FORMER MAYO MIDFIELDER Séamie O’Shea is back in a dressing-room again, surrounded by familiar faces.
James McCarthy. Dean Rock. Brothers Paddy and John Small. He knows them all quite well. They’ve shared a pitch many times together over the years. The All-Ireland finals in 2016 and 2017 are both classic encounters of that era, the first of which went to a replay.
Both were one-point victories for Dublin in the end, while O’Shea was a key midfielder for the defeated Mayo team.
And now, all these years later, the green and red colours have reunited them all. Only this time, it’s under the flag of the Ballymun Kickhams club who appointed O’Shea as their manager in February of this year.
There hasn’t been much reminiscing about the old times since his arrival. No playful digs over Dublin’s superiority during that era either. Those battles, memorable though they were, are consigned to the past.
O’Shea’s business with Ballymun is very much in the present, as a senior quarter-final against Thomas Davis looms this afternoon.
James McCarthy in action for Ballymun Kickhams. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
“Obviously, there’s a bit of a shared history there, but it’s a long time (ago) now as well,” says O’Shea. “The last time I played against Dublin was 2019, and we were on our last leg of the team then. So 2016-2017, those big finals were a decade ago now at this stage.
“It’s brilliant to have that kind of experience in a dressing room. It’s also helpful that they’re (McCarthy, Rock and John Small) not playing with Dublin anymore, because they’re able to commit to the club. And they have a big impact around the place.”
O’Shea was also part of the 2020 Mayo panel who lost the Covid-19 All-Ireland final against Dublin, who broke their own record by completing a historic six-in-a-row. He retired shortly after, forced to depart without a Celtic Cross medal that was always just out of reach.
All-Ireland glory has since been achieved in Mayo. A heroic display against Kerry in July marked the end of a 75-year wait, and O’Shea was there to savour the moment in Croke Park.
He attended the banquet that night and took in the Belmullet leg of the homecoming tour. Watching Jack Coyne lift the Sam Maguire doesn’t heal the hurt of past All-Ireland defeats, but O’Shea could still immerse himself in the celebrations.
“I’ll always be disappointed that we didn’t win the All-Ireland,” O’Shea says, elaborating further.
“But in another way, it probably made it even sweeter watching them do it as a supporter because I appreciate how much goes into it.
“You almost feel part of it in a funny way, because you played with so many of them. For that reason, it just felt extra special.”
Brothers Aidan and Séamus O'Shea. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Of course, it was also a family occasion for O’Shea due to the involvement of his younger brother and veteran star, Aidan.
His longevity at the elite level has always been widely praised. He broke new ground in that regard this season when he became the first outfield player to reach 100 championship appearances. O’Shea hit the century mark after coming on in the second half of a 1-24 to 2-20 win over Monaghan in the opening round of the All-Ireland series.
But as Mayo advanced through the knockout stages, O’Shea was noticeably absent on the field as were some other seasoned players in the squad. Rob Hennelly was replaced by Jack Livingstone in goal. Diarmuid O’Connor didn’t feature much until the All-Ireland final while his brother Cillian’s input was derailed by injuries.
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There’s been a changing of the guard. New roles have been assigned as part of that shift. But Séamie O’Shea has played with all of the above. He knows the value they bring to the squad dynamic.
His brother is a natural place to start.
“Aidan is brilliant around the dressing room. He’s always been a massive leader for Mayo. But if you look at any successful team, you need to have those fellas around, regardless of whether they’re playing or not.
“If you look at somebody like Cillian O’Connor, Robbie Hennelly, Aidan, Diarmuid O’Connor who didn’t play a lot of the season either until the final, they’ve got a huge amount of experience and having them around even, if they didn’t all play huge minutes throughout the season, is hugely beneficial to a group. Particularly a young group.”
Back to matters in Ballymun, and how O’Shea came to be the Kickhams manager. This is his first job in management. He didn’t anticipate a position of this calibre at such an early stage of his retirement from football, and wasn’t even sure if coaching was something he wanted to pursue.
