AFTER DR CROKES had been put away in extra-time, Errigal Ciaran plans had to be put in motion instantly with under eight days to prepare for an All-Ireland final.
Manager Enda McGinley was ahead of the curve. The Carrickdale Hotel in south Armagh was the stop-off point on the road home from Kildare, where the players gingerly eased themselves into ice baths to start their recovery.
At 9pm, his older brother and club chairman Emmett, alongside whom he won the Ulster championship in 2002, put a message into the club committee WhatsApp group, calling a meeting for the following morning at their clubrooms.
By 10am Sunday, 17 people were in the room. They drew up plans and activities, with other events popping up throughout the following days.
On Monday afternoon, they had a machine on the main street of Ballygawley town, putting more blue and gold bunting from lamppost to lamppost.
Up at the club grounds in Dunmoyle, they hosted a press event.
A schedule of events was sent out on social media. McGarvey’s shop normally trades in Calor gas, barbecues and lawn mowers, but the main stock flying out this week was flags, horns and woven bracelets.
On Friday night, the Parish Priest, Fr O’Dwyer will be saying a club mass in the Church of Immaculate Conception.
Straight after that, the local media outfit ‘TeamTalk Mag’ will be hosting an ‘Up For The Match’ event at Canavan’s Bar and Hotel, where you might catch the proprietor – Peter.
A chance to soak up any potential hangovers is happily supplied for the ‘Big Breakfast’ at Quinn’s Corner on Saturday morning, and again, hosted by by a Tyrone football figure in Paudge, who scored the county’s first-ever goal in an All-Ireland final.
The local secondary school, St Ciaran’s Ballygawley, will be closed on Friday and Monday, while Thursday was an ‘Errigal Day,’ with pupils encouraged to wear club colours.
The hype is off the charts, but it doesn’t get in on either McGinley brother, who both have their own way of dampening down the excitement.
For Enda, he is aware that when others took on the role of Errigal Ciaran manager, they became allergic to appearing in public spaces. Evenings out in Ballygawley were to be avoided.
That’s not an issue for him.
“In terms of not going into the town, I’m not the most sociable of creatures anyway!” McGinley says.
“Certainly I would know the pressure after a defeat or when maybe the team are not going well, issues with some players, team selection and all that.
What I was acutely aware of is how personal it is to the players and the people in the club. We do take our football seriously. Probably too seriously.
“And so, there’s a really clear sense of responsibility in taking on a group that was going really well and was already punching at a high level, with an ambition to push on even more.”
He was armed with the knowledge that in management you can do everything to the very best of your ability. And that the rewards do not necessarily follow.
“From my own experience as a player, being managed by brilliant managers, including the likes of Peter (Canavan). I mean that was some of my best years of club management that I ever had in my time as a player,” he says.
“We didn’t have any luck in getting over the line under Peter, but I use it for my own perspective. I still use stuff that Peter gave us, and yet in the end it was Ronan McGuckin came in the year after Peter (2012) and we won a championship.
“I know how defeats are taken around home so you were going to give it absolutely everything with zero guarantees and a huge risk of hurt; to yourself, to the players and to the club.
“So that’s the prospects of the job!”
That some success has arrived is welcome, but McGinley has an exceptionally busy home life. He and wife Gerardine, a former Antrim footballer, have five children and she works in Belfast.
The evenings are a race towards creche, childminders and two different schools, before dinners and homework. Getting into the car to go to Dunmoyle, with at least two children along with him, is something he has done over 150 times this season since they started back properly in March.
Fitting things in must be a family trait.
Three years ago, Peter Canavan sat down with Emmett McGinley in the Glenavon Hotel in Cookstown and they explored the possibility of Emmett becoming the club chairman.
Most men in his position wouldn’t have dared think such a thing was possible. As a director of McAleer and Rushe, one of the UK’s largest design and build construction companies with projects all over England and Scotland, he works two, sometimes three days a week in their office in London.
