Back to the future for Leitrim's Dubs

There are times when it feels like we're all living a rerun, last weekend's events in Dublin almost transporting us back 30, 40 or even 70 years when Leitrim folk kept almost as close an eye on the playing fields of Dublin as they did on what was going on at home.

Eilish O'Dowd's magnificent contribution to Dublin's second All Ireland Senior success in just over a fortnight quite rightly evinced pride and genuine delight that a footballer from Ballinamore and Leitrim could grace the biggest stage in women's sport in Ireland and not only not look out of place but thrive under immense pressure.

Subject to correction, Eilish becomes the first Leitrim woman to win an All-Ireland Senior Championship medal and while there are a few pangs that it wasn't in the colours of Leitrim's Green & Gold, the Ladies football community in the county are genuinely thrilled to see one of their own create a slice of history.

So who exactly is the greatest?

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What makes the story even more amazing is the fact that Eilish's sister Laura is Leitrim's vice captain and one of the county's most accomplished players while cousins Keith and Dearbhaile Beirne have established their own chapters in Leitrim sporting history, Keith with a Tailteann Cup All-Star and a host of scoring records and Dearbhaile lining out with the Republic of Ireland Senior women's soccer team.

Dublin's gain is very much Leitrim and Ballinamore's loss - her club felt her absence sorely in two County finals last year where her physical presence, huge engine and long range scoring ability might, just might, have turned two one point defeats into victories. It is one of those 'what if' questions I like to lob around but to be honest, as much as Leitrim and Ballinamore would love to have her charging up and down the field, Eilish has more than paid her dues with both over the years.

One of the most important wins Leitrim have achieved in the past 30 years in Ladies football was not one that led to a trophy or glory but one that preserved the Green & Gold status in the Intermediate championship back in 2019 - a very different time to the success of recent years with players not lining out for their county and the very real prospect of a drop to the Junior grade.

As good as she was for the Dubs last Sunday, Eilish's performance in the middle of the park against Wicklow  that August day four years ago alongside her sister was immense and drove Leitrim to a 6-14 to 3-14 victory. There were very few Leitrim fans in Kinnegad that day but anybody who witnessed what she and her sister produced  were not one bit surprised by her performance for Mick Bohan's newly crowned All Ireland champions.

Hard as it is to believe  but Eilish's historic achievement might have only been a footnote had Leitrim not come up against a Kerry team who won nine All Irelands in a row back in the eighties - yes Leitrim contested the All-Ireland Senior Final in 1984, losing by just two points to the first great team of Ladies football, a feat so incredible nowadays to be almost unbelievable!

Eilish's amazing achievement, however, wasn't the only Leitrim exploits on the playing fields of Dublin last weekend and in a throw-back to the era of Sean McDermotts in the 50s and 60s, of Dan Meehan  lining out with Civil Service in the 80s, of Declan Darcy starring for St Brigid's, the Dublin SFC had quite a bit of Leitrim participation, a fact that excites both pride and quite a bit of worry at the same time.

On a weekend when the gaels of Leitrim were flocking to games in Mohill, Carrick, Manorhamilton and everywhere in between, events in Parnell Park garnered quite a bit of excitement with a host of familiar names in action, be it Mohill's Alan McLoughlin lining out with Dublin All-Ireland winners Fenton, Howard and MacMahon in Raheny's 1-10 to 1-6 win over Con O'Callaghan's Cuala.

Former Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins and Leitrim star Eilish O'Dowd bursts past Kerry full-back Kayleigh Cronin during the G4 LGFA All-Ireland Senior Championship Final in Croke Park Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach Sportsfile  

St Jude's featured one current and one former Leitrim player with Darragh Rooney, formerly of Melvin Gaels, scoring eight points for the southsiders in their 2-11 to 1-10 victory over last year's County finalists Na Fianna while former county and Leitrim Gaels keeper Brendan Flynn was between the sticks for a Jude's team who contested the 2021 Dublin Final.

Over in Templeogue Synge Street, Ballinaglera's Ray Gilmartin leads a Senior team decorated by Dublin stars Lorcan O'Dell and Killian O'Gara with input from former Glencar Manorhamilton & Leitrim stalwart Adrian O'Flynn and nutritionist Philip Howard while another Ballinamore exile Paddy Connaughton lined out at corner-back for their Ballinteer St Johns opponents.

The involvement of so many current Leitrim club and county players recalls a time when travelling down to Leitrim was an arduous three hour journey through every village, town and boreen and that was if you had a car. The roads are light years away from what was endured back then but the traffic levels have gone through the roof, meaning what the roads have improved, traffic congestion  has taken away.

 One wonders if the increasing demands on club players is contributing to this 'back to the future' movement where they decide to play their football in the capital - Shane Walsh's transfer to Kilmacud Crokes was undoubtedly the headline setter last year but as we're witnessing here in Leitrim, what is being asked of players nowadays in terms of time and sacrifices in  pursuit of glory means something has got to give in the life-work-football balance.

I'm sure none of the players involved took the decision lightly and I'm equally sure that everyone in their home clubs is more than proud of the exploits of their former players but it wouldn't be human if there wasn't a little bit of envy in the likes of Melvin Gaels, Mohill and Leitrim Gaels at the thought of what Rooney, McLoughlin and Flynn might contribute to their team's dreams of championship glory.

Let nobody be in any doubt, I have absolutely no problem with players switching clubs if that is what keeps their work-life-sport balance in its proper order. In the grand scale of things, it'd be great if everyone could stay with their home clubs but in this modern age, where work is no longer 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, something often has to give.

I can understand the worry that clubs on the western side of the country have in losing their stars to clubs on the eastern seaboard and the wonder is that so many players, male and female, continue to make the midweek trek down the N4 for training or off to some small club in the middle of the country where the scattered diaspora of Leitrim clubs can come together from all corners of the country to prepare as best they can for the club championship.

Stronger together is not just a slogan

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The single greatest killer for club and county players is not the onerous training, hard though it may be, but the travelling and the complaints about bad backs among former players, hamstring and glutes injuries are directly related to sitting in cars for four hours a day maybe two or three times a week as amateur players traverse the country for their club.

Our road links are undoubtedly better which should, in theory, make those journeys easier but if anything, it is getting harder so if someone opts out of the rat race and decides to throw their lot in with a Dublin club, the best of luck to you but it is still hard to watch our exiles shine for someone else.

For all that, congratulations to Eilish O'Dowd on creating a slice of history by winning  the All Ireland with the Dubs and one that all true Leitrim gaels will genuinely take immense pleasure from.