'Freedom not fear': How Paddy Carr's worldview will shape his Donegal approach

The slums of Latin America in the 1980s were grim.

Paddy Carr tells the story of how he was living among ‘tens of thousands of people who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from’.

Carr is now sitting in the room marked ‘dressing room 1’ at the €7.82 million Donegal GAA Training Centre in Convoy having been appointed as the new Donegal football manager.

Carr’s life experiences will have him well cut to deal with the Ulster Championship’s pressure cooker.

His surroundings now are in stark contrast to what he saw during the three years he spent in Peru, Bolivia in Chile.

He was studying for the priesthood with the Columban Fathers in Dalgan Park he took up the posting.

“I had the privilege of working with some of the most extraordinary people I’ve ever met in the slums,” he says.

“That has shaped my world view and my vision. It was pivotal. When you see the fragility of life; there were times when death was all around us, but there was a celebration of life.”

Thumbs up from London and Tir Chonaill Gaels for new Donegal manager Paddy Carr

New Donegal manager Paddy Carr took Tir Chonaill Gaels in London to four SFC crowns as either manager or director of football and those involved with him speak fondly of his input

On Monday night, after ascending to succeed Declan Bonner as the Donegal manger, Carr retreated to the Fanad Lodge in the company of Gaeil Fhánada’s Brendan McAteer, John McConigley and Fiona Shiels.

Carr has always been of Fanad.

His father, Barney, was a member of An Garda Síochána. When work took him to the capital, his young family had to up its roots.

In many ways they never left Fanad, though.

Barney Carr remains an ardent Donegal supporter. A son, Seán, who was another who traipsed the country following Donegal, died in 2014 and is interred in Fanavolty cemetery.

Carr spent his youth playing for Kilmacud Croke and Walterstown after the family moved. He returned to Kilmacud to guide them to an All-Ireland club title in 2009.

Fanad always called. He played summer cups around the peninsula in Gaelic football and soccer. Dances at the Fanavolty Hall were regularly visited during those summer months.

“There was a lovely atmosphere,” he says of his time in Fanad.

“Dad was one of eight. He was the only one who stayed at home. My uncles and aunts, as with every single neighbour, were all over the world. I can remember as a child the summers in Donegal. It was just gorgeous because everyone was home.”

Carr was something of a surprise selection in his native county. Aidan O’Rourke, a 2002 All-Ireland winner with Armagh, has been confirmed as the head coach.

Head coach Aidan O'Rourke and manager Paddy Carr.

Carr was nominated for the position by the Gaeil Fhánada club.

“Dublin is their base, but this is home,” says club secretary Fiona Shiels. “Paddy is Fanad rough and through.

“A lot of the Carr family are still based here in Fanad. He has always been well got here. Everybody in Fanad knows Paddy.

“We have always thought so highly of him and this is very exciting for the club and for the area.”

Carr is described by those who know him as being ’very spiritual’, perhaps arising from his time in the priesthood.

Following the recent tragedy in Creeslough, Carr visited Mulroy College in Milford - a school that lost two pupils and two parents in the explosion - to offer whatever assistance he could.

There is clearly a tough interior beyond the gentle front, though.

This week, he retires from his job as principal of Colaiste na Mí in Navan - a day job that previously meant he would’ve been unable to commit to the demands of an inter-county post.

With over 700 students in the school, Carr has become well accustomed to the pitfalls of social media.

It was a point raised by his predecessor, Declan Bonner the night he abdicated in July. There had been, Bonner said, ’fairly horrendous’ abuse levelled his way.

“I have a 27-year 25, 23 and an 18-year-old and they are all in the circle that sees it, hears it and it cannot be good,” Bonner said. ‘My family are delighted that I am stepping away.”

Carr entered education after deciding to end his journey into the priesthood.

“It’s a real issue,” Carr says. “Social media has this instant reaction to just put something up about you. It’s a sad aspect in the GAA that people actually think they can comment personally about you when they don’t know you.

“I’d like to think that there is enough character in Donegal people that the people who indulge in that would be called to task. I would stop on the street and talk to anyone if they want to say anything to me.

“I deal with this on a daily basis, as any school principal does. Come a Monday morning and the affect of young people having a go on these platforms is extraordinary. I have seen the consequences of this at first hand so I have very strong opinions on that.”

Donegal won Ulster titles in 2018 and 2019, but have missed out on the silverware since. Carr arrives into a county that, in spite of recent results, still has high expectations.

Carr says:  “I would like to think that the philosophy will be more dictated by what it is that we’re in control of and what it is that we want. The platform we will work off in Donegal is one of freedom as opposed to one of fear.”

Carr has an extensive CV with his 2009 All-Ireland club win his greatest hour thus far.

He has managed Mattock Rangers in Louth, Summerhill in Meath, Kilmacud and Ballymun in Dublin as well as St Brigid’s in Roscommon.

“As a Donegal person, I have a different set of experiences of football,” he says.

“Most of it was in Leinster. I was very close to the understanding of the Dublin set-up. I learned my adult football in Meath and if you didn’t learn quickly then you’d be in the graveyard.

“When I was at Kilmacud, it was a particularly gratifying thing to see seven of them brought into the Dublin panel and they started winning inter-county All-Irelands. When you deal with elite lads, you know where the bar is, what’s needed and what’s demanded.”

Few are aware that he held an advisory role alongside Pat Gilroy with the Dublin footballers who won an All-Ireland in 2011 - the country’s first in 16 years - and with the Tipperary hurlers under Liam Sheedy.

Carr made what he now calls a ‘life choice’ in leaving the priesthood. His first port of call was London. He has retained a close relationship with Tir Chonaill Gaels - who he led to a London SFC in 2012. When first he arrived in Ruislip, Mick McGrath - now the Donegal GAA Chairman - was among a strong Donegal cohort.

“The further away you go, you see the strength of the Association,” he says.

“We have a history of emigration in Donegal, mainly because of where we’re situated. A big thumbs up to all the Donegal diaspora. We’re going to do our absolute best to give you good days, whether you’re in Adelaide or Helsinki or wherever.’

Fiona Shiels has no qualms about stating Monday as being one of Gaeil Fhánada’s proudest moments.

“Paddy has always had such a connection,” she says. “When he was in London, he was so good to our players. He helped them so much. Paddy was the one from home who made sure they were looked after.”

The road home from near Ardee, where he lives with his family, is rather more straightforward than when he came to Donegal to play football in the 80s. Carr featured for Donegal against Tyrone in the 1980 Ulster SFC.

“A thing as a boy you dream of,” he says. “I played pre-mobile and I remember one day we were paying a challenge match outside Coolooney against Sligo. I came out of Dalgan Park and got eight different lifts. It took eight hours to get to Donegal.

“If it wasn’t for Ciaran McCready . . . he was a great man. He had half off the Donegal team in the back of a Cortina.”