THE MOST OBVIOUS place to start on Portland Row is the house with the green, white and orange bunting that is tied from the top windows to the railings of the gate.
What definitely gives it away is the Ireland banner that drapes between those two windows, showing Troy Parrott celebrating a goal at the Aviva Stadium.
Yep, this is the place to be.
Except, almost 24 hours after a hat-trick that earned a place in Irish sporting lore, everyone is just a bit shattered right now.
This is Troy’s grandmother’s house. Josie spoke to RTÉ last night with a mixture of pride and disbelief, just like everyone in the country after watching her grandson’s heroics in Budapest.
Mary answers the door and on a day like this, Mary is the ideal foil for Josie. Mary is smiling as The 42 makes a brief introduction and she warmly kickstarts conversation.
“Great, isn’t it?
“Brilliant, isn’t it?
“Fantastic, isn’t it?
“Sorry, who are you again?”
Parrott celebrates with Seamus Coleman in Budapest Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
She leaves the front door ajar and returns inside to tell Josie someone else is at the front door.
Mary reappears a moment later and asks would we mind coming back tomorrow. She says it will be better then; more of the family will be home from Budapest and Jennifer, Josie’s daughter — or Troy’s mam, as she will forever be known — will be much more help.
“She’s the rock,” Mary says.
Of course, of course.
The cheek of knocking on this door is only tolerated because of how audacious her grandson’s behaviour was the night before. And a few nights before that against Portugal. Who can even remember anything that happened before that? Who knows what will happen next?
There is a World Cup play-off draw on Thursday but until then, Irish football and a lot of the country — the world, even — remains joyously engulfed in a wondrous cycle of rewatching videos of Josie Parrott’s grandson score his third goal – 13 million views on RTÉ’s X account alone.
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And then there are the celebration videos landing from around the globe.
Galway.
New York.
Melbourne.
Estonia.
Coolock.
London.
Passage West.
Manchester.
Cobh.
Limerick.
Donegal.
Bali.
Dublin 1.
RTÉ's video of Parrott's winning goal has already been viewed over 13 million times. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“I love where I’m from,” Parrott told RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue in his post-match interview that was as delicate as his touch to score the winner.
People in all of these places, and many more besides, went to bed loving Troy Parrott and woke up loving Troy Parrott for making them feel something they had not felt for an age.
Happiness.
This sliver of Dublin 1 is where he was born and raised. Making sure to close the gate behind us, crossing the road and just down to the right, before the wall that is painted for Olympic hero Kellie Harrington, you walk up Empress Place. That seems fitting.
Four lads in black whizz by on electric scooters, a couple of them doing wheelies, going just slow enough that you can make out their Montirex tracksuits.
There is a Tesco delivery driver making one of his deliveries. A couple come to their front door for a smoke, watching cars stop in traffic a few feet in front. Further up at the top of Buckingham Street and the corner of Summerhill, Morley’s pub is derelict with some restoration work ongoing.
Sean Treacy House is a few yards down, and that is where Troy grew up. A few minutes’ walk away, O’Connell CBS is where he went to primary school.
It’s beneath the shadow of Croke Park but it never cast enough of an allure to tempt him away from a path in life he was adamant he would follow from the age of 10.
Mickey McHugh is principal there now, but was Troy’s teacher in fourth and sixth class. From Monaghan, he is no soccer man. “I spent my life trying to get him to play hurling instead,” McHugh says.
“But all you had to do was give Troy a ball of any description and he would play.”
The closest McHugh came to converting him to GAA was ahead of the 2013 All-Ireland Football final. A mock game between two teams of O’Connell’s kids was staged, with one representing Dublin and the other Mayo.
“I put Troy with Mayo and they won,” McHugh says.
So there you have it; such are Parrott’s powers, he can deliver All-Ireland glory to the west.
Parrott celebrates with Nathan Collins. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
McHugh speaks to The 42 from a conference in Portlaoise as part of a secondment working with 18 schools in the North East Inner City.
He started in the September after the 2002 World Cup and, almost a quarter of a century on, remains dedicated to the area.
Naturally, he remembers Parrott’s sporting prowess: how he would play for the school basketball team but be taken off early after typically scoring 30 points.
More than anything, McHugh recalls “the charisma and confidence” of a kid who others looked up to. “He was so clued in, he had leadership skills from a young age, he called the shots, and if there was anything to be organised, Troy was the one to do it.”
His acting and singing skills are the most obvious case in point. McHugh was determined to put on a musical and, knowing Troy sang in the choir, Grease was the chosen show.
There was only one candidate to play Danny Zuko. “The slicked hair, the leather jacket, it was an easy sell once Troy was on board because all the other kids got involved then,” McHugh says.
He laughs as he thinks of the “Liverpool-mad” kid who was “really clever, really bright, and could have done anything he wanted, but it was always football, football, football”.
