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Emy Lake
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Val Forde Seat: On the evening of August 14th 1964 the sun
was shining and the day was warm and a number of youths
gathered at Emy Lake shore to play football and then cool down
with a swim in the Lake. Val Forde was one of those and football
was his life. He was a tremendous athlete and powerful
footballer and no wonder - football ran in the family with Patsy,
Kevin, Gerard, Sean and Declan all playing for Emyvale and
poor Kitty, the only sister having to listen to nothing but
football. Val was full of energy, a great pair of hands to catch
and hold the ball and fantastic speed to run the full length of
the field in record time. Halfback or centre field was his
preferred spot. On the previous Sunday, August 9th Val had
played at right full-back for county Monaghan U21 team. He was
just 18 years of age and had a good game though Monaghan
lost heavily to the hot favouties, Donegal. The score was 2 - 14
to 0 - 4 and this was the Ulster final and it was played in
Ballybofey. However on the 14th when it was time to head back
to the village Val’s good nature caused him to go back into the
water to retrieve a ball that was being blown out further by the
wind. He reached the ball and was on his way back in when he
suddenly got cramp which pulled him under. Great efforts were
made to find him but unfortunately he was not recovered until
the following day. The entire North Monaghan community was in
shock as was witnessed by his huge funeral. He was a terrible
loss to Emyvale and Monaghan and his family were justly
devastated. Many can remember that tragedy very clearly and
swimmers in Emy were very careful and cautious ever
afterwards. The cold springs in the Lake can cause deadly
cramp and its suddenness is frightening. The younger
generation may never have heard of the tragedy which was
never really marked.
Recently the Forde family, in conjunction with Donagh
Development Association, offered to have a seat placed at the
Lake in Val’s memory. The seat, with plaque, was set in place
during the week and on Friday, August 16th members of the
family and the Association gathered for an unveiling ceremony.
Chairman of DDA, John Sherry, welcomed all and thanked the
Forde family for having the seat placed along the Walkway. The
committee will maintain it and hopefully people will have a
peaceful rest on the seat as they look out across the water. Fr.
Hubert Martin PP recalled how he learned of the tragedy and
had with him a 12” Crucifix which had a plaque which read - In
Memory of Val Forde from Emyvale GAA 14th August 1964. The
club had presented this to the parish in Val’s memory and it is
now held in the oratory. He then recited prayers for the safety of
all who use the Lake and avail of the facility and that it will be
treated with respect and that all will be conscious of the
dangers. He ended with a prayer that Val is enjoying his reward
in eternity. In reply Kevin stated that the family are delighted
that Val’s memory will continue and that they are unveiling the
seat on the Friday exactly 55 years to the day since the tragedy
happened. He thanked the committee, the CE scheme members
involved and all who helped bring this project to a conclusion.
He thanked Fr. Hubert for the touching and beautiful words
expressed by him and for his prayers. The family then
proceeded to St. Patrick’s Corracrin where the family burial
ground is and where the Annniversary Mass for the Forde
deceased was being celebrated. These included Val; his mother
and father Frank and Mary, and his brothers, Patsy and Sean.
Val Forde Appreciation
After the tragic death of Val Forde in Emy Lake, the Late
Seamus McCluskey wrote an appreciation, which was
printed in the Northern Standard and we recall his words
here.
At only 18 years of age Val Forde was one of the county’s
greatest ever prospects and was the first ever Emyvale player to
be honoured on two county teams in the one year.
From his early days at Edenmore National School he lived for
football and quickly graduated through the juvenile and minor
ranks to win a permanent place on the Emyvale junior and
senior sides. He practised consistently and very often when he
could not get anyone to accompany him Val could be seen
booting the ball about St. Patrick’s Park, entirely on his own.
With his five brothers – Patsy, Kevin, Gerald, Sean and Declan,
and his cousin, Paddy Murphy, he formed the nucleus of
Emyvale teams over the past number of years and his loss to
the Emyvale club is insurmountable.
