Michael Carr hopes Kilcar’s present can match its past

If anyone asks you who was the most complete club player in Donegal in the late 1970s to around 1990 - the name of Michael Carr from Kilcar would be right up there at the very top. 

And remember this was a golden period in Donegal club football with Kilcar, their neighbours and arch-rivals Kilybegs, Aodh Ruadh, Naomh Columba and Four Masters all coming to the fore. 

This was also the era of that great Donegal county team that won an historic All-Ireland title in 1992.  There were some clinking matches before big crowds in Towney, Fintra, Pairc na nGael, Fr Tierney Park and Tir Chonaill Park. Of course, Kilcar had a superb team which was a help to the ultra- versatile  Carr who had a deadly double act with the team’s scorer in chief.  Carr won four county championship medals in that period in 1980, 1987, 1989 and 1993. 

The victory in 1980 was hugely significant as it ended a famine that stretched back to 1925 and Carr played a huge role in that famous win. Sean McGinley was captain, but Carr was the general from wing-back who controlled the game. And in a very different era he had the ability and vision to give the right kind of ball into the diminutive, but ferociously talented McHugh who hit 0-9 in 1980. 

At the same time Carr was also part of what this writer believes to be Donegal’s best ever half-back-line when he  togged out at right half back along with Michael Lafferty and Brendan Dunleavy. 

It is generally accepted that Carr had the most natural talent of that famous trio that was both a mighty bulwark and a great launch pad for attack. That team won an Ulster title in 1983 with younger stars like McHugh, Charlie Mulgrew, Tommy McDermott, Matt Gallagher, Donal Reid and Joyce McMullin. 

Carr’s county career began in 1973 and ended in 1986 but his senior career did not end with his club until 1995. And in 1993, at the age of 39 he did a great marking job on none other than Manus Boyle as he helped the blue and gold to a county championship. 

And he was even finding the target for his club in 1995 at the age of 41 and even played a bit of soccer in France a few years later. 

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When this writer asked him about the difference between the Kilcar teams he played on and his hopes for the current crop recently, his answers were eloquent and thought-provoking.   

“Years ago, we had a big strong physical team which was the basis for our success,” Carr said. “The game has changed a lot since my day. The current side is not as big or physical, but they have great skill and pace. The pitches were smaller when I played and you needed lads who had physique, especially the defenders.   

“Now I suppose it is a different requirement for playing as you are not marking man to man.   The corner-backs need serious speed and the full back too and thankfully we have those attributes today.

“We always played a big full-forward, but that is not a priority any longer as it is a totally different game. But the major physical aspect has gone out of the game to an extent.   

“Kilcar is a smaller team than Naomh Conaill but they are very fast and skillful and their first touch is very good. Ryan McHugh and Mark McHugh always have a big impact on the game, and they are well able to dictate a game.   

“Ciaran McGinley is a huge presence in the middle of the field, and we were a physical team, but we had to deal with physical teams like Ardara and Glen.   

“In 1989 we were on a MacCumhaill Park that was being extended and we were stretched against an Aodh Ruadh team who were moving the ball around. That recent win in the League final over Naomh Conaill was a good psychological boost for Kilcar and they needed that.   

“They had men missing and we had Ryan McHugh missing so you can’t read too much into it although with our population, we need everyone to be there.   

“St Eunan’s are the benchmark, and they are the county champions and the team you have to try and measure up to and they have not really been showing their hand at all in the League this year”.   

“We have been lucky a few years back in that we had so many good young players coming through at the same time at underage. And now they are on the senior side.   

“Brian O’Donnell has slotted in as a good full-back while the McHugh’s, Patrick McBrearty, Ciaran McGinley, the McCleans, Stephen McBrearty, Conor Doherty and the O’Donnell’s are all players and that is good to have”.   

And Carr is a fan of the split season. He believes it’s important to get the local championships played off before the depths of winter kick in.

“It is a good thing, and it gives players a chance to be playing championship football on summer pitches although we seem to have lost quite a few players to the US this year although it has not really affected our club,” he said.

“Looking at the championship, it is still the big four of St Eunan’s, Naomh Conaill, ourselves and Gaoth Dobhair although Aodh Ruadh are getting significantly better”.   

When asked if the talent was in Kilcar to take the Dr Maguire Cup for the first time since 2017, he fully agrees:   “Of course, it is there and any club that is backboned by lads that have played county football is always in with a good chance and we certainly have that criterion.   

“I don’t know if Michael Hegarty is going to be there or not, but he still could make a contribution. I was surprised that they did not play him around the full-forward line last year.   

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“And if you want to play a ball inside to a man you would be glad to see Mickey Hegarty-a mature man who could cause problems for a defence.   

“Of course, we have Patrick McBrearty as a target man and the two of them inside would be dangerous. I am glad to see that we seem to have solved the issue of our own full back as Brian O’Donnell seems to have slotted in very well there and is becoming a commanding figure.   

“And he is very versatile and full-backs are very important and can go up the field and score as Brendan Rogers showed against us in the Ulster final. We are looking forward to the championship and it will get more intense.  

“When we won it in 2017 with a pretty young squad, we thought we might win a few more but that just did not happen. Gaoth Dobhair came up, and Naomh Conaill came up and then we had Covid.   

“And then we had the penalty issue with Naomh Conaill in 2020 and I don’t think penalties are a way to decide GAA matches. It is a disaster and should not be part of the GAA and it was slipped in during Covid. I can’t see a future in penalties. I will be there, cheering them on all the way.   

“I hope we will not be too far away, but I am very wary of St Eunan’s and Rory Kavanagh is a very astute manager.  And they just have so many options all over the field. They will be very hard to stop”.