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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 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. 1 2 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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