Maurice Deegan

Maurice Deegan (born 1972)[1][2] is a former inter-county referee from County Laois. A member of the Stradbally club, he refereed three finals of the All-Ireland SFC.

Career

Deegan began refereeing when the Stradbally club secretary asked if he would oversee a friendly game.[1] Deegan officiated, wearing jeans and a t-shirt.[1] The club secretary recommended him for training and Deegan began working on local club matches and, later, underage development matches.[1]

Deegan refereed three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals at Croke Park — the 2016 All-Ireland Final Replay between Dublin and Mayo,[3] the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final between Donegal and Mayo[4][5][6] and the 2008 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final between Kerry and Tyrone.[7] He refereed his first All-Ireland final when he was 35 years old.[1]

Deegan also refereed the 2020 Munster Senior Football Championship Final between Tipperary and Cork which resulted in Tipp's first title since 1935. Cork-based newspaper, the Irish Examiner, reckoned Deegan gave a "solid" performance.[8]

Deegan was originally listed to referee the 2022 Tailteann Cup Final, but the GAA confirmed a change of referee on 6 July.[9] Deegan was absent for what would have been his final inter-county game after contracting COVID-19.[1] Barry Cassidy deputised in Deegan's absence.[10]

Deegan refereed the 2022 Leinster Senior Club Football Championship final (contested by The Downs and Kilmacud Crokes), his last game at Croke Park.[11] He fell and injured his shoulder during the second half of the match.[12] He was also involved in another collision, with the weather at fault.[13] Deegan was able to carry on.[14]

After retiring, he rated the 2011 All-Ireland semi-final between Donegal and Dublin as the most difficult game he had refereed.[11]

Personal life

Deegan is the father of two daughters.[1]

References
  1. Gannon, Tom (18 July 2022). "Laois GAA ref blows his final whistle Maurice Deegan Interview". Leinster Express. With the first one, I was very young to be doing an All-Ireland final, I was only thirty-five at the time. It was massive and that game in particular between Tyrone and Kerry was billed as probably the biggest game of the decade.
  2. Keys, Colm (15 April 2022). "Maurice Deegan set for inter-county swansong as referee". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 April 2022. Maurice Deegan is preparing for his last championship as an inter-county referee as he reaches the age of 50 this year.
  3. "Maurice Deegan to ref Dublin v Mayo replay". RTÉ. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  4. "Maurice Deegan to referee Mayo v Donegal All-Ireland final". RTÉ. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  5. "Maurice Deegan: Black cards will be a killer at first". 4 April 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  6. "Inter-county referee Maurice Deegan speaks". 3 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2013. Too scared to do anything.
  7. Lennon, Siun (5 September 2018). "Maurice Deegan speaks about being the man in the middle and hopes of refereeing a possible fourth All-Ireland".
  8. "Stars align as heroic Tipperary shock Cork for first Munster SFC title in 85 years". Irish Examiner. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  9. Galvin, Kieran (6 July 2022). "Change of referee for Tailteann Cup final". Westmeath Independent. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  10. K Burke, Mary (6 July 2022). "Barry Cassidy will referee Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park". derrynow.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  11. Roche, Frank (2 December 2022). "Retiring referee Maurice Deegan on why Dublin and Donegal's 2011 arm-wrestle was his toughest game". Irish Independent.
  12. "Referee floored during Leinster final". Hogan Stand. 5 December 2022.
  13. Ganly, Conor (4 December 2022). "Maurice Deegan upended in Croke Park". Leinster Express.
  14. "Legendary referee Maurice Deegan floored during Leinster final in his final game". 4 December 2022.
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