O’Kane family and 'GlenUltras' drive Glenullin to All-Ireland final 

Derry's Glenullin face Kerry's An Ghaeltacht in Sunday's All-Ireland Club IFC final

Gerard O'Kane Snr: “I know ultras in other sports don’t have a good name but our boys have got nothing but praise all the way through." Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

BACK in April last year, Glenullin manager Michael O’Kane picked up the phone to his cousin Eoin ‘Skinner’ Bradley to see if he was planning on joining up with the side now that competitive football was back on the horizon.

Bradley, who celebrated his 42nd birthday just after Christmas past, was not pressurised into attending pre-season by O’Kane given his tender age and his decades of service, but the manager knew there was still some juice to be squeezed if he could talk the Derry maverick into committing.

“I’ll be back, and I’ll win the championship for you while I’m at it,” came the reply from Bradley.

True to his word, Bradley played a key role from the bench as Glenullin claimed a third Derry Intermediate title in four years - county restructuring ensuring their place almost exclusively at that level in that period - hitting a glorious coup de grâce two-point free with the final play to secure a narrow win over Foreglen.

While the side had come up short in their two recent Ulster visits, this season was to be different and again, Bradley provided the spark from the bench with a 1-3 cameo seeing off a gallant Cuchulainn’s of Cavan in the provincial decider.

Now, for the first time in their history, the Glen crest will be on the Croke Park scoreboard with Kerry’s An Ghaeltacht lying in wait. That history reached 100 years in 2025, what a fitting finale to those celebrations it would be if ‘Skinner’ could triple up on his promise.

For Gerard O’Kane senior, a man at the hub of Glenullin’s story for decades having first joined the club committee 52 years ago, these are truly intoxicating times.

He has fond memories of the Dublin venue. In 2002, as Derry chairperson, he watched the county minors lift the Tom Markham Cup for the fourth time. The person who had the honour of lifting the trophy was his own son, Gerard junior.

The following day, Gerard junior held the famed cup aloft on the roof of the Carrickdale Hotel on the Louth-Armagh border alongside Kieran McGeeney who had Sam in his arms with 10,000 people squeezed into the road below.

Hours from home, it’s a venue he knows well having fought in a fight night against former Armagh player Kevin Dyas in 2009 with his father watching on. Now, 17 years on, the O’Kanes will hope the Kieran O’Sullivan Cup will have green and gold ribbons on it as the bus passes the hotel on Sunday evening.

As of right now, Gerard Junior, recently retired, is the only one of the five boys to have walked out at Croke Park, although brother-in-law Karl McKaigue – married to Eimear – has represented Derry and Sleacht Néill there on numerous occasions.

On Sunday, one will become five. Michael is the manager of the side. Niall is goalkeeper. John plays centre half-back. Dermot got his first minutes of the season in the All-Ireland semi-final against Strokestown last week, kicking two points when introduced in the 56th minute.

For O’Kane senior, fortunate enough to play in one of the club’s three Derry SFC successes over those 100 years, this weekend is the club’s highpoint.

“We’ve won senior championships but we didn’t progress in Ulster, but we’ve certainly progressed this time.

“We’re still a very, very small place and it’s now so much harder for country clubs like ours to compete against the towns that are fast growing in population.

“Twenty years ago, the Magherafelts, the Magheras, the Dungivens, the Limavadys, they hadn’t the population they have now.

“It’s going to be hard for any country club to compete moving forward so we have to make hay when the sun shines.

“We’re a family-orientated community, everyone is involved is some capacity. We’re surviving though. We’re 100 years old now and we’re developing our third pitch; we’ve started ladies football along with camogie. We’ve won All-Irelands at Scór over the last few years so we’re excelling all over.

“Everyone is pulling together and this journey is a result of that. We’ve won Ulster, we’ve beaten teams from four other counties.” 

That everyone includes a group that has almost become the face of the side’s journey to Croke Park – the ‘GlenUltras’.

Typically kitted out in bright yellow boiler suits and green balaclavas, this passionate bunch of mostly children bring colour and noise – a lot of noise – to the terraces with adults Enda Heaney, John Joe Quigg and brothers Richie and David Burns keeping them in check to ensure that their enthused support stays on the right side of respectful.

“Our ultras are unreal,” said O’Kane senior.

“I know ultras in other sports don’t have a good name but our boys have got nothing but praise all the way through from Derry to Ulster and even last Saturday in the All-Ireland semi-final, the stewards on the terrace said they were a credit to the club and so they are.

“They stood at the door and clapped the Strokestown players into the changing rooms and simply they have done us proud.

“They’re not able to get on to the pitch to tie the laces on boots so they’ve said this is their way of playing their part and the place is coming down with flags and streamers.” 

The place was also coming down with something else during the week – snow.

With just a week between their All-Ireland semi-final win over Strokestown and the final with An Ghaeltacht, preparation time was already razor thin. With Sean O'Maolain Park covered in a blanket of white, and neighbourly generosity also forbidden due to the inclement weather, on-field activity appeared close to impossible for Michael O’Kane and his management team.

Step forward the ultras and a merry band of club volunteers who put their paws on any leaf blower, shovel and wheelbarrow they could find to ensure Monday’s session went ahead.

The clear-up was documented on the club’s social media account with ‘Takin' Care Of Business’ by Bachman–Turner Overdrive playing over the video. The song was released in 1973, the same year Glenullin bought the very pitch the ultras were helping to clear.

Over 50 years later, and in the club’s 100th year, they’ve trained on it with Croke Park no longer a dream, but a reality. It’s a good thing ‘Skinner’ picked up that phone...