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The 42
an hour ago
- Sport
- The 42
'At 18 years of age I would have done anything for football, at 21 I wanted an excuse to stop'
ON A SOAKING wet day in Ballybofey, May 2011, Donegal backroom member Marc 'Maxi' Curran was sent to the minor team dressing room to fetch Paddy McBreaty. He was just after scoring 1-3 for the minors, but they were beaten in the Ulster championship by Antrim. Curran got him fresh kit and a bowl of pasta. In the next short while, McBrearty would soon join an exclusive band of players who played minor and senior county championship on the same day. It began a pattern that Jim McGuinness would embed in his Donegal teams. He has said before that the most talented minor footballer in the county would play senior football, so the best thing for them was to bring them in and nourish them early. Since then, he brought in Ryan McHugh in 2013 and even was a little hasty in trying to fast-track Finbarr Roarty last year, who nonetheless is a front runner now for Young Player of the Year. In 2014, he brought in Darrach 'Jigger' O'Connor. He started the first Ulster championship game against Derry. He scored a goal in the semi-final against Antrim. He started the Ulster and All-Ireland finals that year, claiming a place ahead of none other than McBrearty. He had an early sight of goal in the 2014 All-Ireland final against Kerry that fizzed across and went wide. Donegal's Darach O'Connor and goalkeeper Brian Kelly of Kerry. Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO He came from good stock in that regard. His father John 'Jigger' O'Connor had the ball in the net for Roscommon after just 35 seconds of the 1980 All-Ireland final, past Charlie Nelligan in the Kerry goals. Since then, he has played little football for Donegal. A sad litany of cruciate ligament and knee injuries has been his fate for the past decade, his latest occurring for Buncrana only nine weeks ago. Regrets? Not really. ***** He had an inkling it might happen. When he was playing for the county U21s in 2013, they lost the Ulster final to Cavan. After the game, assistant manager Rory Gallagher came over for a chat. Marking his card. 'I'll never forget the phone call,' says O'Connor now. After Buncrana clubmate Paul McGonigle was added to the Donegal backroom team in late 2013, he made a call to O'Connor. He was sitting in geography class at Scoil Mhuire. His phone was lying on his pencil case and McGonigle's name flashed up. He went sheepishly to the teacher and told her he had to take the call. She just laughed. Playing against Armagh in the Dr McKenna Cup. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO 'I was still 17 at that time,' he says. 'You're just delighted, like, you know, like I remember just being so excited for it.' His mind flashed back to the Ulster meeting of Donegal and Armagh in the Ulster championship of 2007. He played at half-time in the mini-games on a day the seniors scored a rare win over that generation of Armagh players. Advertisement 'Karl Lacey, like I remember just watching Lacey that day and just thinking 'Jesus Christ.' From that moment on Karl Lacey was just a complete hero of mine. 'You had Michel Murphy obviously came on the scene and Christy Toye. I remember in a school final we got beat by St Eunan's at a good game and Rory Kavanagh came up to me after, he was managing St Eunan's, and he shook my hand and I remember just thinking, 'Jesus, there's Rory Kavanagh. He plays for Donegal.' On his first training session, reality bit. 'Gruelling. I mean you weren't long realising, this is a completely different ballgame. But I just loved it. I loved every minute of it.' 'I had a lot of work to do. It was just the body adapting to be honest, really, because I didn't play county under 16, I didn't play county when I was my first year of minors, and I then was involved with the 21s and the minors at the same time. 'It was kbeing juggled at the start, playing a game with the minors, playing a game with the 21s, so you weren't doing a lot of the conditioning side. 'My first couple of months with the seniors, my hamstring was constantly pinging. Jim was always just gauging how I felt on the day. 'I was doing rehab runs, doing bike sessions, all that. There was never that pressure like you need to get you in there.' He was named to start for a league game but injured himself in the Thursday night session. McGuinness took him aside and outlined his plans. He was to concentrate on his mock exams for a while, but he was to be ready for a trip to Galway. After the game, he was put in a group with others coming back from injury, including Mark McHugh and Frank McGlynn. A small training pitch, a massive running session. He was also doubling up with Maxi Curran's U21 team. 'We'd finished what I thought was a session, and I was completely gassed, I remember so clearly it was in Castlefin,' he says. Playing a league game against his father's county of Roscommon. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO 'The seniors had just trained before us, and I remember even just listening to Jim shouting at the boys that day got me excited. 'The hairs were standing up on the back of the neck because we were in the changing room and we could hear Jim driving the boys on. 