny would be around forever, and it is sad to think that he is no longer with us."

Mulvey was also a referee in his youth, and was a patron of the GAA in Mayo. In recent years he produced a book, GAA Diary of a Century, a chronicle of GAA events in Mayo and elsewhere from 1885 to 1984.

GAA president Nickey Brennan said Mulvey was never one to seek publicity, but his deeds over an incredible period of service spoke for themselves, and all who had known him were the better for the experience.