TRIBUTES have been paid to a GAA historian and author whose book on Gaelic games in Co Tyrone has been described as a "bible" for fans.
Joseph Martin, who was 84, died on Sunday at his home in Omagh.
He published The GAA in Tyrone: Raising the Red Hand in 1984, chronicling the history of GAA in the county, and the tome has been updated several times since, with the fourth edition released in 2021 to cover the county's senior all-Ireland football win that year.
The updated book also covered the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on clubs across the county.
A former player with An Charraig Mhór Naomh Colmcille CLG, Mr Martin also turned out for Tyrone's minor team, before going on to become Carrickmore's treasurer and later chairman.
A spokesperson for the club told the Irish News that Mr Martin, who was a former teacher at St Colman's High School in Strabane, would be "sadly missed" by GAA fans across Tyrone and further afield.
Carrickmore vice-chair and former Tyrone footballer Gavan McElroy said: "Joseph was a hugely respected figure and his knowledge of the GAA in Tyrone was unmatched. His book remains essential reading for anyone with an interest in the sport.”
A spokesperson for Tyrone GAA said: "Whilst Joe's impact among us as an educationalist was immense, in Gaelic Tyrone he will always shine brightest as our County's remarkable GAA historian.
They added: "Some people make history. Others record it. But in the way he recorded it, Joe also made it. No one here, or anywhere else, has left such a legacy. And all of it with elegance, flair, discretion and uprightness. Our deepest sympathy goes to Marie, Séamus, Sinéad, Declan and Ciaran, to Joe’s wider family circle, to his many friends and colleagues, in work and beyond, and to the Gaels of Carrickmore."
Strabane-based GAA writer Aodhán Harkin said: "He was a proud historian and was responsible for the publication of The GAA in Tyrone, which is a bible in many Gaelic households."
A funeral mass for Mr Martin will take place on Tuesday at St Mary's Church in Killyclogher at 10am before a burial at the adjoining cemetery.