'We'd done the training and a lot of ball work and we'd done a set of runs, and I thought that was, I was completely out of my feet. 'Then, they said there's two more sets of that.' He looked at team trainer Francie Friel as if to say, 'You can't be serious?' Friel looked back at him as if to say he was crazy for questioning their methods. 'And that was the day that I realised I need to get myself in shape here. This is a big step up.' With McGuinness, the tactical side of it was also something he had to catch up on. 'It's that you've so much clarity in what you're doing. 'I can guarantee you, the boys are still as fit, just now there's that much clarity of the game plan.' The championship rolled round and he was handed a start at wing-forward against Derry in Celtic Park. He had never played there before, but had clear instructions to get after their creative defender, Sean Leo McGoldrick. 'I knew what I was doing. Just to be around him. Anytime he went to go, I would go with him. 'Like there was no second thought.' He kept his place for the semi-final against Antrim and notched a brilliant goal, cutting back onto his right foot to shoot from distance, ending up with 1-2. He started the Ulster final and was taken off for McBrearty. Despite that, he again started the All-Ireland final but was replaced in the first half by Toye. 'Marc O'Sé had caused a wild bit of bother against Mayo (in the semi-final),' O'Connor outlines. 'My role was that when he's bombing forward, I have to mark him. And when he didn't run, I remember saying to myself, 'I need to do something here, I'm going to be pulled because Paddy McBrearty and Christy Toye are sitting on the bench and Jim's not going to leave me on here. 'But was on about them not really knowing you and you might get a good chance, but if Marc Ó Sé's going forward the way he was, you're marking him.' It was a game which Donegal never controlled. They had their plans, honed during multiple training camps and the weekend before they took up residence in the Lough Erne Golf Resort in Fermanagh, training at the nearby Brewster Park, home of Enniskillen Gaels. 'That's kind the disappointing aspect of the '14 final, that we didn't do what we should have done. I've never watched it. I never will,' he says. 'There was a flatness to us. It's going to haunt me to the day I die if we don't win on Sunday.' Even now, it's referenced. Eamonn McGee is now coaching Buncrana and he mentioned to O'Connor recently that he spends far more time thinking about the Kerry final of 2014, than the All-Ireland he won in 2012. At the end of the year, O'Connor had flunked school. He messed up his CAO applications form for college. He put down NUIG but he had no intention of going there. 'But again when I look back, I wasn't worried about my Leaving Cert. 'I don't know why I had Galway down number one, but I found out around August time that you have to take your number one, and if you don't, you can take a year out.' He took the year out. He wanted to go and do teaching in DCU but never quite got there. He entered education through a circuitous route and now works with children who struggle to finish school through the Department of Education. 'That was always my interest, I would have worked a lot with special needs as well, so I thought I wanted to do teaching,' he says. 'And if I had done teaching, I would have just been looking after the bad ones in classes as they say.' School for him was tricky. He had undiagnosed ADHD in school. In primary school it was disastrous. He was continually getting into trouble, but his teacher, Maria Doherty, was also the school football coach. She recognised when the issues with his behaviour arose. 'She was the first one to realise when I was grand – after lunchtime,' he says. Maria spoke to O'Connor's mother, Catherine, who was a nurse. 'And she said that he's not getting in trouble after exercise. It's only when he's sitting for a long time and he starts acting up. 'And then all of a sudden it turns out that I have ADHD and secondary school is grand then because you're moving class every 40 minutes anyway. 'I think from that point on, I always have a look at the troublemakers. You just want to help them. If I wasn't at Gaelic, would my experience have been different?' He volunteered for a long time with iCARE, a disability services and support organisation in Buncrana. Everything started making sense. Even now, certain things get to him. Sitting for long periods. Inactivity. On days when they have to facilitate internal suspensions, he takes the children outside for breaks. They need it. He needs it. Related Reads 'One of my early years, I had the match played in my head a thousand times beforehand' David Clifford 'could be the best player that has ever played the game' - McGuinness 'It's challenging but it's adding to the entertainment' - Goalkeeper view on new rules 'I'm very forgetful,' he admits. 'For a long time, I thought it was just being forgetful, but I went to a few people since, and there's certain things about that. 'Doing paperwork is hard because you have to sit and concentrate. Wouldn't be the worst anxiety, but the thought of doing it then would just really trigger me. Not being able to exercise isn't great, for example, at the minute I've been in a cast for eight weeks.' Which brings us to injuries. In 2015 he tore his MCL playing against Galway in a challenge match. He played through it with the U21s, all the way to the Ulster final against Tyrone. Celebrating the 2018 Ulster final win with Stephen McBrearty. