20 YEARS AFTER playing a starring role in Dublin and Leinster club glory, Rory Gallagher is reigniting his capital connection.
The Derry manager helped St Brigid’s to county and provincial success in 2003 as part of his nomadic GAA journey, and Dublin’s visit to Celtic Park on Saturday evening [throw-in 5pm, live on RTÉ Two] will evoke fond memories.
Gallagher played inter-county football for his native Fermanagh and neighboring Cavan, while he had trophy-laden club spells with Brigid’s and 2010 All-Ireland champions St Gall’s of Antrim, away from his home side Erne Gaels.
He was also a talented soccer player, captaining the Northern Ireland Schoolboys team and earning trials at Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers, but he was destined for the GAA scene.
Gallagher has also had a fascinating coaching career, managing Donegal, Fermanagh and Derry — and famously leading the Oak Leaf county to their first Ulster championship title since 1998 last summer.
Flying high in the upper echelons of Division 2, Derry now have the chance to topple Dessie Farrell’s Dublin as they battle for table-topping supremacy.
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Gallagher pitched up in the capital in 2002, undertaking a schools’ coaching position in the Blanchardstown area and joining local club, St Brigid’s. He made his impact felt immediately, his influence significant from the get-go.
“As soon as he came into our club, he nearly became player-manager at one stage — he was that vocal,” former team-mate Barry Cahill recalled in 2016.
“In training, in the drills that we did, in the tactics, video sessions, you could see straight away that he had the mindset of a coach from his mid-20s onwards. It was no surprise that he took to management like he did.”
The Belleek boy excelled in the red of Brigid’s, his cousin Raymond following him to the club and the pair combining in attack. They were instrumental in the 2003 Dublin and Leinster-winning season, scoring 2-19 apiece alone on the road to the provincial final.
“Gallaghers crush Towers” and “Gallagher boys stage comeback” read separate Evening Herald headlines, underlining the Fermanagh duo’s importance for Brigid’s.
Here’s a look at Rory’s 2003/04 championship scoring exploits:
Dublin SFC
- Round 1 v St Sylvester’s – 0-2 (2f) in 2-11 to 2-8 win
- Round 2 v Naomh Fionnbarra – 0-8 (7f) in 1-16 to 0-15 win
- Quarter-final v Round Towers - 1-3 (2f, 1 ’45) in 2-12 to 1-8 win
- Semi-final v Na Fianna – 0-1 (1f) in 1-10 to 1-9 win
- Final v Kilmacud Crokes – 0-4 (1f) in 0-17 to 1-8 win
Leinster SFC
- Quarter-final v St Patrick’s, Louth - scoreless in 0-7 to 0-6 win
- Semi-final v Clonguish, Longford – 1-1 in 2-11 to 3-6 win
- Final v Round Towers, Kildare – 0-2 (2f) in 3-11 to 1-10 win
All-Ireland SFC
- Semi-final v An Ghaeltacht, Kerry – scoreless in 1-9 to 2-3 defeat
While Tomás O Sé and co. got the better of the Gallaghers and Brigid’s, ending their magical run at the semi-final stage in Semple Stadium — the Kerry kingpins subsequently fell short to Caltra in the final — it was still a hugely successful season.
Rory was named AIB Leinster Player of the Year, and he added the title to his Dublin SFC final man-of-the-match award and Blue Star accolade. Upon receiving the latter, the Evening Herald hailed Gallagher as a “class performer,” adding that he “sprays passes like a car wash, and can light up the scoreboard”.
Gallagher’s Dublin chapter didn’t stop there. There was no shortage of speculation about an inter-county playing career with the Sky Blues. He was the subject of an in-camera Dublin county board meeting in 2002, where the pros and cons of asking the Fermanagh native into the set-up were discussed, with Tommy Lyons’ side severely lacking in attack.
“Dublin are not in the business of taking weaker counties’ best players in our quest for Sam,” Lyons declared at one point in 2002. “I think it will be a long time before Dublin accept recognised inter-county footballers into our county to try to help us win an All-Ireland. It would be a shallow title, as far as I’m concerned.”
Gallagher returned to Brigid’s in 2007, helping them back to the county final where they lost out to St Vincent’s, while he also took his first steps into coaching there, a certain Jonny Cooper among those he came up against at underage level.
“Even right up to very, very recently, he’s been extremely good, as has his family, to me in many different ways,” the recently-retired multiple All-Ireland winner and All-Star told the media last month.
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Almost two decades on, Gallagher is plotting a big scalp against his adopted county.
The Dubs come to Derry after a stuttering start to life in Division 2, Dessie Farrell’s side just about keeping their 100% record intact with another unconvincing win over Clare at Croke Park last weekend.
Both counties are seeking their fifth win on the spin as they eye promotion to the top-tier, but Derry are roundly fancied after an impressive opening to 2023.
Expect football-obsessed Gallagher in full flow on the sidelines, working the oracle as he has done everywhere he’s gone.
The capital connection re-ignited, fond memories evoked and many more to be created.
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