An unbreakable Roscommon bond

CONNACHT SFC SEMI-FINAL:

In the car were Dermot Earley Senior’s sons Dermot, Conor and David. They became a part of the team. Fetching balls, water and having a kickabout while the team prepared for the Connacht championship.

It seemed so natural, just a part of growing up, but the exposure to Roscommon made them into the men they are today. For Dermot Jnr, it helped define him as a Kildare footballer even though he grew up a Roscommon supporter.

You see, what most people don’t realise is that Dermot Snr was born in Mayo but, as his son jokes, “he got out of there fairly rapid” when his father got a job in Gorthaganny secondary school in west Roscommon.

“My grandfather was very involved in the community and set up a club called Michael Glaveys and dad played for them. That’s where his loyalties changed. It’s not so much where you’re born it’s where you’re part of the community,” said Dermot Jnr.

“For me though I’d always feel a part of the Roscommon community. It’s only when we came home from America [after Dermot Snr worked with the UN] and played with Sarsfields again that we developed that sense of identity with Kildare. But I always had a soft spot for Roscommon and always watched them. Myself and my brother watched the Connacht final a couple of years ago against Sligo in Sarsfields and there wasn’t two happier men around that night because of the bond with Roscommon.”

That sense of knowing where you’re from is the main reason why Dermot Jnr never tempted play for his father’s county. Roscommon was the homeland, Kildare was always home.

When he was seven his heroes all wore primrose and gold. That was the year he remembers his father playing most vividly. That was also the year his father called time on his career.

That he played in the 1985 Connacht final against Mayo was a minor miracle, given he broke his jaw two weeks earlier in the semi-final against Galway. The trips were understandably quieter in the build-up to the final but for Dermot Jnr, that day in Hyde Park has formed memories he will never forget and helped bookend his own career.

“I was very much aware of what was going on and how big it was. At the time I would have been a big Roscommon supporter because myself and my two brothers would have went to training with him the whole time that summer. I can remember on the way to one of the training sessions that summer he said to me and my brothers that he was going to retire. Sure at the time I didn’t know what it meant but I know it now.

“I remember being at the Abbey Hotel or maybe O’Gara’s with the team beforehand and everything seemed good but then Mayo beat them and beat them well. While dad was at one end warming up we were at the other kicking the ball in Hyde Park. The first time I played a competitive game in Hyde Park was when I came on for 20 minutes against Sligo last year in the qualifiers. I went away saying it was nice to finally play in Hyde Park.”

When they moved to America in 1987 travelling to the games was no longer an option but they retained their watching brief on all things Roscommon.

“We used to go to the local Irish community centre in Long Island. I specifically remember Roscommon beating Mayo in a replay with the Derek Duggan point from around 85 yards into the wind [1991]. I remember willing that ball over the bar and shouting at the tv and saying ‘please go over’. The whole family was there for it.

“My uncle Paul was playing that day and that was a huge interest. They went on and lost to Meath by a point in an All-Ireland semi-final. When you talked about conversations it was all Roscommon. Even out there in America, dad played for Roscommon.

“When we came back and I was playing with Kildare my loyalties switched but there was always that special interest in Roscommon.”

When young Dermot’s career took off his father proved a great crutch to lean on. Tales of the family’s conversations about the GAA around the kitchen table have become folklore but they weren’t solely reserved for the house. One of the most important ones took place in Croke Park before the 1998 All-Ireland semi-final.

“He was always great at imparting advice. He loved the game and it was all about the skills of the game. Fitness was massive and he trained a lot and had an interest in physical education, he was with Mickey ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan and Billy Morgan in Strawberry Hill. But he always said skills were most important and imparted knowledge.

In 1998 we played Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final and star player Niall Buckley had a hamstring injury. It was kept quiet though and we all thought he’d start but and hour and a half before the game I was playing half-forward and Micko said to me ‘you’re playing midfield, get ready for Darragh Ó Sé’.

“I knew my dad was in the stand so I went up to him and told him and he said to me ‘you know how to play midfield you’ve played there all your life’. He told me to do the little things right like pass the ball, don’t let him clean catch you, try and clean catch yourself. There was always that bit of advice coming.”

And given his experiences of watching his father in action for Roscommon that advice was easy on the ear. Even if he never saw his father play, there was no avoiding tales of his father’s deeds when they crossed the Shannon were told at every crossroad and byroad.

“I suppose people always talk to us about the impact he made and the great Roscommon team he was part of and what they did for the county. Men like Harry Keegan and Pat Lindsay, Gerry Connellan, Eamon and Tony McManus. They had such a great team and won a national league and three Connacht titles in-a-row and were beaten by Kerry in an All-Ireland final.

“There was a resurgence of Roscommon football in the early ’90s and then it wasn’t again until 2001 and then 2010. That was the golden era, bar the ’30s when they won two All-Irelands, and people still remember it.”

Tomorrow may be a step too far though. “Donie Shine is a massive loss. It’s just unfortunate because for Roscommon to win everything has to be right.

“This Mayo team look better than last year and look hungry. John Evans talked about a game plan during the week but you don’t know what plan that will be because you know Mayo will be fast, furious, with loads of support play and intense.

“I don’t know will Roscommon be up to that level. I’d love to see it but I’m not sure they have that level of intensity. I just feel Mayo are at a different level at this stage but we live in hope.”