Parrott climbs into the Budapest stand to celebrate with his family. Andrew Surma / SIPA USA/Alamy Stock Photo
Andrew Surma / SIPA USA/Alamy Stock Photo / SIPA USA/Alamy Stock Photo
Pauric Coyle is another teacher at O’Connell’s, and is also from Monaghan. Everyone calls him Coyler, including Troy, who he has known since he was in second class.
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Coyler played him at right back in his first-ever game for the school but realised his mistake almost immediately. Still, such was his ability to control games, he was used at centre back before leaving for first year of secondary school.
Athletics piqued Parrott’s interest for a time, too, and his ability caught the eye of Olympian Jerry Kiernan after a glimpse of his performance in a schools’ competition in Santry.
Parrott ran the second leg of a 4×100 relay that proved to be a sweet victory in more ways than one. “Beforehand, Troy and the lads were warming up. Other schools there were lining up in their singlets and spikes, Troy was wearing his O’Connell’s GAA jersey and a pair of football boots.
“They were passing comments to Troy about what he was wearing. These other kids would have been from a different demographic, shall we say, so that was nice to run the way they did.”
Kiernan made a beeline for Parrott, encouraging him to join his nearest athletics’ club as soon as he could. “Troy didn’t have a clue who he was, but he was as polite as possible and told Jerry he just didn’t have the time.”
There was still time for him to take part in the North East Inner City Cross Country Championships for O’Connell’s before entering 1st Year.
“It was in The Bogies on the Navan Road, and he won that too,” Coyler laughs.
Last night was the most famous hat-trick of Parrott’s fledgling career – he’s still only 23 – but it wasn’t the first. Even the one in the 2015 All-Ireland First Year Boys ‘B’ Cup final in Tullamore wouldn’t have been his first.
But, just like in Budapest, he did score twice inside the last 10 minutes. That brace was only good enough to force extra-time against Seamount College from Galway, and Parrott eventually completed his treble.
“At least I can say I was there for that one,” Coyler says.
McHugh, too, was watching from afar last night, following the first half on his phone from the side of a hurling pitch before getting in front of a TV for the drama that has captured the country’s hearts and imaginations.
His final trip of the evening was then to the Mater Hospital to visit his father so they could go through it all again.
“It gave him such a great lift, how well Troy had done. You know, it’s funny because Jennifer, Troy’s mam, is actually one of the carers on the ward, and I was in there recently and we got talking again.”
There will be so much more to catch up on when she’s home from Budapest.
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Troy's other side: Playing Danny Zuko in Grease, turning down Jerry Kiernan, and winning an All-Ireland for 'Mayo'
THE MOST OBVIOUS place to start on Portland Row is the house with the green, white and orange bunting that is tied from the top windows to the railings of the gate.
What definitely gives it away is the Ireland banner that drapes between those two windows, showing Troy Parrott celebrating a goal at the Aviva Stadium.
Yep, this is the place to be.
Except, almost 24 hours after a hat-trick that earned a place in Irish sporting lore, everyone is just a bit shattered right now.
This is Troy’s grandmother’s house. Josie spoke to RTÉ last night with a mixture of pride and disbelief, just like everyone in the country after watching her grandson’s heroics in Budapest.
Mary answers the door and on a day like this, Mary is the ideal foil for Josie. Mary is smiling as The 42 makes a brief introduction and she warmly kickstarts conversation.
“Great, isn’t it?
“Brilliant, isn’t it?
“Fantastic, isn’t it?
“Sorry, who are you again?”
She leaves the front door ajar and returns inside to tell Josie someone else is at the front door.
Mary reappears a moment later and asks would we mind coming back tomorrow. She says it will be better then; more of the family will be home from Budapest and Jennifer, Josie’s daughter — or Troy’s mam, as she will forever be known — will be much more help.
“She’s the rock,” Mary says.
Of course, of course.
The cheek of knocking on this door is only tolerated because of how audacious her grandson’s behaviour was the night before. And a few nights before that against Portugal. Who can even remember anything that happened before that? Who knows what will happen next?
There is a World Cup play-off draw on Thursday but until then, Irish football and a lot of the country — the world, even — remains joyously engulfed in a wondrous cycle of rewatching videos of Josie Parrott’s grandson score his third goal – 13 million views on RTÉ’s X account alone.
And then there are the celebration videos landing from around the globe.
Galway.
New York.
Melbourne.
Estonia.
Coolock.
London.
Passage West.
Manchester.
Cobh.
Limerick.
Donegal.
Bali.
Dublin 1.
“I love where I’m from,” Parrott told RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue in his post-match interview that was as delicate as his touch to score the winner.
People in all of these places, and many more besides, went to bed loving Troy Parrott and woke up loving Troy Parrott for making them feel something they had not felt for an age.
