Follow Me Up To Carlow - 1992 trip remembered

On Saturday next, Donegal make the trip to Carlow to play Kildare in the Allianz National League and in the past few months a few photos of a famous trip to the town in 1992 were located in our archives.

Donegal, weeks after winning their first All-Ireland, played Carlow at Dr Cullen Park on November 1st, 1992, their second game in a new-look Division B of the Royal Liver National League and they went home successful, winning 0-12 to 0-5, but the scoreline didn’t reflect the game with Donegal hitting five points in the final minutes to pull away.

The Donegal side were given a very warm welcome at the venue and so were many of the supporters. Long before the All-Ireland final an invitation arrived from the late Pat O’Brien of Ballyshannon insisting that I stay with him on the Saturday night. Memories of the trip to Carlow are vague but I had a good travelling companion in Brendan O’Reilly of Bundoran/Sligo. Unfortunately Pat passed to his eternal reward in 2021. Not alone did the O’Brien’s house myself and Brendan O’Reilly, but Cormac and Fergal McGill were the recipients of B&B as well.

The memories from the night in the Carlow Hurling Club are equally vague but I do remember the singing was led by Cormac ‘Follower’ McGill with son Fergal and Pat O’Brien’s son, Patrick, both belting out great versions of the Streets of New York. And our host, Nancy O’Brien, sang ‘Follow Me Up To Carlow’.

After the night in the club, we were treated to tea and sandwiches at some earthly hour of the morning and then a bottle of whiskey was produced.

The pictures on this page, taken on the Sunday morning in a Carlow hostelry are by the one and only Michael O’Donnell and the mystery is that Big Brendan O’Reilly doesn’t appear in any of them. But as he says himself, he was never the first man to the bar.

There is a great story of the Frosses gang, all six of them in the one car, who had an exhaust malfunction outside Boyle on the way down. The six were Neil McHugh (who is the accordion player in the photo), Jason McHugh, Francis Carr, Bernard Fisher, Shane Quinn and PJ Kelly. 

Jason McHugh, who was just 17,  has some vague memories of the time. “We would have started following Donegal around the time of the Ulster final in 1979 against Tyrone and we went everywhere as a group.”

The story of the exhaust falling off the car and Bernard Fisher getting out and catching it and nearly scalding himself is one of those things that are never forgotten.

“We got it fixed up and carried on,” said Jason, who said there were many groups following Donegal then including the Banana Bunch from Leitir.

The teams and scorers on that day in Carlow were:

Carlow: Joe Broderick; Paddy Gahan, Tom Cullen, Toin Hanafin; John Carey, Niall Murphy, John Murphy; Linus Kearns, Garvan Ware; Pascal Doran, Scan Kavanagh (0-2), Johnny Nevin (0-2); John Owens, Colin Hayden, Joe Hayden (0-1). Subs., Mark Mullins for Hanafin; Breffni Hannon for Ware; Jody Walsh for Doran.

Donegal: Gary Walsh; John Joe Doherty, Matt Gallagher, Paul Carr; Donal Reid, Martin Gavigan, Mark Crossan; Anthony Molloy (0-1), Sylvester Maguire (0-1); James McHugh (0-2), Tommy Ryan (0-1), Joyce McMullin; Declan Bonner, Tony Boyle (0-5), Manus Boyle (0-2). Sub., Martin McHugh for Ryan.

Referee: Ray Maloney (Limerick).

A view from behind the bar on a Sunday morning in Carlow in 1992 Picture: Michael O'Donnell

Donegal’s visit to Dr Cullen Park -  Fergal McGill remembers

When a County finally reaches the holy grail of capturing the Sam Maguire after 105 years of effort, it is reasonable to expect the ensuing league campaign to feature games against the GAA’s blue riband Counties, the Dublin’s and Kerry’s of this world. A whirlwind lap of honour to accept the congratulations of the traditional powers of the game, a formal welcome to the elite club of All Ireland Senior Football Champions.    

But alas that was not the scenario for Donegal’s newly crowned All Ireland Champions  in the Autumn of 1992 as  the National Football league saw a one-off format of four Divisions of “mixed ability” teams put in place, ahead of a restructure of the Divisions the following year. And it meant instead of the more traditional powerhouses, Donegal would face the likes of Leitrim, Tipperary and Carlow in that year’s competition, teams that, with all due respect, were not very used to coming up against All Ireland Champions in their league campaigns. 

Not that it mattered a great deal to lifelong Donegal fans like my father, Cormac “The Follower” McGill – had Donegal been drawn to play in Cancun rather than Carlow or Tibet instead of Thurles, there was no way they would miss the All Ireland Champions’ national league victory tour. And fortunately for him, that year at 17 years of age, I had just obtained my learner’s permit and was given the job of steering his newly acquired – albeit 10 year old – Volkswagen Jetta to some previously undiscovered (in GAA terms anyway) parts of the island. 

Dr Cullen Park in Carlow was one such place. 

