It’s been a hectic but memorable few weeks for Tony Donnelly. In the space of 28 days, the 33-year-old has helped Cullyhanna become the first Armagh club to ever win an Ulster Intermediate title, got married, and is now looking forward to playing in Croke Park.
Lined out at full forward for Stephen Reel’s side, Donnelly mightn’t score as much as the tradition number 14 on his back may suggest, but a lot of the forward play produced by the south Armagh men goes through him.
And it’s been a long old haul for Donnelly. One of the few current Cullyhanna players with two Armagh Intermediate medals in his back pocket, he made his championship debut way back in 2008.
Cullyhanna captain Pearse Casey kicks Intermediate final winner against brave Ballyhaise
Fast forward 16 years and Donnelly could well hang up the boots in Croke Park if he so pleased, but surely, he has a lot more to give before even considering stepping away.
“You always want to play in Croke Park, and you never think you’re going to get the opportunity to play there,” said Donnelly after Cullyhanna overcame Kildare’s Allenwood to reach the All-Ireland club final.
“We were sixty minutes away from getting to Croke Park and it was emotional at half time. We had the game in our hands, and we knew we could push on and do it, but we are our own worst enemy at times.
“But thankfully we had done enough and got our emotions under control, we got the ball under control and got ourselves over the line.
“You can see the community, we do it for the community, not just for us. It’s for every single person in our community that we do this for and they’re driving us on every day.
“Playing in Croke Park is a dream,” added Donnelly. “Never mind winning, to be able to play in Croke Park and to win an All-Ireland on the same day, for me and a few other lads, we’ve never played in Croke Park.
“You can’t put into words what it means to us. We’re training, this is our 64th week in a row training and we’ve never done that before in our lives so it’s special, it’s very special.”
Next Sunday, Donnelly will pull on the same old runners on the way to Jones’ Road, the ones that bring him luck, the same way he does before every game.
The new Mrs Donnelly, who is quick to remind her husband at the full-time whistle that she spent her honeymoon cheering on the St Pat’s players at Pairc Tailteann, Navan, will wear the same ¾ zip draped in the club colours, the same way she does for every game.
Donnelly, and lifelong friend Kieran Hoey, another member of the team that tasted championship glory in 2008, will sit in the same seat on the bus as they always do. The prize on the line is much greater this time, but the old habits, winning habits, remain the same.
“Me and Kieran Hoey, we actually put two boys out of our seats this morning on the bus. We’re on the right side and they were in our seats, and we had to move them,” laughed Donnelly.
“I got married on Friday past so this sort of took over our honeymoon but she’s okay with it, she’s a football woman and everyone is just living and breathing football now in Cullyhanna.
“Everyone had a great Christmas and it’s just a special, special time now for Cullyhanna and we’re going to do everything we can to get over the line.
“You have to enjoy life when you’re getting rewards like this because it isn’t going to be like this all the time, there’s a lot of ups and downs. At the moment, we’re on an up and we’ll enjoy every single minute of it.”
Donnelly was the first ever Cullyhanna player to score in a Senior Championship final, when they lost to neighbours Crossmaglen in the 2013 decider, and by the time the club lined out in the 2016 final against Maghery, Donnelly was enjoying life in America.
He left for the states in the summer of 2015 and even got the chance to play for New York in the 2018 Connacht Championship against Leitrim, alongside fellow county man Jamie Clarke, and chipped in with 0-3 in their one-point loss after extra time.
But he packed his bags in 2022 and decided to come home, featuring in a handful of Cullyhanna’s games as they were relegated to the Intermediate ranks through the league. But his return, along with a number of other exiles, has been huge to this season’s success.
“Mickey Murray, Kieran McCooey (returning), the county boys had another year of county experience under their belts, all the younger boys had another year of experience.
“Although it was disappointing get relegated from Division One league football and going down into the intermediate, it’s the best thing that happened to us.
“We saw an opportunity and we really went hammer and tongs to get through Armagh and we had Ulster in our sights, and we knew that the dream of Croke Park was there for us too and it’s here now. We have one more step.”