WE CAN’T BE sure, but there’s a good chance that Bernard Flynn wasn’t there to witness Conall McKeever’s championship debut for Louth.
That was almost 11 years ago to the day, a low-key Round 1 qualifier against Leitrim in the summer of 2015.
The game was played in Drogheda and with the rain bucketing down, those on the grass banking that surrounds three sides of the field were left wishing they’d come a little earlier, to squeeze into the small main stand.
A couple of weeks earlier, Westmeath had defeated Louth there in the Leinster SFC and Meath great Flynn, a pundit at the time, had decried the facilities, claiming it was ‘disgraceful’ to charge people in.
Louth did beat Leitrim but took a hiding in Round 2 of the qualifiers from Tipperary, ending their season. A couple of months earlier, they’d been relegated to Division 4 of the league.
Proud
“We’re a proud county and we don’t want to be where we are,” said then Louth manager Colin Kelly. “Hopefully we’ll start making strides up the ladder, sooner rather than later, with a team that’s going to have a bit of longevity, rather than a quick fix.”
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If it all sounded a little hopeless, with no primary county ground and no great signs of improvement on the playing front on the horizon, McKeever didn’t see it that way. He was in, he had a Louth jersey, and that was all that mattered.
Louth's Conall McKeever. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“All you really care about at that stage is just playing, you’re on the Louth team,” he said.
“But, yeah, if you had mentioned the All-Ireland semi-finals, or Leinster finals, at that stage, it was definitely a long way away. We were struggling to win a championship match at that stage.”
McKeever comes from strong GAA stock. His father, Gerry, was on the Clan na Gael team that won the Louth SFC in 1985. His uncle, Benny, was captain. A teenage Steve Staunton was in the forwards and scored the winning goal in the final. Peter Fitzpatrick, the future Louth senior manager and county board chairman, played too.
Ball rolling
It was Fitzpatrick that finally got the ball rolling for Louth at the back end of 2020, tempting Mickey Harte to come on board as manager. Like predecessor Kelly, Harte wasn’t interested in quick fixes and laid down the groundwork which led to the incremental improvements that have left them on the verge of a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1957.
“That seemed to just come out of the blue,” said McKeever. “I think it was Casey (Ciarán Byrne) that texted me saying, ‘Apparently Mickey Harte is going to be the manager’ and I kind of thought he was joking.”
By then, McKeever was around the midpoint of his senior inter-county career. Still happy to have a red jersey, but keen to push on too.
“We were obviously at a lower level, we needed a lot more detail on the pitch and a lot more instruction,” said McKeever, summing up what Harte brought to the table.
“Then obviously Ger Brennan came in, and we didn’t kind of need as much of that stuff. So he was able to have a different approach. And obviously Gavin Devlin now, he has come in with his level of enthusiasm, and with the new rules he’s been great at showing us different bits around that. Three different personalities but they’ve all been great in different ways.”
Gavin Devlin celebrates Louth's win over Monaghan with his son Niall. james lawlor
james lawlor
Whatever happens at Croke Park this evening, the feeling in Louth is that they’ve hit upon something sustainable. McKeever, Ryan Burns, Tommy Durnin, Conor Grimes and Byrne are all still around from that 2015 team. But they’ve also got a cohort of brilliant young players from successful U20s teams. Dara McDonnell, for example, is currently 10/1 to be named Footballer of the Year. Then there’s Kelly’s son, Connell, who has been ripping it up with Louth minor teams across the last two seasons. There’s a new stadium being built too, in Dundalk. No more grass banking and complaints about facilities.
“When you look at it now, where we’ve come from, there’s no comparison,” said secondary school teacher McKeever.
“Like, the last day in Croke Park against Monaghan, massive crowd, you can hardly hear yourself talk to the player next to you. It’s where everyone wants to be playing but back in 2015, at that time, you knew no different.”
Conall McKeever in action against Stephen O'Hanlon. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
After all the progression, beating Mayo and reaching an All-Ireland senior final would be the cherry on top. What’s certain is that McKeever won’t sleep a wink tonight, he never does.
“It’s just very hard to get yourself back down,” he said. “You’re obviously tired but mentally you’re still…”
Wired?
