Photographer who captured iconic picture of Dermot Earley has died
The late Dermot Earley is carried off the field by the Mayo players following the 1985 Connacht senior football final. The photograph was taken by the late Henry Wills who passed away on Thursday evening.
One of the west of Ireland’s most well-known and respected photographers, who captured an iconic photograph of the late Dermot Earley after his last game for Roscommon, has died.
Henry Wills of the passed away on Thursday evening at the Bon Secours Hospital in Galway after a brief illness. He was aged 71.
A native of Ballina, Henry commenced his career with the in November 1972 and captured some of the most historical moments in County Mayo’s history — the Papal visit in 1979, the building of Knock Airport in the early 1980s, the inauguration of Mary Robinson as President of Ireland in 1990, and the election of Enda Kenny as Taoiseach in 2011.
He also had a great eye for a sporting image, and one such picture has taken its place in Connacht and Roscommon GAA folklore.
After the 1985 Connacht final in Dr. Hyde Park, a game Mayo won by 2-11 to 0-8, the Mayo players displayed wonderful sportsmanship by carrying the late Dermot Earley shoulder-high from the field in what was his last game in the “Primrose and Blue”.
Henry captured the picture perfectly to show the high esteem in which Dermot was held among his peers.
A former president of the Press Photographers' Association of Ireland (PPAI), Henry was known and loved by photographers all over the country.
May he Rest In Peace.
