Naomh Conaill - an empire that simply refuses to crumble

There was no doubt that Naomh Conaill, written off by so many as ‘over the hill’ last term, took great satisfaction in ramming that critique firmly back down the throats of their detractors.

And you can be quite sure that this season’s SFC odds, which once again has St Eunan’s as firm 7/4 favourites, will have been noticed at Davy Brennan Memorial Park.

Quite a few of their old guard had a nibble after last year’s final win over their Letterkenny rivals. Having lifted three of the previous four Dr Maguires, some expressed the view that Naomh Conaill had been disrespected in the run-in to the final, that their prospects had been widely dismissed.

But it seems there remains this prevailing sentiment that Glenties’ formidable veterans will eventually be overrun - that’ll they’ll hang about too long.

It’s hard to believe that from their 2005 breakthrough SFC win, the likes of Leo McLoone, Eoin Waide, Anthony Thompson, Marty Boyle and Brendan McDyer are still firmly involved.

Hughie Molloy, in tandem with Jim McGuinness, was the first Naomh Conaill manager to ever get his hands on the Dr Maguire. In any good epic there is always a beginning, middle, and end.

Who knows just when Naomh Conaill’s famous blue brigade will finally call it quits. But in terms of their beginning, Molloy says it was obvious from a long way out there was something special brewing in the club back at the turn of the millennium.

“You always hoped that gang of lads would step up, you could see there was a real cluster of talent,” Molloy recalls. “But there is never any guarantee. But what really set those lads apart was their attitude. For young men, teenagers really, there was a steal there.

“They were so young but they weren’t prepared to wait about. They wanted to go the distance and they did, for the very first time in 2005. Fast forward what, 17 seasons, and you’ve Brendan McDyer picking up Player of the Year. That’s extraordinary”.

Naomh Conaill are a club that literally dragged themselves out of the doldrums. And those memories - where they were on the absolute periphery of that legendary south west SFC stranglehold - remain a great motivation.

“The first time I took charge of Naomh Conaill was in 1988 and the quality of sides, this end of the county, it was at an immense level. Killybegs, Kilcar and Naomh Columba were having amazing battles. You looked on, not in envy, but you wondered what it would be like, for that kind of success, a SFC title to come to Naomh Conaill.

“The club has had so much success in a relatively short period of time. But you don’t have to look too far back to remember the harder days. Like, 2005 lifted the entire club and parish.

“We overcame Malin in the first round, beat them handy down there but struggled to a draw at home. As manager, I remember asking Jim to get on board and his unique approach, it was just such a great experience for that entire group.

“You’d people here in the club, their wildest dreams had come true. For fellas that had soldiered for years but with little or no reward. The joy on the faces inside and outside the wire that day, it’ll never be forgotten”.

And Molloy makes the very valid point that the Naomh Conaill senior squad is in a constant state of flux - it isn’t standing still.

“That’s the really encouraging thing. Those other lads won’t go on forever but you’re seeing others come in all the time. We’re producing very good underage players now. But again, that doesn’t happen by accident.

“Even the middle bracket, the Ethan O’Donnells, the Dohertys, Jeaic MacCeallbhuí, Eoghan McGettigan and Ciaran Thompson; they’re leaders in that pack as well. It’s a really great mixture”.

A day will come when the aforementioned cluster do saddle up but, as Molloy explains, they won’t be riding off into the sunset. That gang, and quite a few like them, are already immersed in the club’s underage coaching structures.

“After all the time they’ve given, the fact they’re going into that end of it now, it’s continuity. For them to be down coaching, to be driving it on, it’s the lads the younger ones look up to. The dedication that goes into it now, and it’s the same in so many clubs, it’s at an unprecedented level.

“Martin Regan is also a hugely important component in the mix. I remember him as a player and he gave his absolute best every single day he went out. The players have huge respect for him. He’s a young man, has real energy and drive. Again, the players buy into that”.