“My work has always been in England. I travel to England every week for the last 15 years and that was not going to change, it couldn’t change. If I was going to take on this role, I had to have the right people around me to take on work,” he says.
“In a funny way, it’s amazing how much stuff is done on your phone. Virtual meetings, it’s amazing how much you can get done on a quiet evening in your hotel. Just keeping stuff pushed along, chatting different people.
“You are not annoying your family at home when you are stuck on your phone. They know I am in England, I’ll be back Thursday and I can get plenty of work done over there.”
In relative terms, Errigal Ciaran are a big club when compared to the ones that surround it, but dwarfed nonetheless by a club like Cuala.
Errigal’s club adult membership in 2024 was 535 members. Five years ago, Cuala’s membership was around 3,000, and projected to climb to 4,500 within a decade with the changing demographics and expected growth.
In the bluntest terms, Errigal Ciaran jersey are sponsored by the local butchers; Traynor Meats, while Cuala’s jerseys are emblazoned with the American multinational biotech company, Amgen. The club hurlers have previously had Huawei, the Chinese technology giant, on their jerseys with launches held in Croke Park.
“It’s a rural club. Yes, we have the town and that, but Dunmoyle is very much a rural part of the world,” says Emmett.
“People wonder where they are coming (to), when they are coming up here. Six miles out of Ballygawley and you reach Dunmoyle.
“We spent a bit of money sorting out the car park and getting signs up, and our crest, just to have a bit more identity. We are very proud of this place and a bit more identity around the place helps.”
Though it remains true that the greatest tool in recruitment is success. In that, his brother Enda knows that after all the slices of fortune are handed out, he might just be a lucky general.
“I always felt I had something to offer, and that management team had something to offer. And rather than the club going outside to replace Adrian (O’Donnell) and Mark (Harte), you wanted to take on the responsibility, to do my duty so to speak. Do my bit for the club and give something back,” he says.
“And hope, beyond hope, that stuff would fall our way. And it did.”
Limerick again
Pretty rough on Offaly winning the McDonagh and as consequence facing the tougher opponents. Hard to fancy anyone other than Limerick. I said it to myself the minute after they won the All-Ireland last season. All them injured men returning this time only makes them stronger!
Laois will give Wexford a rattle. Big mental defeat for Clare today. Joe McDonagh competition is strong which shouldn’t be changed. The 2nd tier football competition could learn from it and only have 12 teams playing for Sam Maguire, relegate the rest.
@Alan: Doubt it. Expect Wexford to beat them well. The Joe Mcdonagh is dreadful standard. It’s competitive but that’s not the same as strong. You have Munster and Killkenny. Forget about the rest. They are miles off.
@Ray Ridge: give over you know it all!! Arrogance pouring out of your veins
@Dan Delaney: He’s not wrong, name another team outside of munster or Kilkenny with any hope of winning. I’d be absolutely gobsmacked if it isn’t cork, clare, limerick or kilkenny.
2 good semis to look forward too. Top 4 in country. Limerick v Clare and Killkenny v Clare.
@Ray Ridge: Limerick v Cork and Killkenny v Clare.
I think Wexford can snare Clare assuming they beat Laois. Cork vs limerick should be good too assuming cork beat offaly.
I think most hurling fans would have predicted a Kilkenny vs Limerick final at the start of the year and it is still looking likely at this stage of the season.
I think if that happens Kilkenny will put limerick to the pin of their collar but limerick will prevail.
I do agree Clare will struggle from today, expect Wexford to win that. Kilkenny got no match yesterday and that’s not what they wanted.
Cork could be dangerous but experience on the big occasion will cost them.
It’s Corks year, Kiely and the old boys are going back to the hurling wilderness as the JP era is coming to a close.
Unreal team since 2018 and without doubt the best team so far this century.
Limerick have been an unbelievable team since 2018 but their fans can focus on booking their summer holidays from July 7th and all summers going forward.
Twas great to have Limerick enjoy a run of success as it freshened the hurling up.
Hopefully Offaly can carry on the baton from Limerick and put it up to the traditional counties.