Happiness.
This sliver of Dublin 1 is where he was born and raised. Making sure to close the gate behind us, crossing the road and just down to the right, before the wall that is painted for Olympic hero Kellie Harrington, you walk up Empress Place. That seems fitting.
Four lads in black whizz by on electric scooters, a couple of them doing wheelies, going just slow enough that you can make out their Montirex tracksuits.
There is a Tesco delivery driver making one of his deliveries. A couple come to their front door for a smoke, watching cars stop in traffic a few feet in front. Further up at the top of Buckingham Street and the corner of Summerhill, Morley’s pub is derelict with some restoration work ongoing.
Sean Treacy House is a few yards down, and that is where Troy grew up. A few minutes’ walk away, O’Connell CBS is where he went to primary school.
It’s beneath the shadow of Croke Park but it never cast enough of an allure to tempt him away from a path in life he was adamant he would follow from the age of 10.
Mickey McHugh is principal there now, but was Troy’s teacher in fourth and sixth class. From Monaghan, he is no soccer man. “I spent my life trying to get him to play hurling instead,” McHugh says.
“But all you had to do was give Troy a ball of any description and he would play.”
The closest McHugh came to converting him to GAA was ahead of the 2013 All-Ireland Football final. A mock game between two teams of O’Connell’s kids was staged, with one representing Dublin and the other Mayo.
“I put Troy with Mayo and they won,” McHugh says.
So there you have it; such are Parrott’s powers, he can deliver All-Ireland glory to the west.
McHugh speaks to The 42 from a conference in Portlaoise as part of a secondment working with 18 schools in the North East Inner City.
He started in the September after the 2002 World Cup and, almost a quarter of a century on, remains dedicated to the area.
Naturally, he remembers Parrott’s sporting prowess: how he would play for the school basketball team but be taken off early after typically scoring 30 points.
More than anything, McHugh recalls “the charisma and confidence” of a kid who others looked up to. “He was so clued in, he had leadership skills from a young age, he called the shots, and if there was anything to be organised, Troy was the one to do it.”
His acting and singing skills are the most obvious case in point. McHugh was determined to put on a musical and, knowing Troy sang in the choir, Grease was the chosen show.
There was only one candidate to play Danny Zuko. “The slicked hair, the leather jacket, it was an easy sell once Troy was on board because all the other kids got involved then,” McHugh says.
He laughs as he thinks of the “Liverpool-mad” kid who was “really clever, really bright, and could have done anything he wanted, but it was always football, football, football”.
Pauric Coyle is another teacher at O’Connell’s, and is also from Monaghan. Everyone calls him Coyler, including Troy, who he has known since he was in second class.
Coyler played him at right back in his first-ever game for the school but realised his mistake almost immediately. Still, such was his ability to control games, he was used at centre back before leaving for first year of secondary school.
Athletics piqued Parrott’s interest for a time, too, and his ability caught the eye of Olympian Jerry Kiernan after a glimpse of his performance in a schools’ competition in Santry.
Parrott ran the second leg of a 4×100 relay that proved to be a sweet victory in more ways than one. “Beforehand, Troy and the lads were warming up. Other schools there were lining up in their singlets and spikes, Troy was wearing his O’Connell’s GAA jersey and a pair of football boots.
“They were passing comments to Troy about what he was wearing. These other kids would have been from a different demographic, shall we say, so that was nice to run the way they did.”
Kiernan made a beeline for Parrott, encouraging him to join his nearest athletics’ club as soon as he could. “Troy didn’t have a clue who he was, but he was as polite as possible and told Jerry he just didn’t have the time.”
There was still time for him to take part in the North East Inner City Cross Country Championships for O’Connell’s before entering 1st Year.
“It was in The Bogies on the Navan Road, and he won that too,” Coyler laughs.
Last night was the most famous hat-trick of Parrott’s fledgling career – he’s still only 23 – but it wasn’t the first. Even the one in the 2015 All-Ireland First Year Boys ‘B’ Cup final in Tullamore wouldn’t have been his first.
But, just like in Budapest, he did score twice inside the last 10 minutes. That brace was only good enough to force extra-time against Seamount College from Galway, and Parrott eventually completed his treble.
“At least I can say I was there for that one,” Coyler says.
McHugh, too, was watching from afar last night, following the first half on his phone from the side of a hurling pitch before getting in front of a TV for the drama that has captured the country’s hearts and imaginations.
His final trip of the evening was then to the Mater Hospital to visit his father so they could go through it all again.
“It gave him such a great lift, how well Troy had done. You know, it’s funny because Jennifer, Troy’s mam, is actually one of the carers on the ward, and I was in there recently and we got talking again.”
There will be so much more to catch up on when she’s home from Budapest.
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dublin's no 1 Republic Of Ireland Soccer Troy Parrott