Sinéad Ní Churnáin writes about how tomorrow's episode of The Geansaí found themselves in the Donegal Gaeltacht and what they found when they got there...
In early December 2018, CLG Ghaoth Dobhair became Ulster Club champions for the first time in their history by beating Monaghan's Scotstown in a nail biting final by just one point! This was an incredible feat for the Donegal Gaeltacht club; it was emotional and a long time coming. Winning the Ulster title was the homemade icing on Gaoth Dobhair’s Christmas cake.
In the coming days, Teach Mhicí, the pub owned by Gaoth Dobhair player, Kevin Cassidy, was packed to the rafters and awash with Gaoth Dobhair jerseys. The social media updates entertained the masses; the team and the parish were #livingtheirbestlives and why not, they’d worked hard. This momentous occasion was worth the graft.
Cláracha Gaeilge RTÉ, try to capture the vibrancy of CLG Ghaoth Dobhair, situated on the Wild Atlantic Way, in this week’s episode of The Geansaí. We wanted to get to the heart of this thriving Gaeltacht club and community where language, heritage, support and sport reign supreme #arscáthachéile
It goes without saying that every member of CLG Ghaoth Dobhair pulled out all of the stops for us. As soon as we started making calls and got chatting to the committee, everybody was on board-rearing to go! This made our lives so much easier. Contrary to popular belief not everyone wants to be on d’telly. But there’s something about being invited to talk about your club, your community and your passion for the game or your sport that encourages people to momentarily pack their shyness away and talk! For 'The Geansaí’ series we always get honest, insightful, genuine, and often moving interviews.
We landed in Donegal mid July. The calls had been made, items set up, our schedule was nearly full, and we even had clear blue skies. Machaire Gathlán, CLG Ghaoth Dobhair’s clubhouse was hopping when we landed. It was close to 3pm mid-week. Over to one side of the GAA pitch the SULT tent was in situ getting festival ready for the weekend, Newstalk’s Off the Ball team were busy putting the finishing touches to their OB and Odhran McFadden-Ferry had just finished his gym session. With our camera and sound crew, Shirley Bradshaw and Dave Fannin, and Dermot O Hanlon at the helm as director, we hatched a plan for the 4 day shoot. The weather was on our side, for now, at least.
We soon met and spent time with Jimi Mhicí O Gallachóir, a nonagenarian from Srath Máirtín. Jimmy fondly remembers when the club won 6 county titles in the 1940s, but last year’s success meant more than most. He had literally been waiting his whole life to see CLG Ghaoth Dobhair as kings of Ulster.
"It was lovely. I was glad I was alive to see it. Because we had won minor, and underage, and county, but it was lovely to win the big one. We had a big year."
Journalist and former club/county player, Dónal Breslin is a great pal of Jimi’s and a weekly visitor. They allowed us gatecrash their rendezvous and we hung out with them for a while. An interesting fact we learned about Jimi (that didn’t make the programme cut) is that while Donegal weren’t beating anybody of note back in the day, he was Donegal’s biggest Kerry supporter, and he has the scrapbooks to prove it!
Page after page is Donegal/ Kerry articles, photographs and profiles. It’s just gorgeous! He can still recollect, recall and rattle off the names of Kerry players on various teams since the 1930’s without breaking a sweat. It’s phenomenal.
Tears rolled down Jimi’s cheeks back in December when the team won that coveted Ulster title and he was slap bang in the middle of the homecoming celebrations at Machaire Gathlán too. No better man!
Over the ensuing days between gales and showers- the blue skies were short lived- we met and filmed with many wonderful people with great stories to tell.
There was Gráinne and Máire from the Committee. We laughed as they reminisced about slow sets, discos, and spoke passionately about club spirit.
Another jewel in Gaoth Dobhair’s crown is Tom Beag Mac Giolla Easpaig who travels everywhere by bike and still draws turf. Ask anyone from Kevin Cassidy to Naoise Ó Baoill and they’ll say he was instrumental at transforming the club at underage. They all love the bones of Tom Beag- he is the GAA in these parts. He invited us to his house in Srath na Corcra for a chat, a beautiful setting with stunning views.
The club house can be seen off in the distance and he also works there maintaining the grounds so he literally never takes his eye off the ball. Tom poured everything into coaching the U12 Gaoth Dobhair players through to their successful reign at U21; Eamon McGee told us that those players are now an integral part of the Gaoth Dobhair senior team and the reason they won the Ulster championship.
By way of saying thank you to Tom Beag after they won the title, those same players he mentored at underage bought him a brand spanking new bike. Now that to me says everything about this man and the players he has coached.
When we asked Eamon McGee, former county player and current Gaoth Dobhair player about how winning an Ulster title compared to winning an All Ireland, he said;
"I saw that buzz when we won the All Ireland with the county, there was a great buzz here for a few weeks before the final, and there was a buzz in the parish. In a way the buzz was better this time because it was just for us, for Gaoth Dobhair, and that was very special."
Eamon idolised Breandán Ó Baoill growing up. Breandán’s son is Dáire Ó Baoill, current Donegal wing-back and former Finn Harps player. Eamon told us that Breandan’s involvement in developing underage structures at CLG Ghaoth Dobhair was paramount. It’s clear that Eamon and Breandán are as thick as thieves.
During our time there we discovered that a good few of the Gaoth Dobhair senior players live and work in Dublin.
Just thinking about their 560km round trip commute is enough to induce my sciatica but this is the dedication, commitment and sacrifice coming, not only from CLG Ghaoth Dobhair, but from players the length and breadth of the country. This is what’s expected of you and it’s what you do when you’re proud to wear your club or county colours. What we did experience when we dropped in on one of their gym session is that they work hard and train hard all week but there’s also great banter and camaraderie between them. They’re united and they’re great mates!
Tragedy struck the Gaoth Dobhair community just before they played Galway’s Corofin in the All-Ireland Semi Final in February this year; four young men lost their lives in a car crash near Gort a Choirce, devastating communities, swamping them in sorrow. You will recall the moving scenes from their funerals at the beginning of this year.
One of the young men was Gaoth Dobhair senior player, Mícheál Roarty or Roycee, from Dún Lúiche at the foot of Mount Errigal. He was a valued member of his club and a brilliant, loyal friend to his team mates. He is dearly missed every single day by his family, his friends, his club and his community. Micheál’s sister, Gracie, happened to be home from Doha for the summer. I rang her and she agreed to meet us and do an interview for the programme and for that we are eternally grateful.
Gracie spoke about her big brother with strength, dignity and buckets of sisterly love. Without the community and the club support the family received during those difficult days, she said that they would have been completely lost.
We could have filled an hour with the material we captured in Gaoth Dobhair but we have to whittle it all down to a half hour programme and that’s the tough part. Gaoth Dobhair is a stunningly unique place; a vibrant, thriving, supportive, proud Gaeltacht community that welcomed us with open arms and opened up their hearts.
Now, if they could just sprinkle a smidgin of their magic...
Sonas oraibh a dhaoine breatha, táimíd buíoch.
The Geansaí is on tomorrow, Dé Máirt 24ú Meán Fómhair ar RTÉ One ag 19.00
