Finnbarr Roarty on exactly what it means to be tangled up in Blue and White

Finnbarr Roarty says his first real memory of Naomh Conaill at senior level isn’t one of them lifting a Dr Maguire or being welcomed home as county champions on Glenties main street.

The Young Footballer of the Year nominee explains that his actual earliest recall of the Boys in Blue is one of them losing to Kilcar in a SFC clash in Donegal Town.

“It’s a funny one, but I just remember being so upset that they had lost to Kilcar in Tír Conaill Park.

“I was up and down between the astro pitch with the rest of the young lads at the time and then I just remembered staying up at the corner of the wire and watching the last ten minutes.

“I don’t know what exact age I was, but I was just raging. It bugged me the whole way home and for most of the evening! It’s funny what sticks in the mind that way.

“I suppose it’s easier to remember people around you being upset than it is to remember them celebrating”.

Born in 2006, it’s hard to believe that Roarty now calls some of the original breakthrough Naomh Conaill starlets teammates.

A season earlier, 2005, the likes of Leo McLoone, Anthony Thompson, Brendan McDyer and Eoin Waide were all fresh-faced and part of the history-making squad that finally got its hands on the Donegal SFC title.

Again, there isn’t much point brokering that same achievement with someone who was still in nappies at the time.

For Roarty, the Dr Maguire success that really captivated him and also grabbed the attention of buddies like Max Campbell and Shea Malone was 2019’s three-game saga with then Ulster champions Gaoth Dobhair.

“The bonfires after, just the light, the smoke from the flares, it was just a serious buzz for any youngster.

“In 2019, I was 13 at the time. That was the first time I really remember it grabbing your attention, and it being something you thought, ‘I’d like some of that.’”

Naomh Conaill, as decorated as they now are, the exclamation point that perhaps remains absent on that brilliant period of dominance is an Ulster club SFC crown.

Their latest venture out into the province comes this Sunday as they tackle Monaghan kingpins Scotstown in Clones.

And Roarty has a confession to make when it comes to some of Naomh Conaill’s more recent Ulster journeys.

But for a player that already has two Ulster SFC titles and an All-Ireland final appearance under his belt with Donegal, it is interesting to hear him describe Ulster club games as ones that “just hit different”.

‘“It is different, I don’t know how you’d compare it. Like, we went to every Naomh Conaill game as youngsters.

“Myself, Max and Shea are all involved on the field now. But we were right there in the middle of the ‘Ultras, the ones’ that made all the signs and sang all the songs in the years gone by.

So, actually progressing up to senior with those same lads and being lucky enough to win the championship this season, it was lovely.

“We were the ones behind the goals, making all that noise. We used to bang those drums, sing ‘C’mon you Boys in Blue’ and all that craic. And that always went up a notch whenever it came to Ulster. So that’s exciting now.

“The amount of handmade posters, the town would have run out of blue and white markers! Looking back, you got so excited about these types of games - county finals and Ulster club.

“You looked at the lads as superstars at the time and, like I said, it’s amazing that us ‘Ultra’ lads have now progressed up to join them”.

Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh

Roarty was named the 2025 recipient of the Gradam Shéamuis Mhic Géidigh last Saturday night at the Donegal GAA banquet in Donegal Town. The SFC club Player of the Year award vote was close to unanimous.

But it says something about Roarty when he immediately steers the conversation towards the late Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcaster it’s named after, who sadly passed away back in 2016 at just 54 years old.

“Picking up the club championship Player of the Year was amazing. But so many people who congratulated me after also talked about Séamus Mac Géidigh.

“He obviously was someone special. My mum even talked about him after on the way home and just how much of a gentleman he was.

“It’s been a really busy year, on and off the pitch, with nights like that sort of coming thick and fast now.

“But it’s also been so enjoyable. Like, with the club progressing, it sort of meets Donegal starting up again now real soon. There is no let-off.

“We had our own awards in Donegal Town on Saturday night and I was getting up to go right after, and people were asking, ‘are you not staying about?’

“But I’d to tell the lads I was playing for Naomh Conaill the next day in the U-21 championship in Dungloe. They seemed confused!