The offer for accommodation arrived a few weeks in advance from the late Pat O Brien, a proud Donegal native and Chairman of the Carlow Hurling Club (and indeed former Secretary of the Carlow County board), located within a short puck-out of Dr Cullen Park itself. Pat was a Ballyshannon man who hurled with Aodh Ruadh and moved to Carlow to work with Irish Sugar in the 60’s. Along with wife Nancy, the O‘Briens provided a level of hospitality that brought to mind the line from the song, of your hearts being like your mountains. And that was certainly the case in this Home of Donegal. I was sad to learn that Pat passed away in 2021 – a true Gael and an outstanding Ambassador for Dún na nGall in the South East of our Island. 

That Saturday night, and in particular the sing song at an informal gathering of Donegal folk organised by Pat in the function room of the Carlow Town Hurling Club, will live long in the memory! The Follower had brought the accordion with him and was intent on singing every Donegal related song he knew – he claimed to know in excess of 50, cuid acu as Béarla, cuid acu as Gaeilge. Despite the well stocked bar, I remember someone being dispatched into the town at around 2 in the morning as whiskey provisions were running low! 

Guidance on interaction with the natives was provided by Inver’s Charlie Mc Aleavey who was accompanied by sons Conor and Ronan.  Charlie’s working life had begun in Carlow also, and by the time life took him as far as Inver Bay, he had brought with him not only a wealth of experience but a new wife in Kay O’Connor, a daughter of a former Carlow County Board Chairman no less! 

I recall also Seamus and Ann Marie Sheerin from Mountcharles being in our company. Two committed GAA people who seldom missed a Donegal game. Peter Campbell of this parish was also on board as was the late, great Michael “Jack” O Donnell of Glenties whose photograph from the night is a much more accurate memory than any of my own! Michael’s presence on the sidelines is greatly missed by all. 

Pól O Gallachóir represented Gaoth Dobhair - it took me a full 20 years to have another drink with the genial Pól; again it was the night before a big game, but this time we were a lot warmer, as we drank cold beers in PJ O’Briens along the water front in Melbourne, Australia! Pól was  by this time Ard Stiurthóir of TG4, sponsors of the Irish International Rules team, and I was the team’s Tour Manager. I’m fairly sure we sang a song or two that night as well and I know for sure a certain Neil Mac Aoidh of Gaoth Dobhair sang more than one the following night in the same establishment as Ireland celebrated a handsome victory. The harmonies from his sidekick (some big Murphy fella from Glenswilly) alas would not suggest a future in any Scór Ballad Group!   

Back in Carlow though, the Lark was the only one singing as the night came to an end in the early hours, and alas, the stairs back at the lodgings proved too much for The Follower – he decided the bottom step would make an appropriate settle, before eventually being persuaded to crawl on all fours to an upstairs bed! 

I don’t really recall much about the game itself – other than the fact Donegal triumphed after a bit of a struggle. But the games in that league campaign were merely coincidental – this was a victory tour, a chance for the All Ireland Champions, and their long suffering followers, to continue the September celebrations safe in the knowledge that Sam’s home would be in the Hills for the foreseeable future. 

The circumstances this weekend are considerably different; but with a new sense of hope following the re-appointment of Jim McGuinness, no doubt there will be plenty of Donegal folk eyeing a Saturday night in Carlow with dreams of Sam returning to the Hills and another victory tour for the fans! 

Laochra ar Lár - Pól Ó Gallchóir

Having looked at that photograph for the first time in over thirty years, two people captured my mind – two people who were passionate about the GAA and so proud of those early All Ireland victories in ‘82, ‘87 and ’92 – the man with the pen and the man with the camera.

Cormac Mc Gill, who covered the Carlow game for the Democrat and Michael O’Donnell who took the photographs were two of the great characters of Donegal GAA and like many others gained immense pride and great joy from those ’92 glory days. 

Níor thug an chéad chluiche Craoibhe i 1992 mórán dóchais dúinn – comhscór leis an Chabhán. Ach ba bhródúil an lá é an 20ú Meán Fómhair do na Conallaigh agus ní dhéanfar dearmad go deo don Oíche Luain sin i mBaile Dhún na nGall.

Our first two league matches after All Ireland glory were Kildare and Carlow – and it’s a bit ironic that we travel to Carlow next weekend to play Kildare at “home”. My memories are few of that weekend. We were delighted that Brian McEniff sent out such a strong team and that we won – but it was no stroll in the park! It was also the beginning and the end – the end of a ten year county career for Charlie Mulgrew and the beginning for a fellow club man Mark Crossan who had a glorious ten year career with over 100 appearances for Donegal.

Sadly Michael Jack and the Follower are no longer with us. Donegal and the GAA were their life and soul. Bhí a gcróithe sa Chumann. Agus rann siad a gcumas agus a dtallainn linn ar fad agus, le chéile, chuir siad altanna spéisiula (agus conspóideacha, uaireanta) agus pictiúir shamhlaíocha in ár láthair ar feadh dhá scór bliain.