My 74 year-old widowed dad got a surprise call from ex Celtic star Paddy McCourt

The touching gesture made the fanatical Finn Harps supporter react ‘like an excited 10 year-old kid’ according to his son, Finbar who set up the uplifting call with the help of League of Ireland legend, Conan Byrne.

The Gaoth Dobhair native lost his wife, a public health nurse, after she was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2017 and has been ‘a shell of himself’ since.

As part of a heart-warming initiative to reach out to the elderly, vulnerable or self-isolating League of Ireland supporters who are struggling with the latest Covid-19 lockdown, ex-Shelbourne winger, Byrne organised for over 100 current and former players and coaches to take part.

And Paddy Boyle, a former fisherman and builder, was ‘overwhelmed’ to receive a call from former Derry City and Finn Harps star, McCourt to chat about the beautiful game and the fortunes of both north west rivals.

However, the dyed in the wool Harps supporter didn’t quite summon up the courage to warn the ‘Derry Pele’ that a resurgent Finn Harps were coming for their fierce rivals after a buoyant 2-0 win over Bohemians last Saturday.

The phone call triggered ‘a wave effect’ as distant relatives and others reached out to Mr Boyle who was revelling in the fact he was contacted by the former Hoops star.

Attending Finn Park to watch his beloved Harps has been a significant part of Mr Boyle’s life for many years and he badly misses the social gatherings at the Ballybofey venue.

“It’s a great initiative and I just happened to spot it on Saturday evening on Twitter and it was ideal because Harps were playing at Dalymount and I knew dad was glued to it,” explained Finbar.

“Dad would have always gone to Harps games. He would’ve been at every game at home and anything within reach away. He’s a widowed man living on his own out in Gaoth Dobhair in Donegal. He’s still getting a bit of exercise but he’s pretty isolated.

“So I fired Conan a message, I wasn’t expecting anything at all. I would say within about 10 minutes Conan got back to me and said, ‘How about Paddy McCourt?’ Anybody at all would’ve been great, just to lift his spirits, but getting Paddy was brilliant.

“Dad can be introverted but I suppose in these times people of that age aren’t coming out as much. He would play the odd game of golf and go to football matches every weekend. That was his outlet. He doesn’t drink or go to the pub so from March that’s been a huge loss for him.

“He’s 74 and is basically cocooning. The social occasion at games is part of the package for dad and his friends. It was about that social encounter, not just the football.”

The tragic loss of his wife three years ago has had a significant effect on Mr Boyle who, according to his son, has ‘lost a little of himself’.

“They were inseparable for years. I was there when she got her terminal notice in Letterkenny Hospital and she was going to the Hospice in Letterkenny.

“When she spoke to the doctors they told her it would be a couple of weeks. I had to go bring dad out to the hospital and it was there when the two of them met eyes and I was like a ball of goo when I saw that.

"Mam was our organ grinder, the one who organised everyone and had everything running like clockwork. Dad has been a shell of himself since she went.

“They retired together and had some nice years but that really took it out of him. It’s a sad story. Dad is functioning but he hasn’t been the same social creature since.

“He went for a while where he wouldn’t come out of the house. Then he got coaxed out and things started to improve. He’s had ups and downs but he’s in good health at the moment.

"We were concerned about him at the end of the first lockdown but he’s found a little bit confidence since and is coping but something like that phone call yesterday would’ve helped hugely.”

McCourt played a key role in Harps’ 2018 promotion push before his retirement and so it was a special surprise.

“Dad was always an avid Harps fan. It’s an institution in our house. On Friday or Saturday night it wasn’t ‘Are you going to Mass?’. It was always ‘Is Harps on?’ When are we going?’

“I was a bit nervous when I knew he was getting the call because dad at the moment would be apprehensive to even speak to someone he knows when he’s out walking.

"In the same vein you don’t know how he was going to receive a phone call but obviously Paddy McCourt has that magic touch to keep him on the phone talking about everything.

"Dad was emotional on the phone to me. He was so excited first of all. He goes to me, ‘I don’t even know how he got my number’. He tried to join up the dots but hadn’t a clue what was going on.

“I thanked Conan (Byrne) as well but he totally diverted all the praise onto Paddy McCourt. McCourt was a magician on the field and even better on a one-to-one basis.

“He spoke with my dad about Finn Harps, about Derry City, although on a limited capacity because dad said to me he was afraid to mention to Paddy that Harps were coming for them now in terms of who was going to be in the relegation play-off,” he laughed.

“They spoke about Celtic and Shane Duffy and just life in general and how things were at home for dad. Paddy was brilliant. For a man of his ilk, who has played at the highest levels, he was just really personable.

“To feed into that, there were distant relatives then getting in contact by text or phone calls to say they were talking to dad about it. So Paddy McCourt’s phone call triggered a wave effect of dad reaching out to other people.

“It had a really positive effect on him and Paddy really made his day. It was a small thing but dad was like a 10-year-old yesterday.”

Given the rivalry between Harps and Derry, Finbar felt the phone call meant even more coming from someone with such affinity with the Candy Stripes.

“We were lucky in the latter parts of Paddy’s career that he came to play at Finn Park and did us a sterling service.

But it was magic to see that someone who has such a strong affinity to our north west rivals do such a nice turn for someone who is a dyed in the wool Harps supporter.”

And the promise of another phone call or potentially meeting McCourt in person in the coming months has given Mr. Boyle something to look forward to.

“I would say dad at some point yesterday was wondering when he could get back to Finn Park to tell whoever that Paddy McCourt rang him.

“That’s a lovely thing. It’s almost like a child’s excitement. Dad will be more excited now to go to the Brandywell for the hope of getting to meet face to face with McCourt,” he laughed.