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO He was taking six weeks out but then tore it properly in a club game. Even at that, he still managed to get back to come on as a sub in the 2015 Ulster final loss to Monaghan. The following Tuesday they were training in Convoy. He did his cruciate on his other (left) knee then. It was left undiagnosed. He kept trying to come back. One night he was down at the club and they were short players. He played and this time ruined the knee altogether. 'Just dealing with injuries, people don't see the mental side of it,' he says. 'I just went from 18 years of age, would have done anything for football, to 21 nearly looking for an excuse to stop playing football.' By 2018 he was still floating around the panel under Declan Bonner, playing a few games here and there. He even made it onto the pitch for the dying moments of the Ulster final win over Fermanagh, scoring a point after coming on for Jamie Brennan. And then, another knee injury. 'The good thing that came out of Covic for me was I realised 'Jesus, I need to play football for as long as I can.' 'Important things in my life, they've been taken away from me.' A couple of months back, he injured his patella. He's in a leg brace since. The pain is severe. He believes he would take two cruciate injuries over what he has now. He doesn't look back as he doesn't have too far to look for people who suffered real tragedy. O'Connor was born in San Francisco in 1995 and three years later, he and his mother were on a plane after after his cousin, eight-year-old Oran Doherty, was killed in the Omagh Bombing. That gives him all the perspective he needs. He has his tickets secured for Sunday, though they are on the top tier. He's on the lookout for a swap for a lower perch, what with the hassle of the leg brace. Who could begrudge him that? ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The Irish Sun
15 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘I didn't know what to expect' – Patrick McBrearty reveals drastic action behind Jim McGuinness' return to Donegal GAA
PATRICK McBREARTY door-stepped Jim McGuinness two years ago to beg the Glenties man to return as Donegal boss. The county endured a dismal inter-county season in 2023 that was preceded by manager 2 Jim McGuinness returned as Donegal manager Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile 2 Paddy McBrearty revealed what he did to make it happen Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile They were relegated to Division 2 as Aidan O'Rourke took charge in the interim. But the Armagh native could not help the team avoid an Ulster SFC quarter-final loss to Down. Provincial foes Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-finals. Skipper McBrearty, along with team-mate Hugh McFadden, took drastic action. McGuinness led Read More on GAA And after some persuasion, McGuinness agreed to return. Donegal have since won back-to-back Ulster titles and are 70 minutes from lifting Sam again ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland final against Kerry. And it all came from a knock at McGuinness' front door. Forward McBrearty admitted: 'We didn't know what to expect. We knew Jim would either welcome us or there would be another response. Most read in GAA Football 'When you door-step someone . . . if it was me, I probably would have told him to clear it. 'We hadn't seen each other in a long time but we had a good chat about where Donegal football was. RTE GAA pundit embrace Tipperary captain Ronan Maher after his epic display toppled Cork in All-Ireland final 'But he never said no, which kept the thing alive. If he said no, that would have been fine. 'There wasn't just one conversation. There were a few conversations and it kept the pressure on. 'Thankfully he came back because god knows where it would be if he didn't.' McGuinness had to use his own powers of persuasion to coax 2012 All-Ireland-winning captain Michael Murphy back into the fold ahead of this season. The five-time All-Star has been in scintillating form and is Donegal's Championship top scorer this term with 44 points. And McBrearty has had to be content with a place on the bench for the last three games. The 31-year-old was in inspired form when entering the fray against Meath in the semi-final, scoring three points in a 3-26 to 0-15 triumph. Looking on from the sideline as skipper is never easy but it is for the greater good. And McBrearty likened his role to that of Stefan Campbell off the bench for Armagh last year as the Orchard lifted Sam. The Kilcar man said: 'Every player wants to start but you've got to see the bigger picture. 'Everyone knows about Stefan Campbell coming in and Armagh's squad probably won them the All-Ireland last year. 'There are really good players in the Donegal set-up who can't get into the 26, never mind the first 15. 'I'm up against Oisín Gallen, Michael and Conor O'Donnell. 'It's tough for positions there. 'That's what I think is really good about this group. 'They are all willing to see the bigger picture.'