O’Shea retired from Mayo in January 2021 and finished playing club football for Breaffy shortly after, uncertain of what to do next. His life was in Dublin at that point, raising his family in Drumcondra which is just a short drive away from Ballymun.
Allianz Football League Division 3 11/3/2012 Cavan Manager Val Andrews James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The Kickhams connection came through one of his former Breaffy teammates. Declan Jennings is the director of football at Ballymun, and is now a member of O’Shea’s backroom team alongside John McCarthy and the highly-rated coach, Val Andrews.
It’s impossible for O’Shea to recreate the excitement of playing, but being back in a team atmosphere is a familiar thrill.
“I’m delighted to be back. It’s nice to be involved and with a club like Ballymun.
“Management is obviously very different. It’s all new to me. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes along the way. It’s a good learning experience and to be fair to the lads, I’m very fortunate in Ballymun.
“I’ve got a really good backroom team. The lads themselves are just brilliant. They need very little encouragement from me.”
Ballymun needed at least a draw against St Jude’s two weeks ago to assure them of a place in the knockout stages of the championship. They achieved that with a powerful second-half display in which they scored the last five points to seal a 1-20 to 1-13 win.
Thomas Davis, their opponents today, topped Group Three, and were one of the toughest teams O’Shea faced with Ballymun during the league.
The victorious Ballymun Kickhams team after winning the 2020 county final. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Ballymun’s last senior county title was in 2020, and they have contested three quarter-finals since then in 2021, 2023 and 2025. They also reached the semi-finals in 2024, losing out to eventual All-Ireland champions Cuala by five points.
Guiding Ballymun back to the business end of the championship is pleasing for O’Shea, but he has bigger goals in mind for his players.
“We’re not talking about winning leagues or winning championships. It’s about how do we make sure that we prepare as well as we possibly can for the next game? If we do that then I think we’ll be a decent match-up for any team.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do, and we obviously want to go a little bit further. We’re not looking past this weekend. Our thing all year has been, “How do we just get better from game to game?”
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Celebrating family links to Mayo's epic All-Ireland win and taking over a top Dublin club
FORMER MAYO MIDFIELDER Séamie O’Shea is back in a dressing-room again, surrounded by familiar faces.
James McCarthy. Dean Rock. Brothers Paddy and John Small. He knows them all quite well. They’ve shared a pitch many times together over the years. The All-Ireland finals in 2016 and 2017 are both classic encounters of that era, the first of which went to a replay.
Both were one-point victories for Dublin in the end, while O’Shea was a key midfielder for the defeated Mayo team.
And now, all these years later, the green and red colours have reunited them all. Only this time, it’s under the flag of the Ballymun Kickhams club who appointed O’Shea as their manager in February of this year.
There hasn’t been much reminiscing about the old times since his arrival. No playful digs over Dublin’s superiority during that era either. Those battles, memorable though they were, are consigned to the past.
O’Shea’s business with Ballymun is very much in the present, as a senior quarter-final against Thomas Davis looms this afternoon.
“Obviously, there’s a bit of a shared history there, but it’s a long time (ago) now as well,” says O’Shea. “The last time I played against Dublin was 2019, and we were on our last leg of the team then. So 2016-2017, those big finals were a decade ago now at this stage.
“It’s brilliant to have that kind of experience in a dressing room. It’s also helpful that they’re (McCarthy, Rock and John Small) not playing with Dublin anymore, because they’re able to commit to the club. And they have a big impact around the place.”
O’Shea was also part of the 2020 Mayo panel who lost the Covid-19 All-Ireland final against Dublin, who broke their own record by completing a historic six-in-a-row. He retired shortly after, forced to depart without a Celtic Cross medal that was always just out of reach.
All-Ireland glory has since been achieved in Mayo. A heroic display against Kerry in July marked the end of a 75-year wait, and O’Shea was there to savour the moment in Croke Park.
