AMIDST THE DAMAGE and destruction of Storm Éowyn, an All-Ireland title arrived back to the Galway Gaeltacht village of Carraroe last weekend.
An Cheathrú Rua were crowned All-Ireland junior football champions in Croke Park last Saturday, the locality having felt the wrath of the formidable storm the previous day — and ever since.
A strong contingent of supporters travelled to the game and stayed in the Croke Park Hotel on Friday night, but some people back home struggled to watch the match due to power outages.
Seán Ó Domhnaill, 1998 and 2001 All-Ireland winner with Galway, was one of the lucky clubpeople who made the trip to Dublin. He watched his two sons help An Cheathrú Rua to All-Ireland glory from the press box, as he featured on radio and television.
“The majority of the village went up on the Friday night,” Ó Domhnaill tells The 42. “We took over the Croke Park Hotel. It was like a mini pop-up Gaeltacht!
“I know more would have gone up, but some people couldn’t travel because of damage done or they had people to look after with no water or electricity.
“There was no power in the village of Carraroe at all, or in Connemara. A lot of people were keeping whatever little battery space they had on their computers or whatever to watch the game. Then, TG4 in the area lost (coverage) so they were going for the local radios to get results. It was cruel.”
An Cheathrú Rua were dramatic late winners over Naomh Padraig of Donegal; Fionán Ó Conghaile the match-winning hero in the 66th minute to settle the score at 0-9 to 0-8.
It was a monumental win for the Galway side, who were a senior club as recently as 2022 but suffered back-to-back relegations to the junior ranks.
How much it meant to the 3,000 people or so in the parish. Ó Domhnaill goes some way in summing it all up.
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“I’ve been very lucky to taste that success at a county level and with the club, we won a senior county a long time ago, but to see your club, who went through a very bad couple of years there, struggling to stay senior and then in the space in of less than 12 months, getting relegated from senior to intermediate to junior… it’s just special. It’s magical.
“For them to bring the club up to Croke Park, people coming home from America, Australia, England, from all around the country to congregate into Croke Park and to be there wearing the club colours. It was just so emotional.
“Me, having two sons on the team too, I suppose, made it even that much more special. It will always be in the history books of this club. I don’t think we’re ever going to feel that emotion ever again, in my lifetime anyway.”
Fionán Ó Conghaile celebrates after the game. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
“And all in between this,” he adds, “we had the worst storm that ever hit this country. The amount of damage that was done to the local community, not just here but all around the country.
“I suppose we forgot about the storm, we forgot about the roofs and the tiles and the damage, no electricity, no water, and it was forgotten. It just shows you how important sport and the GAA is to small communities. We celebrated like there would be no tomorrow, and it was just brilliant to be a part of that.”
Ó Domhnaill was delighted, too, to be involved in a media sense as he double-jobbed for Galway Bay FM and TG4. He was on the hallowed turf for half-time TV analysis, while his viewing station was on Level Seven or “in the crow’s nest” for full radio commentary.
He generally held his nerve, but the match-winning moment brought a whirlwind of emotion, as Ó Conghaile — a childhood friend of his son, Maitú, who is basically part of the family — notched the decisive score on their Croke Park debut.
“I haven’t heard myself back, but many a person has told me I just lost it at the last kick!
“I held back but when Fionán kicked it over the bar, the supporter, the father, the ex-player, the person that from an age of eight put on that jersey and wore it until the end, it just came out.
“I apologise to any listeners, anyone who just tuned in and thought, ‘This guy has lost the plot!’ I had to, you couldn’t hold back.
“The flow of emotion, the tears, the shock… then the homecoming, it just brought back great memories of myself years ago, and new memories, which is the most important thing.”
Several other moments stand out for Ó Domhnaill. Bringing his parents, who are both in their eighties, to Croke Park. Neither had been there since his All-Ireland success with Galway in 2001.
Mingling with the Naomh Pádraig supporters, and speaking with the family of the late Evan Craig, who passed away last September after a battle with cancer.
The Croke Park Hotel contingent — a couple of hundred, he estimates — lining the street to welcome the team bus as it arrived to GAA HQ.
The joy the win brought to young and old, as the club climbs the ranks once more.
Seán Ó Dhomhnaill in action for Galway in 2001. INPHO
INPHO
An Cheathrú Rua have won one Galway senior club championship in their history, with Ó Domhnaill involved in that success in 1996.
Before relegation in 2022, they were a senior club for 37 years, having been established in 1967. The struggles and challenges for small rural teams were laid bare as players opted out and moved away. They then dropped further and “hit rock bottom,” and a “restart” followed under Maghnus Breathnach, former Galway goalkeeper and ladies football manager.
After county and provincial success, All-Ireland glory is seismic as the upsurge hit new heights on an unforgettable weekend. Fairytale stuff.
“It’s the blood of the community, the GAA club,” Ó Domhnaill concludes. “When it’s not going well, you’d know the community isn’t going well. You can actually feel it in the air, people are down, they’re not looking forward to the next match.
“This is like an injection of blood that’s come back into the village. I always look at the next generation, and you see children in prams, children in their parents’ arms, three- and four-year-olds standing there waving flags. They’re the ones that will wear the jersey in the future — not all of them, because emigration and having to leave the small Gaeltacht community is part of our DNA here.
“But it gives you a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. People say the future is bright, but I think the future is red and black at the moment in Carraroe.”
