The GAA ties that still bind Seamus Carr and home 

Seamus Carr might have left Glencolmcille over 40 years ago but the Naomh Columba man says he still keeps home in his heart through the GAA. 

Carr was part of the London Masters management team that guided The Exiles to a fine 2-11 to 2-8 All-Ireland Shield semi-final win over Donegal on Saturday afternoon. 

Following a brilliant encounter at the Errigal Ciaran grounds outside Omagh, Carr explained that the GAA and its many links to home remains a godsend for so many Irish scattered around the world.  

“I left in 1981. I’ve one SFC medal with Naomh Columba from 1978. I’ll always cherish it. I was on the Donegal panel that same year. We were beat in the Ulster final by Cavan. After that, I headed off to London. 

“I stayed for three years and was lucky enough to be part of the first ever Tír Chonaill Gaels side to win a championship. After that, I went out to New York for a few years. The one constant in all of that was Gaelic football. 

“I’ve made so many friends over the years. It’s still lovely, even now, to meet lads from home and when they explain what club they’re from, you inevitably know someone connected. It’s amazing what the GAA does for those people. 

“It’s a reference point right away or a place to start when it comes to employment and so on. And it’s company as well. Like I said, so many real friendships have been forged that way”.

With a number of the London panel also involved in club football on Sunday, it was a whistlestop visit. And for a 1.30pm throw-in, it was an early start for the squad and its backroom team. 

“I lifted my head off the pillow this morning at 4am,” he explained.  A good friend, Mark McMonagle from Malin, was celebrating his birthday in London. I promised him I wasn’t going to miss it. So I wasn’t in bed too long before I’d to get back out of it once again!”

On the game itself, Carr felt London were marginally the better side. But he agreed it was a contest that could have gone either way. 

“It was great to come over and it was also great to get the win. In the first 15 minutes, I felt we controlled the game. But we let it slip a little then and the penalty brought them back into the game. 

“But the likes of Gary Kane and Michael Molloy really helped us control the game. Joe McMahon was really causing Donegal bother up front in that time. But they switched Conor McShane over and that was a great battle. 

“It was one of those games, Donegal were always in it. They missed some poor chances in the first half and they left a goal or two behind them as well in the second. But, marginally, I think London were just a wee bit better today”.