“We’ll drink to those who are here today, and remember those who are gone”. So begins one of the verses in the beautiful, moving number penned by Charlie Walls Lord knows how long ago, The Big Tree which has very much become Dunboyne’s ‘national’ anthem. Especially since being eternally enshrined as such on Mick McAuley’s album of the same name, released in 2003. With Aidan Hayes accompanying on guitar, Sean Henry on drums, Bernie Tynan on violin and Ray Murtagh and Martin ‘Mocky’ Regan both on bass.
Mention of the last named in particular is seminal. As both Mick and ‘Mocky’ provide a link back to the glory days of Meath football from the mid 1980s to the same period in the decade and a bit which followed. With Mick being a pivotal member of Sean Boylan’s backroom team from the time he took the job in October 1982 until what I think was 1995 – when the one and only Eoghan ‘The Crow’ Lynch took up the role. Whereas ‘Mocky’ has, at the time of typing, been making his magic hands available to the preparation and maintainence of Meath teams – and many others besides – for 40 years now, and there’s no reason to suggest the sequence won’t continue with Robbie Brennan.
Anyway, the reason for mentioning all of the above is that we may have to loan the few lines of The Big Tree quoted above to a couple of our neighbouring clubs after a tumultous emotional rollercoaster of a weekend of GAA action. Both at home and further afield.
When it’s not always raining, there’ll be days like this. When there’s no-one complaining, there’ll be days like this. When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch, I just have to remember, there’ll be days like this.
Van Morrison
Colm O’Rourke quoted the above few lines from the man with the penchant for brown eyed girls when chronicling his own guidance of Simonstown Gaels to their first Meath SFC title in 2016. But given the incredible weekend’s GAA action close to home and further afield, there may be a need to paraphrase Van The Man a bit and say there’ll be weeks like this.
So, where to begin? Well, we may as well go in chronological order, thus that means the picturesque village of Meath Hill. The lovely hamlet, which straddles Louth, Cavan and Monaghan, have long punched above their weight in a footballing sense.
But, then, they’ve always thad good footballers. Going back as far as Tom Matthews in 1980, onto Lee Breslin – who plastered my sister’s house in 1995 – while both the flame haired midfielder and full forward Francis Callaghan received inter county call ups at the back end of 1996 when the Hill and the other half of the same parish, Drumconrath, contested the JFC Final. Paddy Reilly from the red and white corner got the same call up.
Then came Tadhg Boyle who featured on several Meath underage teams, while thereafter came Barry Kieran who was one of the stars on the Royal ensemble which captured the All Ireland JFC in 2003. And, as far as can be recalled, Dominic Yorke was the last representative of the blue and white donning the green and gold when the custodian got a few goes under Andy McEntee’s stewardship.
That list seems certain to increase now, though, given the monumental ascent engineered by Shane McCoy and his side have engineered in the last half decade or so.
Now, whether the following is down to the inception of the Regional Championship or cognisance of the local scene is unclear, but, players such as Cormac Sheehy and Jack Slavin and Ryan Owens and Gary Breslin have flickered brightly on the radar for some home. Though that they were quite as good as has turned out to be the case mightn’t have been fully appraised at the time.
However, over the past few weeks, they have made the rest of the GAA world sit up and take note. Firstly, by defeating a Kilbride team who had mirrored the progress the Hill had made in the last couple of years by making the step up to Intermediate.
Ironically, though, it was Meath Hill’s extra couple of years nous at the grade that guided them over the third last hurdle at Walterstown. Whereas, against Ballivor in the semi final and again on Saturday last, it was their redoubtable obduracy which won the days and boldly took them where they’ve never been before.
In fact, they produced their best display of mountain scaling until the biggest day of all against the county’s most storied club, Navan O’Mahonys. The burgeoning Breslin, Sheehy and Slavin all raised white flags, while Robbie Keelaghan and Darragh Maguire replied at the other end. Meaning that McCoy’s men led by 0-05 to 0-04 at half time.
When Breslin bolstered that lead immediately after half time, what might have seemed unimaginable to many loomed larger on the horizon. Then, for a period, it became a shootout between Gary Breslin and Robbie Keelaghan. Before Maguire and Sean Betson appeared to have steered the Hoops for home.
But no, the Hill were the men who couldn’t be moved, and Jack McMahon curled over a splendid equaliser. Then, two Shane McCabe points and one from Breslin appeared to seal the envelope with the fairytale therein as it left the underdogs clear by 0-15 to 0-12. Again, to their credit O’Mahonys again rallied, with a pair of Aodhan Mallon points, but, again, McCabe split the posts, creating history and reserving their place at Meath’s top table.
If Meath Hill’s heroics were astounding in one way, it’s actually quite difficult to know where to begin with the story of Dunsany’s day of deliverance. As a neutral observer, I couldn’t but be overjoyed for the people of the great club. Whilst at the same time recalling the many great Gaels and friends who never got to see them reach the promised land.