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'There was no power in Carraroe': Amidst storm, one Galway village claimed All-Ireland glory
AMIDST THE DAMAGE and destruction of Storm Éowyn, an All-Ireland title arrived back to the Galway Gaeltacht village of Carraroe last weekend.
An Cheathrú Rua were crowned All-Ireland junior football champions in Croke Park last Saturday, the locality having felt the wrath of the formidable storm the previous day — and ever since.
A strong contingent of supporters travelled to the game and stayed in the Croke Park Hotel on Friday night, but some people back home struggled to watch the match due to power outages.
Seán Ó Domhnaill, 1998 and 2001 All-Ireland winner with Galway, was one of the lucky clubpeople who made the trip to Dublin. He watched his two sons help An Cheathrú Rua to All-Ireland glory from the press box, as he featured on radio and television.
“The majority of the village went up on the Friday night,” Ó Domhnaill tells The 42. “We took over the Croke Park Hotel. It was like a mini pop-up Gaeltacht!
“I know more would have gone up, but some people couldn’t travel because of damage done or they had people to look after with no water or electricity.
“There was no power in the village of Carraroe at all, or in Connemara. A lot of people were keeping whatever little battery space they had on their computers or whatever to watch the game. Then, TG4 in the area lost (coverage) so they were going for the local radios to get results. It was cruel.”
An Cheathrú Rua were dramatic late winners over Naomh Padraig of Donegal; Fionán Ó Conghaile the match-winning hero in the 66th minute to settle the score at 0-9 to 0-8.
It was a monumental win for the Galway side, who were a senior club as recently as 2022 but suffered back-to-back relegations to the junior ranks.
How much it meant to the 3,000 people or so in the parish. Ó Domhnaill goes some way in summing it all up.
“I’ve been very lucky to taste that success at a county level and with the club, we won a senior county a long time ago, but to see your club, who went through a very bad couple of years there, struggling to stay senior and then in the space in of less than 12 months, getting relegated from senior to intermediate to junior… it’s just special. It’s magical.
“For them to bring the club up to Croke Park, people coming home from America, Australia, England, from all around the country to congregate into Croke Park and to be there wearing the club colours. It was just so emotional.
“Me, having two sons on the team too, I suppose, made it even that much more special. It will always be in the history books of this club. I don’t think we’re ever going to feel that emotion ever again, in my lifetime anyway.”
“And all in between this,” he adds, “we had the worst storm that ever hit this country. The amount of damage that was done to the local community, not just here but all around the country.
“I suppose we forgot about the storm, we forgot about the roofs and the tiles and the damage, no electricity, no water, and it was forgotten. It just shows you how important sport and the GAA is to small communities. We celebrated like there would be no tomorrow, and it was just brilliant to be a part of that.”
Ó Domhnaill was delighted, too, to be involved in a media sense as he double-jobbed for Galway Bay FM and TG4. He was on the hallowed turf for half-time TV analysis, while his viewing station was on Level Seven or “in the crow’s nest” for full radio commentary.
He generally held his nerve, but the match-winning moment brought a whirlwind of emotion, as Ó Conghaile — a childhood friend of his son, Maitú, who is basically part of the family — notched the decisive score on their Croke Park debut.
“I haven’t heard myself back, but many a person has told me I just lost it at the last kick!
“I held back but when Fionán kicked it over the bar, the supporter, the father, the ex-player, the person that from an age of eight put on that jersey and wore it until the end, it just came out.
“I apologise to any listeners, anyone who just tuned in and thought, ‘This guy has lost the plot!’ I had to, you couldn’t hold back.
“The flow of emotion, the tears, the shock… then the homecoming, it just brought back great memories of myself years ago, and new memories, which is the most important thing.”
Several other moments stand out for Ó Domhnaill. Bringing his parents, who are both in their eighties, to Croke Park. Neither had been there since his All-Ireland success with Galway in 2001.
Mingling with the Naomh Pádraig supporters, and speaking with the family of the late Evan Craig, who passed away last September after a battle with cancer.
The Croke Park Hotel contingent — a couple of hundred, he estimates — lining the street to welcome the team bus as it arrived to GAA HQ.
The joy the win brought to young and old, as the club climbs the ranks once more.
An Cheathrú Rua have won one Galway senior club championship in their history, with Ó Domhnaill involved in that success in 1996.
Before relegation in 2022, they were a senior club for 37 years, having been established in 1967. The struggles and challenges for small rural teams were laid bare as players opted out and moved away. They then dropped further and “hit rock bottom,” and a “restart” followed under Maghnus Breathnach, former Galway goalkeeper and ladies football manager.
After county and provincial success, All-Ireland glory is seismic as the upsurge hit new heights on an unforgettable weekend. Fairytale stuff.
“It’s the blood of the community, the GAA club,” Ó Domhnaill concludes. “When it’s not going well, you’d know the community isn’t going well. You can actually feel it in the air, people are down, they’re not looking forward to the next match.
“This is like an injection of blood that’s come back into the village. I always look at the next generation, and you see children in prams, children in their parents’ arms, three- and four-year-olds standing there waving flags. They’re the ones that will wear the jersey in the future — not all of them, because emigration and having to leave the small Gaeltacht community is part of our DNA here.
“But it gives you a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. People say the future is bright, but I think the future is red and black at the moment in Carraroe.”
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An Cheathrú Rua club call GAA Gaelic Football Sean O Domnhnaill