If absence actually does make the heart grow fonder, Senan Kilbride is possibly more attached to his club, St Brigid's, now than ever before.
Having spent most of the past five years in Abu Dhabi, Kilbride hadn’t played for Brigid's since 2020, having given them a lifetime of service and shared in some glorious days, including the annexation of 11 county senior titles.
That period of absence was unexpectedly broken when he came on in the recent county final against Padraig Pearses, started the replay on 1 November and is now gearing up for a Connacht semi-final with Ballina Stephenites on Sunday.
"I suppose the more time goes on, you get a better, better understanding of how much actual effort goes into it from everyone," he reflects on his club.
"And you're just one part of it. You're just lucky enough to have the jersey on your back. And then it's your job to go out there and express yourself and show what you can do."
But he has done that all his life.
For both club and county.
After eight years with Roscommon, Kilbride retired from inter-county in 2016 at the age of 31.
He actually made his inter-county debut for Roscommon in the Allianz League in 2005 but his championship bow against Galway didn't come for another three years due to a combination of injury and illness.
In 2010, he missed out on Roscommon's Connacht title win because he was sidelined by a bout of osteitis pubis.
But when fully fit, Kilbride, whose father Sean played minor and senior for Mayo and Roscommon, was one of the most effective inside-forwards in the country; the ultimate team player.
Playing alongside his brother, Ian, Senan’s strength made him a very effective target man – but it was his intelligence, skill and touch that really caught the eye.
By the time he called it a day with the Rossies, he had been an All-Ireland winner with St. Brigid's, scoring 1-03 in the final against Ballymun, having notched 1-05 in that year’s (2013) Connacht final.
Add to those there were three more provincial club successes and nine county titles.
To return now into the senior fold over these past few weeks, via the unlikely by-roads of masters and junior football – it has been a remarkable trek for the now 40-year-old.
"I was living in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year and when I came back, I played with the Roscommon masters and we won the third tier competition."
"My brother (Ian) was captain of the masters and asked me to come in. Anthony Carroll was in charge as well, Connor Carroll's uncle. So I was straight back into it.
"I nearly coughed up on the first day, trying to get back into it. I wasn't sure what I was doing but it was very enjoyable."
He scored 0-07 in that final against Armagh and then returned to play club junior football with Padraig Keenan’s outfit.
"Yes, I went in with the club juniors then, again just enjoying the football when Anto (Anthony Cunningham, St Brigid’s senior manager) rang me and asked if I would train with the seniors."
It didn't take long to make his mind up.
A return to top level club football hadn’t been in Kilbride’s thought process but he was motoring well, the body felt good, and so he opted back in.
After a few weeks training he was brought on in the dying stages of the drawn county final against Pearses and stepped into something of a link man role up front for the replay, scoring a point, and helping them to a hard-fought win.
He’s thrilled to be back in the thick of it all again.
"The group is quite ambitious, on and off the field," he states.
"They're really, level headed guys.
"They know what they want and they're quite ambitious in their personal and private lives and in their Gaelic football as well.
"And so it's a real credit to them and they kind of drive each other on as well and you know."
Before he goes, Kilbride is reminded of a picture he took with a young Bobby Nugent after winning the county title in 2012.
Bobby was only nine at the time when he stepped in for a photo of Senan and the Fahey Cup.
Two weeks ago they shared the same field to win the club’s 19th Roscommon SFC title as Nugent captured his second county title and Kilbride his 12th.
"That’s the nature of this club," he concludes. "The young players are the future and so important to drive it on in the years ahead."
They certainly are. But it looks like he still has a key role to play when they meet the Mayo champions at the Hyde on Sunday as the race for Connacht honours hots up.
Watch Athy v Summerhill in the AIB Leinster Club Football Championship on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