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'If there is any chance for us, we have to curb his influence' - Donegal captain McBrearty wary of Kerry star David Clifford
When Donegal last took home Sam Maguire in 2012, Jim McGuinness' side had seven games to navigate their way to All-Ireland glory, including an Ulster preliminary quarter-final against Cavan. Should the Tír Chonaill men claim a third ever Sam Maguire win on Sunday, they will do so after a gruelling 11-game schedule (it could even reach a dozen if the sides remain deadlocked after extra-time). McGuinness has been vocal in his criticism of the demands being put on his players, yet his 2025 crop are potentially just 70 minutes away from the Holy Grail. Captain Paddy McBrearty and talisman Michael Murphy are the only players in the panel that were involved in the 2-11 to 0-13 victory over Mayo 13 years ago. McBrearty started every time during the victorious Ulster campaign but, in the subsequent half a dozen games, has only been selected from the off against Cavan. Replaced at half-time in the comfortable win over the Breffni men, the Kilcar man has impressed in cameo roles when sprung from the bench. He picked off two points in the comeback victory over Monaghan in the All-Ireland quarter-final, while last time out he terrorised the Meath defence with three points in an all-action display after replacing Murphy in the 45th minute. It seems likely that he will again be held in reserve for the Sunday's showdown with the Kingdom, but the 31-year-old cannot wait for the game to come around. "It's back to where every team wants to be, back in an All-Ireland final," he tells RTÉ Sport. "For some of us in the group, it has taken a long time to get back there. "It's pure relief to get back there. A lot of hard work and bad days as well along the way." One defeat in 10 isn't a bad return for a side that only two years ago were in disarray. That sole reversal came at home to Tyrone, yet the rare taste of defeat in Ballybofey has stood to the team, with McBrearty highlighting the nature of the wins over Mayo and Monaghan as proof of the resilience within the group. "The Tyrone loss was a disappointment, but we got back on the horse well," he says. "The team has shown great character, particularly in the Mayo game. Likewise, the Monaghan game when we were eight points down." With the likes of Finnbarr Roarty, Caolan McColgan and Ciarán Moore starring in their run to the final, some of the more established players have been forced to showcase their talents off the bench. In the semi-final demolition of the Royals, McGuinness was able to introduce McBrearty, Jason McGee, Caolan McGonagle, Daire Ó Baoill and Odhrán McFadden Ferry to proceedings in a show of arms. "There are a lot of very good footballers that can't get into the 26 at the minute," McBrearty says. "Every night at training, everyone is putting their best foot forward." Kerry are the final hurdle they must overcome in a demanding season. In 2012, McGuinness got the better of Jack O'Connor at the quarter-final stage – McBrearty kicked a score in a two-point win – and the two men will be plotting each other's downfall once again on Sunday. Central to McGuinness' plans will be how to curtail David Clifford, with the Kerry forward back in Player of the Year form. Pivotal in the quarter-final win over Armagh, he torched the Tyrone defence with 1-05 from play last time out. "He's obviously one of the all-time greats," McBrearty says. "Anyone within the GAA is a fan of his. He's different to anyone else. "If there is any chance for us to win the game, we have to curb his influence, which is a very, very hard task to do. "Every team says that before they go out onto the field. There are a lot of battles all over the field, and whoever is on him has a massive job to do." The fact they playing the most decorated county in the game adds another layer for a team targeting just a third title. "Kerry has a massive history within the game. They nearly expect to win it," he adds. "A lot of players in their group have won All-Irelands, but there are a few that haven't also. "There are a lot of boys in our group around the block a long time that haven't won an All-Ireland, so it's two teams mad to win."
