FOR THE LAST fortnight, Jarly Óg Burns had been spending a lot of time in splendid isolation as the clock ticked down to an All-Ireland final.
At home, with a GAA President for his father, a strict embargo was slapped on all Gaelic football talk.
As a teacher of the Primary 6 class in Silverbridge, he was on his summer holidays anyway and his girlfriend was in Spain. He decided to go old school, deleting all social media apps and only venturing out for the occasional game of golf by himself.
From such tranquility, to the chaos of an All-Ireland final. But right at the end on Sunday afternoon, he was in control of his and the team’s destiny as the match ball finished in his hands as the game ended.
Once he gathered himself, he bounded up the Hogan Stand to embrace his father, shown on the big screens in Croke Park to thundering applause.
Come Monday morning, he sits in an armchair in the foyer of the Carrickdale Hotel, a feeling of contentment washing over him. After a quick breakfast of Coco Pops – it’s now officially the off-season after all – he sits down to make some sense of it.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I just caught eyes with him and I thought I might go up and share this moment with him,” he says of meeting his father.
“He missed out in ’02, he retired in ’99. He only wished the best for me so I said I would go up and give him a hug and he would appreciate it.
“He said he was very proud of me and it was father-son stuff. It was a great moment.”
His father retired soon after captaining the side to their first Ulster title in 17 years. Jarly Óg played all the way through the levels of representation, but never won anything.
Not a Dr McKenna Cup. Not a National League. Not an Ulster title. Nothing. The first thing he wins is the All-Ireland.
“Couldn’t get over the line,” he says.
“Obviously you are going through the heartache and the penalties and you think there’s some sort of a curse there.
“I don’t know, we just got a bit of momentum. It’s mad where it can take you and sometimes high-level sport, a bit of luck goes a long way too. We got it in the last couple of games, in big games and tight games. Maybe that’s what has been missing in other days.”
In the Ulster final, a play involving Burns became Exhibit A in the case against Armagh and their lack of success.
Late on, he caught a ball and stuck his arm in the air to signal a mark. Problem was, he was far out and at a serious angle. A David Clifford would have been doing really well to put it over.
With only a few moments left, he instead kicked it backwards. Commentators seized on this and held it up as an example of their lack of ambition and over-coaching.
“You hear stuff like that, people looking for things to why you are not winning,” says Burns.
“If that was in the middle of the game, in the 20th minute, would you have taken that on? Probably not. So why would it be any different at the end, trying to be the hero?
“It’s not a high percentage shot. I could have taken it on, I had a wee glance at Geezer and he said no. Again, they are all just learnings. You have to learn from these things and coming down the home stretch later on in the year, it definitely helped us, big time.”
And it almost never happened for him at all this year. Over the winter, he felt he needed time away from the team, from the life.
“I wanted to take a break. As you know, life as an inter-county footballer, it takes over your life. It’s a 24/7 thing. I wanted to get away from it, take a break from it,” he says.
“I was talked back into it by my cousin Paddy (Burns). He called me up and said that, ‘We need you. I think we can do something big this year. Don’t want to do it without you.’
“He got me round. Stephen Sheridan spoke to me as well and they got me and Geezer sitting down and chatting through it. Thankfully I came back.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I wasn’t here. I am glad I am here, sitting beside you boys now.”
McGeeney accepted it. Said that the door was open for a return in the future. He didn’t make it impossible to reconsider.
Of all the disappointments he has suffered, the last Ulster final defeat to Donegal on penalties stung the most, probably because they felt they were the better team on the balance of play.
The multiple shoot out losses couldn’t break them. But it did hurt.
And now they landed the Big One. He has one medal from his six seasons as an Armagh player, and it happens to be a Celtic Cross.
“It is quite unusual, very unusual,” he says.
“Not sure if it has happened too many times to have the big one. I was even getting texts from boys, Conor Glass, saying look I’m jealous but fair play you deserve it and Brian Fenton texting.
“You nearly can’t believe it still, waking up in dreamland this morning, ‘have we done this?’
“Days like this don’t come around too often in this county. I can’t remember ‘02 but I know it was mayhem. The fans have been through so much so I’m delighted for them they have been with us through thick and thin.”
Oh look, more nonsense that was manufactured about Rowntree and O’Mahony falling out last season. Glad it’s been put to bed and Rowntree has confirmed it was a load of bull
@5sZl1dX2: O’Mahony resigned as captain in November because he wasn’t getting his own way in Contact negotiations. Everyone in Munster and the media couldn’t explain and it came as a surprise to everyone. Of course O’Mahony fell out with Rowntree and Munster. He acted like a child resigning the captaincy showing no respect for the honour he had been given. Rowntree is hardly going to admit there was a falling out now At he start of the new season and reopen old wounds.
@Jimmy Bean: Rubbish, if they tried to give you a salary decrease in your job and you stood up for yourself, would you be acting as a child? It’s his job after all, and he should have been given more respect.
@james joyce: I have no problem with him sticking up for himself but he acted like a petulant child when he resigned the captaincy. He wasn’t on a central contact at the time and Munster offered what they thought a 34 year old flanker was worth.
There wasn’t any French clubs looking for his signature either. IRFU bailed Munster out in the end. That’s the real story.
@Jimmy Bean: why would O’Mahony fall out with Munster and Rowntree when it was the IRFU that we’re playing hardball with a central contract? Makes absolutely zero sense
@Jimmy Bean: How do you know all this as fact? Have you a source close to OMahoney?
@Jimmy Bean: he was on a central contract at the time. If there was a falling out, why would they offer him a contract and why would he accept it. You really are clueless
@Jimmy Bean: his captaincy resignation was nothing to do with his contract. it was to support legacy captain while he was still around. same thing Paul o connell did when POM took over. poc helped pom transition to the role. same way pom is helping beirne. you see it in the dressing room where alot of the time pom is doing the talking with beirne chipping in.
@Jimmy Bean: you talk like you have inside knowledge, which I doubt. Only the parties involved know the full story; the rest is supposition and speculation.
@John Buckley: He was finishing his central contact. Ireland were not offering him a new one at the time. Therefore Munster were footing the bill. In the end Farrell saved him by making him captain of the South Africa tour and IRFU stumped up a special contract which seems to have kept him happy.
Try to keep up. There’s a good lad.
Not exactly a forceful denial there, to be fair. Has been clear for quite some time there is tension between both men. O’Mahony is not a universally popular figure in Irish rugby circles – a bit like Jamie Heaslip. His behaviour towards Reggie Corrigan in that famous post match interview and that disgusting comment to Sam Cane mid game have no place in rugby – both reflect very poorly on Pete. I would definitely back Rowntree in this.
@Aidan Farrell: “His behaviour towards Corrigan” .. perhaps recalled Corrigan giving the MOM to Claremonts Joubert in Thomond Park despite Joubert being substituted and his team getting hammered by 20 points!! It’s a well known fact that Corrigan hates Munster.
@Aidan Farrell: behaviour towards Reggie? So ticking up for your teammates when their being questioned by a has been is now unacceptable behaviour m? Give me a break
@Aidan Farrell: you have to be the most clueless donkey on here, and that’s saying something.
Have to say POM has been poor the last couple of seasons only seems to b only interested getting involved in digs scraps and sledging than playing rugby
Not sure I buy what Rowntree is selling here. The pen story is true seemingly.