I can’t believe I’m writing this. It shouldn’t be happening. You shouldn’t outlive those of your own vintage. You shouldn’t have to be paying heartbroken tribute to two of them in the space of six months. Absolutely not two from the same family. The two youngest out of such a large, respected and revered family.
Yet here we are. Here the people of Dunshaughlin and Meath are. And most importantly, inexplicably, heartbreakingly, here the Kealy family are. Again. Plunged into unspeakable heartache and grief. Just six months after their sister and daughter Maria could give no more to the bravest battle against the vile poison that is cancer, their youngest son and brother, Denis, was tragically taken from them on Saturday last.
How many times over the years have you heard of an accident in or near your locality and your thought stream goes to “Please don’t let it be anybody I know”. Alas early on Sunday, dread turned to shock, disbelief, heartbreak and, mostly, numbness. Though what I and Gaels near and far are presently feeling pales into minute insignificance compared to what his wife Charlene, their three young sons and the wider Kealy family are going through.
Where do you even start with the Kealy family? To me, a Dunshaughlin team without a Kealy is like a tractor without an engine. It simply won’t go. Brendan is the first of them I remember in a football sense. As a grafting yet skilful wing forward on the Meath team which won the All Ireland MFC in 1990. Then came Aidan with the county Minors who did the same thing in 1992. Followed by Richie who won a Leinster U-21 FC in 1996 and went on to reach the greatest heights of all the lads.
Dermot was something of a late bloomer compared to the other lads but nonetheless had every bit as glory-laden a career as them. In fact, he was the yin to Graham Dowd’s yang which made Dunshaughlin the greatest club team in the county in a generation. A team which – if you include their IFC Final victory of 1997 – contested five county finals in six years.
Who scored an all important goal in that ’97 Final which began the incredible journey? 18-year-old Denis Kealy. Having been an attacking wing back on what was a decent Meath minor side which had the misfortune to encounter a brilliant Laois side comprising such luminaries as Colm Parkinson, Martin Delaney, Ian Fitzgerald, Chris Conway and none other than underage prodigy Brian ‘Beano’ McDonald.
When it came to club fare though, Dunshaughlin’s manager of the day – one C. O’Rourke – obviously placed greater store on his attacking prowess. Perhaps the following is applicable to any footballing dynasty, but, from seasoned and respected observers, the talk always was that “The youngest lad will be the best of the lot of them”!
A lot of the time, such proclamations turn out to be no more than bluster but,with the greatest of respect to the other lads and Maria, Lord rest her beautiful soul, in my opinion, in this case it was true.
For several reasons. His versatility, adaptability and the fact that those very qualities made him Eamonn Barry’s Mr Fix It when his charges were at their zenith. As one former star of the black and amber said to me today as we tried to unpick the previous 48 hours or so, “He was as hard as nails. Whoever the opposition’s big man was, he took them”.
“Trevor Giles, Ray McGee, Tommy Gill of Rathnew and even the great Ciaran McDonald of Crossmolina and Mayo, he shut them all down”. Oh he was Denis the menace alright. In more ways than one.
When Dunshaughlin were finding their feet at Meath football’s top table, one area they did struggle with was long range free taking off the ground. Trevor Dowd and/or Marty Reilly took care of the close in ones on one side and Niall Kelly long range missiles were the weapon of choice from the other wing.
That, however, didn’t solve the problems from 45 or longer. These were the days before goalkeepers became multipurpose firefighters. Even if it had been in vogue then, it’s not difficult to imagine Eamonn going apoplectic with rage at the mere thought of Ronan Gogan or Kit Carey venturing forth to have a crack at one.
Though that didn’t mean he hadn’t an unconvential solution in mind. Step forward Denis, who, more often than not, ended up his team’s top scorer as well as blotting out the opponent’s top men. There’s one such occasion I’ll never forget but sadly never get to verbally thrash out to the nth degree again either.
1999, Dunboyne were defending county champions and, having been blessed to scrape a draw against newly promoted Syddan in our first group game, it was, as one late, great Dunboyne mentor used to say “time to sh** or get off the pot! “.
Just when we thought we’d hobbled to scarcely deserved salvation, up stepped Denis the menace. Now, the more placid among our lot reckoned the genius with the whistle mistakenly set his watch for inter county timing. Meaning that, instead of playing two minutes of injury time, he had in fact added on seven.
I on the other hand would be of the view that the individual in question was that intent on blackguarding our lads worse than Thierry Henry did the Irish soccer team many years thereafter that he was determined to keep playing until Dunshaughlin got a score themselves or he made one for them.
Even if it was a manufactured free, it still took balls of steel to curl it over from the sideline. Setting Denis and his colleagues off on odyssey that would continue until February of 2003 when a ridiculous red card shown to Kelly scuppered their chances against Crossmolina in the All Ireland Club semi final.
To the outrage of many close to home, I sort of latched onto Dunshaughlin around that time. For a thousand different reasons, a lot of which had absolutely nothing to do with football. Merely that several people in that part of the world took me under their collective wing at a time when I was very much playing into the wind for reasons that were removed from football altogether.
If I do have one massive regret from arond that time, it’s not accepting the invitation to join them in their dressing room after they’d beaten Mattock Rangers in the Leinster Club Final. It was three days before Christmas and our own lads had won the county Minor Championship for the first time earlier the same day and I was afraid word would get back that I was in an ‘outside’ dressing room.
There are some strange and bitter people out there. However, following Dunshaughlin’s exploits during their glory years afforded me friendships that will last a lifetime and have become important in ways which far outweigh anything on a football field. That stretches far beyond the occupant of this seat. As best exemplified by the few years that Dunboyne GAA organised an over 40s seven-a-side in aid of the ASD unit of the local primary school.
Hardly surprisingly, on at least one occasion, most if not all of the Dunshaughlin representation was made up of the Kealy lads. Except for Richie, who was affiliated with St Peregrine’s in Mulhuddart at the time. But anywhere there are Kealys on a football field things will get competitive, charity event or not. Still, as is always the case in these situations, the craic and banter back in our clubhouse after the day’s football that will eternally live on.
And, perhaps inevitably, whenever Denis and I crossed paths, the seven minutes injury time always got harrowed up. What I wouldn’t give to have the seven minute debate one more time. Rest easy Denis, reunited with Maria, may both of ye give the others the strength and courage to carry on that you were famed for on the pitch.
As long as the black and amber and green and gold jersey goes into battle, your story will be told.
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