No matter what sport you are involved in or fond of, you will have more disappointing days than glorious ones. And while it is true that what doesn’t break you will make you stronger, I’m not sure even Lazarus could keep bouncing back after EIGHT county final defeats, but back Dunsany kept coming.
Over the years, the club has produced so many fine footballers – male and female – who have represented the county with distinction. But on the day of days, it was the man deemed surplus to requirements by the now former county senior management, Eoin Harkin, stood up and did what great leaders always do, drove his kinfolk by deed.
Now, with the mountain top finally scaled, a whole new challenge awaits them. That will be a matter for a different day though. Lord knows they’ve waited long enough for a party!
So to the senior decider. The build up thereto reminded me of the preamble to the Meath-Galway All Ireland Final. Generally accepted wisdom was that the ball was very much in Dunshaughlin’s court. The formbook might have said so, but there’s no better outfit to fling that document in the furnace than Wolfe Tones.
Yet again they did so as well. As, despite the favourites enjoying the lion’s share of possession, their profligacy and Tones being Tones saw the purple and gold open up a 0-03 to 0-01 buffer through the tried and trusted boots of Thomas O’Reilly and Saran O’Fionnagain.
Mind you, whatever about there being days or even weeks like this, for Dunshaughlin’s Ruairi Kinsella, it’s been a season like this. With the stylish and accurate forward pivotal to their smash and grab win over Summerhill, dizzying the Dunboyne defence in the semi final and ultimately, drilling the ball low under Ciaran O’Gallachoir to infuse what had been a stuttering effort by Richie Kealy’s team up to that point with red diesel. Pun intended.
At this stage it’s only fair to point out that Storm Ashley flittered whatever chance either side had of playing anything like the football they were capable of. Ironically, though, gut feeling would’ve been that if it came down to a dogfight, a more seasoned, battle hardened Tones might have held the slenderest of edges. Especially when one considers that luminaries of the Kilberry outfit, Cian Ward and Stephen Sheppard were able to delay their entrances until the last quarter.
The other factor, though, was that once the former of the pair entered the fray, something positive was bound to happen for those whom he has spiritually and literally led for two decades. What nobody would foretold or wished, however, was the identity of the player whose misfortune seemed to have tipped Paidi O’Se’s grains of rice away from the then three time kingpins.
Who or whatever Mat Costello was looking for when spraying a wild free back in the direction of his own goal, he might never even know himself. But what everyone knows is that, whether Cian Ward is 38, 48, or 58 if you give him one-on-one ball 21 yards out, there’s only going to be one outcome!
Then Saran curled over a delicious score before punching the air as if a ‘we have it’ to his late grandfather Fintan Ginnitty in the boardroom far away.
Dunshaughlin have tragically too much representation in that venue as well and, as has been my inclination all season, Maria Kealy, Denis Kealy, Fergus Clancy and Paul Costello ensured the amply proportioned performer hadn’t even cleared her throat at that stage.
The grains of rice had to go to the other side of the scale. That they most certainly did. The ill-fitting villain tag was torn clear off Costello’s back and the most valuable left boot in Meath prodded it’s owner to redemption, embellished by a point seconds later as Tom Keegan was headed back up the M3.
There won’t be a dry eye or glass in a lot of places this week.
***
I have no problem admitting that one was an emotional mess upon hearing the full time whistle. Mostly out of a sense of what might have been. Owing to an absolute belief that it should have been our black and amber stars taking on the Tones, but that it wasn’t was nobody’s fault but our own, fourteen wides as opposed to five by Dunshaughlin tells its own story. But then, regardless of what actually happened on the field – and even more especially so in the final – personally, the greatest and most difficult to assuage internal strife because of the fact that my best friend and greatest inspiration David Gallagher is currently an integral part of Richie Kealy’s management entourage.
Which of course creates its own internal conflict. Obviously, wanting to see Dunshaughlin do well – not only for David’s sake but also due to the many invaluable, treasured and now poignant friendships held with folk from the neighbouring parish. However, as much as, from a personal perspective, there were hopes the neighbours would do well, I got – and am still getting – hard to balance all that against the anger and upset felt at individuals close to home who let one of our own slip through their fingers. A development which I always knew was going to come back to bite us in the arse. Though not expecting it to do so as rapidly as has turned out to be the case.
Though scarcely believable, it was actually a case of Gally being the second such instance in a relatively short space of time. With two other disciples of our club, who felt the need to graze different pastures, involved with a county final elsewhere on the same day. Unfortunately for them, their disappointment meant deliverance for some individuals whom nobody would begrudge success at club level.
So, for the time being all that remains is to follow the progress of the Meath teams in the various Leinster competitions, see how the Regional Championship plays out and – as a knock-on effect of same – what Robbie Brennan’s first Meath panel will look like. Yes, all of the above is positive, but try telling that to the part of me that feels left out.
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