“I got a little confused then, as I was wondering if they thought I was mad playing U-21s a week out from Scotstown in Ulster.

“But Martin (Regan) is very good like that. We have a good U-21 side too, and we want to see how far we can go. And it beats training.

“Underage football, with friends and even family, that won’t be there forever, so you have to make the most of it”.

With one season now set to dovetail into the other for Roarty, he admits that life more or less has completely revolved around football these past two years.

The close group of friends that he spent five years with at Glenties Comprehensive School now fragments as they all set off to chase their own dreams through third-level education.

2025 was that cluster’s “blowout summer”, but being an elite intercounty footballer brings certain sacrifices.

Sacrifices

“Yeah, I understand that some people look at it like that, that you’re missing out on some stuff.

“And don’t get me wrong, when the WhatsApp groups start buzzing and you see what some are getting up to, you’d love to be out in the middle of all the craic.

“During Donegal’s run and even Naomh Conaill after, they’re at concerts or they’re away on group holidays.

“A gang of them were in Turkey, and I just had to put the group on mute! Part of you thinks ‘that would be great fun’. But it doesn’t take long to realise that I’m in a very fortunate position.

“And they all get it, that I just can’t do both. You can’t be two places at once and my group of friends are really supportive that way.

“When the county season finishes up, and even though the club one is in full throttle, there is more of a window right now to hang out and catch up”.

Roarty recently moved to Belfast, where he’s studying Health and Social Care Policy. And it was a stint spent with the Ability Rocks group in Portnoo - a unit that caters for children with additional needs - that confirmed that was the career path he wanted to follow.

“A good friend of mine, Luke Shovlin, I was telling him that I was thinking of pursuing a career in social care. His mum, Yvonne, did the same thing, and she said that they run this Ability Rocks group near Portnoo.

“It caters for kids with additional needs, and if I wanted to come down, see if I enjoyed the role, it might help me make up my mind in regards to college.

“I went down and from the very first day, I’d made up my mind and I haven’t looked back.

“There were times during the summer that you were just off the back of a huge Donegal game, but you couldn’t wait to get back down there the next morning as it was just such a great set-up and environment”.

Roarty’s two seasons involved at senior level with Naomh Conaill are partitioned by the old playing rules and the new direction the Football Rules Committee (FRC) has now pushed Gaelic football.

He says the contrast for players and indeed supporters couldn’t be more different. A huge cat has been dropped amongst the pigeons and it’s producing, as he phrases it, “utter chaos”.

Freedom

“It was such a rollercoaster, this year’s club championship. “It must have been amazing for the supporters as well, as we gave them so many scares along the way.

“Playing in it, and maybe it’s easy to feel this way having come out the other end as eventual winners, but it was just unreal to play in.

“It was one of my most enjoyable experiences so far as a player. The way the club season just accelerated, it was just edge-of-the-seat stuff from start to finish.

“We lost to Glenswilly first day out, I missed that one. And then we barely got over the line against Ardara in a big home derby. I think it took a late two-pointer to get us over the line.

“Like, had we lost to Ardara, we might have been dragged into a relegation scrap. In the end, we just seemed to keep finding a way.

“Some of the older lads were talking about close calls, but the younger lads were all enjoying the frights along the way. Just the ups and downs, the energy, that’s what’s changed this season under the new rules.

“At club level, it just seemed to make every game one that could go either way. I played last season and the difference is night and day.

“Now, there are so many opportunities, as a player, to just go. There is a freedom now that means the momentum is really hard to completely grab.

“I think there is a really nice variety to our squad too and lads are just expressing themselves because there is more scope there now.

“Last year, you’d be making provisions for one or two opposition players, but now, everyone has the ability to hurt you as the space is just there.

“And it’s not just the county lads that can step up, there are some amazingly gifted club players that are now able to express themselves.

“A lot of the chat down the town now, or in the shops, is about so and so doing something class or making a difference on their own.

“Last year, it was very much just people complaining about people being behind the ball all the time. It was always negative.

“The thing I notice this year is that when someone stops you on the street, it’s because they want to talk about a particular moment or score. Everyone has a chance now to make the difference - be the hero”.