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Man who broke safety order by posting video of ex wife with ‘abusive' music online gets jail sentence suspended on appeal
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, posted a video of four pictures on a loop, one of which showed his former wife in a swimsuit on a beach with her face distorted. He had pleaded guilty in the District Court to breaching a safety order contrary to section 33(1) of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 on June 13, 2024 but lodged an appeal against his sentence. Garda Noel McBrearty told the District Court Appeals Court that gardaí received a report from the injured party that her former husband had breached a safety order. He said that gardaí were made aware of a video posted to the man's Facebook page, which featured rap music playing over four images on a continuous loop. Garda McBrearty said that the first image was of the injured party wearing a swimsuit on a beach, the second image featured the woman's new partner, the third showed a vehicle the woman had previously owned and the fourth was another picture of the woman. He said the injured party told him that the rap music had lyrics which were 'abusive in nature'. Garda McBrearty said that all of the images had digitally distorted facial features but the injured party was able to identify herself in the pictures. Defence counsel for the man, Chloe Geraghty BL, said that her client recognised the 'stupidity' in posting the video on a public platform, although the woman was blocked from his page at the time. She said that the man had a very difficult time accepting the relationship was over but has now moved on. Judge Christopher Callan told the defendant that he breached the safety order less than a month after it was issued, adding that he was not sure the man understood what he was obliged to do under the order. ADVERTISEMENT The appellant told the judge that he now understands and apologised for his actions, adding that he will not do it again. Judge Callan told the man that he was 'running out of road rapidly' but decided to suspend the sentence of four months for the period of 12 months on the condition that he keeps the peace and abides with the directions of the safety order to not to contact the injured party by any means.
RTÉ News
13-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Finnbarr Roarty: It's been a class season, I've learned so much
The Donegal machine rumbles on to an All-Ireland SFC showdown against Kerry. It's a repeat of the 2014 decider, which the Kingdom shaded, but Jim McGuinness has moulded a new crop in the quest for glory. A hungry, athletic side overpowered Meath on Sunday, steamrolling the underdogs in the second half to run out 3-26 to 0-15 winners. For man of the match Finnbarr Roarty, it was a sweet feeling. "I don't even know what to say," the 19-year-old told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "It's a class feeling here. We were working for this. Since the start of the year we had one goal and that was to reach the All-Ireland final, so now we have to go with it and give it our all. "It's good to see every man stepping up, not just one or two. It's the whole 15 in the team. Once you see someone else getting a turnover, or getting a score, getting ahead, it just encourages everybody. "It's been a class season and I've learned so much. Every game I'm improving and there's boys telling me how to be better." Donegal's Finbarr Roarty is your man of the match #RTEgaa — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 13, 2025 Paddy McBrearty has been around the block quite a bit longer than his young teammate. He came off the bench on Sunday to knock over 0-03, and says the culture McGuinness has built bodes well. McBrearty, now 31, won the Sam Maguire in 2012 and knows what it takes to go all the well. The signs are good. "We're absolutely delighted in there to be honest," he said. "It's been a long road back for this group, and there's not many in the group that have been here before. "We're delighted to get over the line today, (against) a really, really good Meath team. We'll enjoy this evening, get back to training Tuesday and look forward to the next two weeks." On the younger footballers in the squad, McBrearty had plenty of praise. "They bring intensity anyway," he added. "I'd be marking them in training. They're serious athletes. They're mad to learn, every time they go in to training they're asking Jim the right questons. "These boys are the future of Donegal football. They're going to carry the torch when some of the rest of this group goes, so Donegal football is in good hands when these boys are around."
