Geary: Father’s death a shock

Cork camogie star Anna Geary has bravely shared her experience of losing both her father and brother in the past year. Geary, a beloved broadcaster and former All-Star player, spoke candidly about the sudden passing of her father, Michael, on the Phone Truths podcast with Carl Mullan.

In March 2022, Michael died unexpectedly just six weeks after receiving a terminal diagnosis. Just a year later, in November 2023, her brother Thomas also passed away. Describing the shocking turn of events, Geary explained that her father had always been incredibly healthy.

“My dad was in his early 60s. He was so healthy. We used to always joke if he was a farmer, if he spent the night outside in the pouring rain, he wouldn’t even have a sniffle the next day,” she recalled.

“We used to always joke there was meat in the fridge a week old that, only for the dogs, if my dad ate it, he would be grand. He had a stomach of steel,” Geary said.

This unexpected diagnosis and swift decline left Geary struggling to process the reality of the situation. “He had this invincibility, in my eyes. So to find out so quickly, so suddenly and out of the blue, that he was ill. He had a bit of back pain and then went in (to hospital). They found a tumour and it had spread. Within six weeks he was gone. To find out that, it was hard to believe. I think I took the phonecall and went about my day. It probably hit me in the hours afterwards.”

Geary’s father was a pillar of support throughout her illustrious camogie career, in which she won four All-Ireland senior titles and six All-Stars. Losing him deeply impacted her family dynamic.

“Our whole life turned upside down and when you lose anybody in your family, particularly a parent, the dynamic of your family shifts. And I was the oldest. Suddenly, then, you are not a child,” she confided.

“I used to love going home at Christmas time, because, after a busy year of work, veg out on the sofa for two weeks. You could just be a child again for two weeks, have your dinners handed up to you and relax at home. Shut out the outside world, if you wanted to.

“Whereas, when that happened, everything changed in an instant. I had to step up and all the rigmarole that comes with consultants and appointments. It just turned our world upside down. I think, if there are people listening going through that, it is allowing yourself the space to process it, because… I probably didn’t process it until after he was gone.”