This year he was honoured by both the County Minor and U21
selectors and starred in defensive positions in both grades. Only
five days before his tragic death, Val was the star of the
Monaghan U21 team, which fell to Donegal in the Ulster final at
Ballybofey and in the report of that game which appeared in this
newspaper last week, our reporter had this to say – ‘Pick of the
full-back line was Val Forde, who fared well on the right flank
and later when he substituted with an off form Centre-half’. The
county too has suffered an insurmountable loss.
Shortly after his seventeenth birthday last year, Val, like the
true young patriot he was, joined the ranks of the Emyvale
Centre of the Forsa Cosanta Aitiuil and, although still only at the
recruit stage, his enthusiasm was sufficient to win him a runner-
up place in the annual winter competition at the Emyvale
Centre. The plaque presented to him by Commdt. P. Rooney, OC
of ‘C’ Company, 8th Battalion, shortly before Easter was one of
his most prized trophies.
Val Forde was a model to all the young people. Unlike so many
of the rising generation, he had little interest in getting away
from home. A football gave him all the contentment he desired
and it was a cruel irony that a simple plastic football should
have brought about his death. He loved his home, he loved his
parents, and only this past month he gave up a well-paid
holiday at Gormanstown F.C.A camp to be with his parents and
take them on a trip round Ireland to visit his brothers Kevin, a
member of the Garda Siochana at Millstreet, Co. Cork, and
Gerard, a prison officer attached to Limerick Prison, and his
sister, Kitty, who is married in Dublin.
The good die young, they say, and Val was good. No one ever
saw Val vexed, no one ever heard a bad word cross his lips. His
kindness at home, at work or on the field of play was something
to be admired, to be imitated, to be spoken of. May the sod lie
lightly upon him in Corracrin – agus ar dheis Dé go raibh a
anam uasal óg.
************
Since its formation the members of the Donagh Development
Association have worked tirelessly and determinedly to achieve
the aim for which it was set up and that was to develop a
walkway around Emy Lake. That was completed and the public,
from near and far, are enjoying the fruits of the labours of the
association. However developing the walkway was one thing but
its constant maintenance is vital and again the committee have
stepped up to the plate and have ensured that it remains an
attractive place to walk and they thank the local CE scheme and
Monaghan County Council for sharing the work with them which
has resulted in the walkway being manitained to a high standard
without taking away from the beauty, peacefulness and natural
surroundings of the Lake. A minority do not seem to wish to
abide by the rules and requests of the committee like dogs on
leads, cleaning poop, throwing litter but thankfully they are in
the minority.
However maintenance costs money and to be in a posiiton to
carry out required work, and indeed to plan further enhancing
developments, the committee organise a fund raiser each year
and they hope to begin some of the developments in the near
future. Their efforts are from time to time receiving encouraging
donations and again they express their thanks on behlaf of users
of the walkway for this assistance. Seating around the Lake adds
to its attractiveness and there is little as comforting and peaceful
as walkig round the lake and having a rest at one of the many
Seats stragically placed for maximum effect. Last week a further
seat was added and again in a beautiful position. It wad donated
by Frank and Ann Marie from the Four Seasons Hotel,
Monaghan. Indeed Frank and Ann Marie have been of great
support all through the project and Frank was a Judge for the
Wheelbarror Run when it was organised. They attended with
members of the DDA at the unveiling of the new seat during the
week and John Sherry, Chairman, expressed the thanks of all to
Frank and Ann Marie for their generosity. Nature also took part
in the ceremony by sprinkling the seat from high up in the
branches of the adjoining tree and all agreed that this was
certainly a sign of good luck. The people in the picture below
are from left: Pat McKenna, Seamus McAree, Brigid McKenna,
Frank McKenna, AnnMarie McKenna, John Sherry, Aiden McKenna
(Walkway manager), Sheila Murphy and Jim Murphy.