Tyrone man puts his shirt on Orchard County with play inspired by Armagh All-Ireland win
Niall Conway has created The Lucky Shirt, a comedy production which will be performed across three Co Armagh GAA clubs in the coming weeks.
But the inspiration for the event came to him from far closer to home.
'I wrote a play about 10 to 12 years ago, as a bit of a tribute or homage to Stevie O'Neill and Brian Dooher from my own home club of Clann na Gael in north Tyrone,' said the Dunamanagh man.
'It was set when Tyrone won the All-Ireland in '05, because Stevie was untouchable and unmarkable that year, scoring for fun, whilst Brian lifted Sam [Maguire trophy] for the first time that year too.
'That nearly got on stage on a couple of different occasions, but just didn't for logistical and practical reasons, and I just thought over last winter that I could rework it for Armagh using almost the same template.'
Niall's links to Armagh go just that bit further too, as he won a Sigerson Cup (university) medal with Gareth O'Neill — father of current inter-county Armagh stars Oisin and Rian.
The Lucky Shirt follows the story of three very different supporters.
First up are Dessie and Francie, two neighbours from south Armagh.
Dessie is a teacher — fairly level-headed and neutral. Francie is a semi-retired farmer and an absolute fanatic of Kieran McGeeney — the county's current manager and also the man who captained them to their first-ever senior All-Ireland success back in 2002.
Niall has described Francie as a bit 'old-fashioned', as well as cantankerous and highly sarcastic.
The third main character is Dessie's pal JP — a 'wheeler-dealer' from Lurgan.
Cut from 'very different cloth to Francie', JP is considered a more 'casual' fan, who questions McGeeney's managerial style, gets players' names wrong, and often rocks up in his 'lucky' Hawaiian shirt, much to the displeasure of the older man.
The audience will follow along as the men attend matches throughout the 2024 season — putting the world to rights discussing politics and current affairs — and eventually trying to get tickets to the All-Ireland final.
As everyone now knows, Armagh claimed just their second All-Ireland Football title in the county's history, with a 1-11 to 0-13 victory over favourites Galway last July.
Niall found himself supporting McGeeney's men. He said he was 'genuinely cheering them on and genuinely glad to see them winning it'.
He definitely won't be singing their praises come this Saturday though, when Armagh and Tyrone will play each other in the Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final.
Nonetheless, Niall is sure that people from both counties — even those with no particular interest in the GAA — will enjoy The Lucky Shirt.
The play is set to take to the stage this month at Ballymacnab Round Towers GAA Hall and two Lurgan clubs — Clann Éireann GAC and Clann na Gael.
Check out each club's social media pages and contact them directly for further details of dates and tickets.
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