He attended the banquet that night and took in the Belmullet leg of the homecoming tour. Watching Jack Coyne lift the Sam Maguire doesn’t heal the hurt of past All-Ireland defeats, but O’Shea could still immerse himself in the celebrations.
“I’ll always be disappointed that we didn’t win the All-Ireland,” O’Shea says, elaborating further.
“But in another way, it probably made it even sweeter watching them do it as a supporter because I appreciate how much goes into it.
“You almost feel part of it in a funny way, because you played with so many of them. For that reason, it just felt extra special.”
Of course, it was also a family occasion for O’Shea due to the involvement of his younger brother and veteran star, Aidan.
His longevity at the elite level has always been widely praised. He broke new ground in that regard this season when he became the first outfield player to reach 100 championship appearances. O’Shea hit the century mark after coming on in the second half of a 1-24 to 2-20 win over Monaghan in the opening round of the All-Ireland series.
But as Mayo advanced through the knockout stages, O’Shea was noticeably absent on the field as were some other seasoned players in the squad. Rob Hennelly was replaced by Jack Livingstone in goal. Diarmuid O’Connor didn’t feature much until the All-Ireland final while his brother Cillian’s input was derailed by injuries.
There’s been a changing of the guard. New roles have been assigned as part of that shift. But Séamie O’Shea has played with all of the above. He knows the value they bring to the squad dynamic.
His brother is a natural place to start.
“Aidan is brilliant around the dressing room. He’s always been a massive leader for Mayo. But if you look at any successful team, you need to have those fellas around, regardless of whether they’re playing or not.
“If you look at somebody like Cillian O’Connor, Robbie Hennelly, Aidan, Diarmuid O’Connor who didn’t play a lot of the season either until the final, they’ve got a huge amount of experience and having them around even, if they didn’t all play huge minutes throughout the season, is hugely beneficial to a group. Particularly a young group.”
Back to matters in Ballymun, and how O’Shea came to be the Kickhams manager. This is his first job in management. He didn’t anticipate a position of this calibre at such an early stage of his retirement from football, and wasn’t even sure if coaching was something he wanted to pursue.
O’Shea retired from Mayo in January 2021 and finished playing club football for Breaffy shortly after, uncertain of what to do next. His life was in Dublin at that point, raising his family in Drumcondra which is just a short drive away from Ballymun.
The Kickhams connection came through one of his former Breaffy teammates. Declan Jennings is the director of football at Ballymun, and is now a member of O’Shea’s backroom team alongside John McCarthy and the highly-rated coach, Val Andrews.
It’s impossible for O’Shea to recreate the excitement of playing, but being back in a team atmosphere is a familiar thrill.
“I’m delighted to be back. It’s nice to be involved and with a club like Ballymun.
“Management is obviously very different. It’s all new to me. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes along the way. It’s a good learning experience and to be fair to the lads, I’m very fortunate in Ballymun.
“I’ve got a really good backroom team. The lads themselves are just brilliant. They need very little encouragement from me.”
Ballymun needed at least a draw against St Jude’s two weeks ago to assure them of a place in the knockout stages of the championship. They achieved that with a powerful second-half display in which they scored the last five points to seal a 1-20 to 1-13 win.
Thomas Davis, their opponents today, topped Group Three, and were one of the toughest teams O’Shea faced with Ballymun during the league.
Ballymun’s last senior county title was in 2020, and they have contested three quarter-finals since then in 2021, 2023 and 2025. They also reached the semi-finals in 2024, losing out to eventual All-Ireland champions Cuala by five points.
Guiding Ballymun back to the business end of the championship is pleasing for O’Shea, but he has bigger goals in mind for his players.
“We’re not talking about winning leagues or winning championships. It’s about how do we make sure that we prepare as well as we possibly can for the next game? If we do that then I think we’ll be a decent match-up for any team.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do, and we obviously want to go a little bit further. We’re not looking past this weekend. Our thing all year has been, “How do we just get better from game to game?”
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