Malachy O’Rourke factor adds spice to Errigal Ciarán - Glen meeting

Errigal manager Mark Harte won his last county title in 2006, under O’Rourke. Now they face each other on the line. An uncomfortable evening ahead, on the pitch, and on the line

FACING HIS OWN: Glen manager Malachy O'Rourke will be facing his own club Errigal Ciarán on Sunday. Pic: INPHO/Evan Logan

Two weeks ago, Malachy O’Rourke found himself in a tough spot.

After guiding Glen to their first ever Derry senior Championship last year with victory in the final over Slaughtneil, he had repeated the trick.

This time, it was an even more impressive feat as they blitzed Slaughtneil 1-12 to 0-7.

It’s one thing for Glen to get one over on their more illustrious neighbours, but for it to happen in two county finals in a row elevated O’Rourke’s standing even higher in a club that had never tasted John McLaughlin Cup success before he arrived. They can only thank their lucky stars that he accepted an invitation to their dinner dance several years previous that struck up a relationship between himself and the club that they later cashed in.

But O’Rourke has known the Derry circuit a long time. After all, he had brought the Loup to an unlikely county title in 2003, following it up with an Ulster Club Championship by beating St Gall’s in the decider.

Having got over the line last year, they took eventual All-Ireland champions Kilcoo to extra-time in a compelling tussle in the Ulster club semi-final.

So when he went to the Tyrone final, he had two duties on his plate. To check out the opposition for their upcoming Ulster quarter-final, and to take his place among the 25-year Jubilee team of Errigal Ciaran, who were being honoured for their 1997 county title win over Galbally.

Wearing an Errigal Ciaran coat, O’Rourke walked out at half time with the rest of his old comrades to soak up the applause, before taking his place in the stand to watch the current crop just about keep their noses in front of a game Carrickmore challenge in the second half.

While Errigal were not his ‘home’ club – O’Rourke is from Derrylin O’Connell’s in Fermanagh – he has lived there since the early ‘90s.

When he transferred, he was a county footballer for Fermanagh. Even though they were a newly-formed entity, Errigal did not make it easy for the newcomer.

In his first few weeks, they gave him a taste of reserve football to see how he might blend in. His talent made it obvious that he wouldn’t be spending long at that level, but what impressed most was how he embraced whatever challenge they laid down.

"To be fair,” said his comrade in the half-back line Christopher ‘Tiffy’ Quinn, “even if the reserves were stuck, and he had played county football for Fermanagh, there would have been no bother, he would have taken his place on the reserve team. A great man to have around the place."

O’Rourke’s emotional maturity was married to his natural calling as a teacher in St Joseph’s, Enniskillen. There, he headed up the PE department and ran almost every Gaelic football team.

However, pupils were given a holistic choice of sports. When various talented groups of soccer players emerged in the school, he would bring them to the annual indoor 5-a-side tournament in the Mayfield Leisure Centre where they would routinely bring home the ultimate prize with teams made up of skillful players from Enniskillen Town, mixed in with a few nimble Gaelic footballers whose soccer experience was limited to the playground.

He also initiated school ski and camping trips.

He moved into coaching early on, going to Tyholland in Monaghan and bringing them to senior football for the first time in their history.

Once his star ascended with that Derry and Ulster victory with the Loup, Errigal were always going to call upon him and he took the team for the 2006 season. They won the county Championship in Peter Canavan’s final year as a player with a replay win over Carrickmore.

A year later, O’Rourke brought Cavan Gaels to a county title. In the meantime he managed Fermanagh for three seasons and was with Monaghan from 2013 to 2019, winning two Ulster titles.

During that time, he was always uneasy in the prospect of facing Fermanagh. He would retreat into the dugout and be a very discreet presence. Usually, Monaghan would do the business but were foiled in the 2018 Ulster semi-final with a late punched goal by Eoin Donnelly.

This is the first time he has faced his club people as a manager though.

The links are strong. Up until he took the Glen job in October 2020, he had Errigal clubman Leo ‘Dropsy’ McBride alongside him as team trainer in a variety of jobs. Himself and former club Chairman Cathal McAnenly are close friends and were sitting close by at the Tyrone final.

A suitable name for this game? Let us venture, ‘El Malacho.’ If O’Rourke has been able to watch Errigal coming from a long way off, the same can’t be said about Errigal keeping an eye on who was coming the other direction. The Tyrone Championship doesn’t allow you to do that.

“I will be brutally honest with you,” said Errigal manager Mark Harte after the county final, “I didn’t know the Ulster Club draw. Until it was announced there, I didn’t know it.

“This is different. In Tyrone, you can’t look ahead. There are no ‘gimme’ Championships. We had to focus on ourselves, day by day. Now, when we get to dust ourselves down, we will look at the challenge, which is a massive one that Glen bring, on the line and on the pitch.” 

Harte won his last county title in 2006, under O’Rourke.

Now, they face each other on the line. An uncomfortable evening ahead, on the pitch, and on the line.