Green and gold for glittering ‘Sam’ showdown

It’s an All-Ireland football final with a difference for Micheál Clifford.

A journalistic career with the Irish Post in London, Cork’s Evening Echo and the Irish Daily Mail has meant the Ballinskelligs native has become used to witnessing the sport’s biggest day from the Croke Park press box.

On Sunday, however, he has a special interest. He will attend as a Kerry supporter for the first time since the 1986 win over Tyrone and he will be accompanied by his 16-year-old daughter Áine, but she’ll be shouting for Donegal.

“It’s her first final,” Micheál says, “Unfortunately, she’s the wrong shade of green and gold!”

Ensconced in Finnabanes, just outside Donegal town, where he lives with partner Michelle, Áine and son Daithí, he is well-placed to assess the similarities between Kerry and Donegal.

“They might be opposite ends of the country, but they’re very alike,” he says.

“If you go up the west coast, all it is as the fella says is bad land, spectacular sea-views, plenty of turf and lots of football.”

As a Kerry fox in the Donegal henhouse, Clifford has been able to observe the county’s resurgence.

“I’ve seen that happen over the last while, since Jim McGuinness came back. My daughter wouldn’t have had any great interest in football before 12 months ago but now they’re going to all the games.

“That’s the kind of fire that he’s lit.”

It’s a fire that is felt by those displaced southwards too, as Clifford’s migration is one that is well-compensated for down in the Kingdom.

Donegal Association Kerry

When hospitality worker Annette McCready from Leitir in Donegal met a builder named Dan Horgan from Kerry in London in the 1990s, they decided to set up home in Ireland. His native Killorglin was the smarter call from an employment point of view.

Annette, manager of Marguerite’s Bakery & Restaurant (formerly Scéal Eile) in Killarney, later encountered Inver man Seán Gallagher, also domiciled in Killorglin, and they set up the Donegal Association Kerry in 2011.

Despite spending three decades in Kerry, Annette still holds her Donegal accent, with a slight modification. “When I come back down from home, I find I’m talking a bit faster,” she says, “I have to slow it down for the American tourists.”

The Donegal Association, with a membership that Annette estimates at around 150, undertake different events throughout the year such as walks and an annual night at the dogs. Donegal performers at the INEC ensure a good gathering – especially Daniel O’Donnell – as, of course, do GAA games between Kerry and Donegal.

“For the 2014 All-Ireland final, there was a longer lead-in, I’d say there was a three-week gap after the semi-finals.

“I did a window display in the restaurant and there was great banter, it was fantastic. That’s the key thing, it’s always good-natured – living in Kerry’s been great and they’ve been very good to me.”

Of course, being in an All-Ireland is nothing new for Kerry but for clubs with players involved, the fervour is heightened.

Beaufort, just outside Killarney, had Paudie and Brendan Lynch on the Kerry team in 1976 and now they have two players involved again, Michael Breen – who played in 2023 against Dublin – and Seán O’Brien.

Colm Kelly has filled a number of roles in the club and so “Mike is a rare commodity,” he says.

“Often-times, it happens that a player might be playing good football for the county but then they come back to their clubs and don’t show the same levels of application.

“In Mike’s case, he comes back to us and he’s the best man on the pitch.

“Seán has come through the under-age ranks and he will be 23 on 29 July, so we’re hoping that he’ll have something to celebrate.

“He was usually seen as a half-back but Kerry have had injuries in midfield and he has really taken his chance.

“It has created a real buzz in the parish. Obviously, it was a huge thing when Paudie and Brendan Lynch were on the team together but now, finally, we have two other lads to talk about.”

Excitement building

If you were to leave Beaufort GAA Club and set the car for Carndonagh on the Inishowen peninsula, you would spend around six and a half hours on the road.

Opposite ends of the country, but the same pride in their county and countymen exists, with Conor O’Donnell the local hero there.

“He’s such a lovely fella, down-to-earth and easy to get on with,” says club chairperson Philip McLaughlin.

“After the Monaghan match, we had our Cúl Camp and Conor was there and the kids were just in awe of him.

“He’s a great clubman – all his family are – and it’s great to have him around the club.”

“He’s fast and he’s good in the air. He’s strong and he’s become a bit more selfish, in a good way – before, he’d pass the ball a lot more but now he’d take things on himself.”

Soccer is popular in Inishowen, but Donegal’s 2012 All-Ireland win helped to give the GAA a push. Carndonagh were already quite rare in the county in that they had a strong hurling tradition and that sporting unity is still present, across codes and genders.

“There’s a big emphasis on the under-age coaching, from U6s upwards,” Philip says, “and we have boys and girls playing all four codes.

“We’re all the one club, so all promotion and fundraising and the like is under the single umbrella. We’re a step ahead, hopefully.”

As far as it is from Donegal to Croke Park or Kerry, it is further again to New York, but the ties to home are no weaker.

That said, Rory and Marie Kilfeather, who met there in the 1980s, serve as a contrast beyond their native homes. Rory, from Donegal town, is steeped in Donegal New York GFC, having played for the club and served at all levels.

He returned home after Donegal’s quarter-final win over Monaghan, attended both semi-finals and will fly back to America on Monday. He will be welcomed by his Tralee-born wife and might even have to fill her in on the finer details of the game.

“I can’t watch the games,” Marie says, “ever since I was young, I was a bad-luck charm.

“I’ll have to go for a walk or something while the game is on. Rory eats and breathes Donegal football, and football and hurling in general, he must have gone 20 years without missing a final before last year.

“We used to be in the bar and restaurant business and Rory used to show the games on a Sunday, so you had a big Irish crowd coming in. The matches are such a big thing for the Irish community over here.”

Like Annette McCready Horgan in Killorglin, Marie finds herself outnumbered in her family. “They tell me Kerry have enough,” she laughs. “I’d like Kerry to win, but I won’t be too upset if Donegal take it – I’ll be happy for them.”

As mentioned at the top, Micheál Clifford’s most recent non-working final involving Kerry was in 1986, but, as it happens, his last as a spectator was in 1992, when he came home from London to stand on the canal end as Donegal beat Dublin to claim Sam Maguire for the first time. Whatever about that proving to be an omen, he is satisfied that football’s new rules have helped to restore the entertainment value.

“That final in 1992, I remember it vividly, it was brilliant, 0-18 to 0-14,” he says, “but to go from there to where we were, the enjoyment had completely gone out of the game.

“It was drudgery, very grim stuff, but in truth, this year is the best championship I’ve ever seen. To top it all on Sunday, you’ve two generational players there in David Clifford and Michael Murphy and I think it’ll only be the second time they’ll share a pitch.”

As great as the occasion is, though, the result will count for those with skin in the game. In 2014, Clifford was one of the few happy men heading back to Donegal. However, he accepts what goes around may come around.

“If we lose, I’ll stick close to the fire for the winter,” he laughs.

“I wouldn’t be able to show the face for a while.”