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“Yeah, exactly. Say, after the Armagh game in Inniskeen, at the end of that one, where everyone was on the pitch, celebrating, that was unbelievable. It was mad. You’re on such a high, it’s very hard to get yourself back down.”
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'We were struggling to win a championship match': Louth's rise to All-Ireland semi-final day
WE CAN’T BE sure, but there’s a good chance that Bernard Flynn wasn’t there to witness Conall McKeever’s championship debut for Louth.
That was almost 11 years ago to the day, a low-key Round 1 qualifier against Leitrim in the summer of 2015.
The game was played in Drogheda and with the rain bucketing down, those on the grass banking that surrounds three sides of the field were left wishing they’d come a little earlier, to squeeze into the small main stand.
A couple of weeks earlier, Westmeath had defeated Louth there in the Leinster SFC and Meath great Flynn, a pundit at the time, had decried the facilities, claiming it was ‘disgraceful’ to charge people in.
Louth did beat Leitrim but took a hiding in Round 2 of the qualifiers from Tipperary, ending their season. A couple of months earlier, they’d been relegated to Division 4 of the league.
Proud
“We’re a proud county and we don’t want to be where we are,” said then Louth manager Colin Kelly. “Hopefully we’ll start making strides up the ladder, sooner rather than later, with a team that’s going to have a bit of longevity, rather than a quick fix.”
If it all sounded a little hopeless, with no primary county ground and no great signs of improvement on the playing front on the horizon, McKeever didn’t see it that way. He was in, he had a Louth jersey, and that was all that mattered.
“But, yeah, if you had mentioned the All-Ireland semi-finals, or Leinster finals, at that stage, it was definitely a long way away. We were struggling to win a championship match at that stage.”
McKeever comes from strong GAA stock. His father, Gerry, was on the Clan na Gael team that won the Louth SFC in 1985. His uncle, Benny, was captain. A teenage Steve Staunton was in the forwards and scored the winning goal in the final. Peter Fitzpatrick, the future Louth senior manager and county board chairman, played too.
Ball rolling
It was Fitzpatrick that finally got the ball rolling for Louth at the back end of 2020, tempting Mickey Harte to come on board as manager. Like predecessor Kelly, Harte wasn’t interested in quick fixes and laid down the groundwork which led to the incremental improvements that have left them on the verge of a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1957.
“That seemed to just come out of the blue,” said McKeever. “I think it was Casey (Ciarán Byrne) that texted me saying, ‘Apparently Mickey Harte is going to be the manager’ and I kind of thought he was joking.”
By then, McKeever was around the midpoint of his senior inter-county career. Still happy to have a red jersey, but keen to push on too.
“We were obviously at a lower level, we needed a lot more detail on the pitch and a lot more instruction,” said McKeever, summing up what Harte brought to the table.
“Then obviously Ger Brennan came in, and we didn’t kind of need as much of that stuff. So he was able to have a different approach. And obviously Gavin Devlin now, he has come in with his level of enthusiasm, and with the new rules he’s been great at showing us different bits around that. Three different personalities but they’ve all been great in different ways.”
Whatever happens at Croke Park this evening, the feeling in Louth is that they’ve hit upon something sustainable. McKeever, Ryan Burns, Tommy Durnin, Conor Grimes and Byrne are all still around from that 2015 team. But they’ve also got a cohort of brilliant young players from successful U20s teams. Dara McDonnell, for example, is currently 10/1 to be named Footballer of the Year. Then there’s Kelly’s son, Connell, who has been ripping it up with Louth minor teams across the last two seasons. There’s a new stadium being built too, in Dundalk. No more grass banking and complaints about facilities.
“Like, the last day in Croke Park against Monaghan, massive crowd, you can hardly hear yourself talk to the player next to you. It’s where everyone wants to be playing but back in 2015, at that time, you knew no different.”
After all the progression, beating Mayo and reaching an All-Ireland senior final would be the cherry on top. What’s certain is that McKeever won’t sleep a wink tonight, he never does.
“It’s just very hard to get yourself back down,” he said. “You’re obviously tired but mentally you’re still…”
Wired?
“Yeah, exactly. Say, after the Armagh game in Inniskeen, at the end of that one, where everyone was on the pitch, celebrating, that was unbelievable. It was mad. You’re on such a high, it’s very hard to get yourself back down.”
It’s the best of complaints.
*****
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