Football

Gráinne McElwain: Galway Gaeltacht club see the tide rising for them again

Connacht champions to face Donegal’s Naomh Pádraig in All-Ireland Club JFC final

Gráinne McElwain

Gráinne McElwain

Grainne is a columnist with The Irish News. She is a sports broadcaster with experience working with Sky Sports, TG4, RTÉ, BBC and Eir Sport.

An Cheathrú Rua celebrate after their win over Ballymote Round Towers in the Connacht JFC final. The Galway club will face Naomh Pádraig of Donegal in the All-Ireland JFC final on Sunday January 26

Picture: An Cheathrú Rua Facebook
An Cheathrú Rua celebrate after their win over Ballymote Round Towers in the Connacht JFC final. The Galway club will face Naomh Pádraig of Donegal in the All-Ireland JFC final on Sunday January 26 Picture: An Cheathrú Rua Facebook

In 1996, An Cheathrú Rua, a GAA club in the Galway Gaeltacht became the first Gaeltacht club to win the Galway senior football championship final.

It was a huge occasion for the parish and it is a year that is fondly spoken about.

The subsequent years have been challenging and after 36 years playing senior football, the club was relegated to the intermediate division in 2022 before dropping down to the junior grade in 2023.

“It was a shock as I grew up with the team always being in the senior grade” said Síofra Ní Shé, chairperson of the club.

“There were a few years at the end of our senior time when we were just winning relegation finals.”

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There was a sense at this time that relegation to the intermediate grade was coming and it wasn’t that big of a surprise when it eventually happened. The feeling was that this would give the team a chance to rebuild and improve but the opposite would occur.

“We were still losing and it was just loss after loss and the next thing you know, we were relegated to junior.

“We were losing games consecutively for years and most of the players even young players on the team who were maybe 22 or 23 years of age had never won a game until they went to the junior grade.”

It is worth noting that the club lost 15 players during these years to emigration, travel, injury and retirement which undoubtedly is a huge loss to any panel particularly one in a rural area but what the junior grade allowed the club to do was to build confidence and embark on a winning streak of games.

The team is not all inexperienced and young.

There are players who have made the breakthrough from underage ranks.

The likes of Maitiú Ó Domhnaill and Fionán Ó Conghaile are U19 and still at secondary school but there are also players who are in their 20s and 30s who have seen both the good and the bad days.

2024 has certainly seen good days. The team have won 10 championship matches in a row and on Saturday week, they take on the Donegal and Ulster champions Naomh Pádraig in the hope of winning an All-Ireland medal.

“It is crazy in that sense that we are actually going to Croke Park after all the years of losing. That I think is where the biggest shock has been because we are just not used to winning that much,” Ní Shé says.

An Cheathrú Rua chairperson Síofra Ní Shé
An Cheathrú Rua chairperson Síofra Ní Shé

The path to success, as we know, is not linear and for An Cheathrú Rua it took extra-time to see them over the line against Killererin in the Galway county final.

The Connacht final against Ballymote of Sligo was an easier affair but the win did not look on against Ballinagar of Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Goalkeeper James Ó Flatharta got the equalising score in the 60th minute before substitute Paudie Mac Cormaic ensured the Croke Park date.

“It’s only starting to hit now with all the phone calls and everyone trying to organise and plan ahead.

“Everyone is texting and looking for numbers to get flags, bunting out and we are going to paint cars in the next few days and put them around the local hall. It is great for the kids. They have followed this team and are seeing the team winning”

“Win or lose, there will be a homecoming but there is huge excitement. There is so much for the committee to plan for in terms of food, the gear that the lads need, booking buses, signage, decorations, a kit van to have the dressing room prepared, photographer, tickets and heading into Croke Park.

“It’s trying to think of everything because you are afraid that you will miss something but obviously it is not something people do regularly because there are not many clubs that get this far.

“There is huge hype. My phone has not stopped buzzing and so many people are travelling to the game.

“My cousin Fiachra who played with the team but is now in Australia is coming home for the game. People are coming from England, America. I had a lady from Edinburgh onto me as she is coming home with her family”

“Two of the players Myles MacDonnacha and Dara Ó Sé had tickets booked to go travelling last week but have obviously cancelled their trip and another player Seán Ó Loideáin has returned from his travels to be part of the group”

For those old enough to remember there are comparisons with the 1996 team and for Síofra there is a huge personal involvement with the day as her father Aodhán and her four uncles Iarlaith, Ronán, Peadar and Edward played with the winning side 29 years ago.

Two of her brothers Dara and Feargal are involved this year which makes the day even more special.

“I get nervous before games and find them hard to watch, to be honest. I ended up missing the Connacht final as I was at a wedding and couldn’t watch it. I stood behind the phone watching people’s reactions to see if it was good or bad. I actually didn’t feel well”

Like Síofra for many of the fans, it has been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Gaeltacht side over the past three years but they are ready to party like it is 1996. Only one more game to go.