Old Tyrone Hero Brendan Donnelly is still flying fit with county and club Trillick Now in a position to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of his Senior intercounty debut. Trillick's Brendan Donnelly is still flying fit with club and county. The forty-two year old seventies star is playing like a young 'un these days for O'Neill County. Recognised as a master of his craft in days of yore, the Tyrone teacher has just completed another season with the county's over-forties squad, jumping as high as players half his age and gaining as much possession as opponents used to do when shifted off the one-time ace attacker. In 1972, Brendan Donnelly made his maiden voyage with men like Frank McGuigan, Gerry Taggart and Sean McIlhatton on the Tyrone Steamer that was obviously going places under the stewardship of Jody O'Neill. Less than twelve months after opening his account against Cavan, Donnelly and Company were hitting the high spots on the provincial and national circuits. An Ulster Senior Championship triumph, a National League Division Two title and a McKenna Cup victory made the autumn of '73 a time for the aspiring Donnelly to reflect and rejoice on his good fortune. Even a heavy defeat to All-Ireland champions-elect Cork in the Championship semi final that year couldn't dampen the Trillick youngster's raw enthusiasm for more of the same. It was only natural that Brendan Donnelly should pursue the thrill of leaping up on the gaelic games winners rostrum. Almost all belonging to him had gone down the same path before him, all with varying degrees of success but the innate ambition was there nonetheless. Ambition ran riot in Trillick G.A.A. circles and Donnelly like many of his clan, was Trillick through and through. Brendan is one of four Donnelly brothers. (Sean, Gerry and Tom being the others) in a G.A.A mad household amidst a rabid G.A.A. parish. Brendan still plays reserve team football with Trillick and those that know him from way back yonder will testify to the belief that he hasn't changed an iota since he first donned a Trillick Spirit in 1964. Still as big and strong as he was when as a tireless teenager in decades past he skipped to his first medal success in 1965 with the Trillick terriers. Significantly the spiral of early success would eventually culminate in a tidal wave of triumphs at Senior club level. Before the young Donnelly and his peers rocked a few boats at Senior Championship level in Tyrone, apprenticeships would be served. Those like Brendan anxious to emulate the achievement of the young fella's forefathers, who had clinched the club's first Senior County Championship title in 1937, were willing and eager apprentices, successful too. With Brendan on board, Trillick raced to county Minor titles in 1968 and '69. For the small, closely knit club the victories were to prove watersheds in their development as a football force in county Tyrone. It was wholly appropriate that players like Brendan, Barney and Seamus McAnespie should be the ones to help lead Trillick's charge to the top of the pile in the O'Neill county in the seventies as the McSorley's Tommy, Dan, Willie and Francie (Brendan's uncle) and four McAnespie's brothers figured on the historic and mould-breaking 1973 Trillick team. From generation to generation the pride and passion of Trillick gaels has been thoroughly evident. On a personal level there were several influences other than family on the young impressionable Donnelly. For one, the arrival to the local parish of Father Finnegan stimulated a re-awakening of interest among the G.A.A. faithful in Trillick. The resurrection of the spirit of '37 was under way and with players of the calibre of Brendan Donnelly to call upon, the club mentors had just the material to work with. Donnelly was excellently catered for, in fact when it came to being provided with football coaches. He couldn't have had things better in this respect at Secondary School. At Saint Michael's College in Enniskillen, he benefited greatly from the tutelage of Mick Brewster and quite uniquely figured on the Under 18 McRory Cup team as a fourteen year old second year pupil. Unfortunately, the Saint Michael's boys weren't quite ready to join the Ulster college elite at that stage and while messr. Donnelly was there, defeat on the double to Pete Rooney and Paddy Turley inspired 'Colman's of Newry sides and to a Martin O'Neill (ex-Irish soccer international) powered St.Malachi's of Belfast team was the lot of the Enniskillen lads in three McRory Cup deciders. Now the Principal of Magheralough National School, just outside Trillick, Brendan Donnelly is all too well aware of the importance of having good men on the ground, beaverishly working away with the club's juveniles. "It's a key factor in the equation and unfortunately from Trillick's point of view there was perhaps too much emphasis placed upon the club Senior team during my time. We were so successful it was easy to forget about the juveniles, the Minors and the Under 21's". These days positioned in the mid-table of Tyrone's Senior League Division One, Trillick seem to have lost a bit of ground to the likes of Moortown, Coalisland and Ballygawley. While hardly contemplating a stage where they will go down the same slippery slope as that experienced by Augher, Brendan does acknowledge that perhaps the forthcoming 1994 season could just represent a 'make your mind up time' for the Trillick tearaways. "We're probably at a crossroads at this point in time. The immediate outlook is good though and I'd be hopeful that we can build on it. Players like Jody and Damien Gormley are very good prospects and have already played with the county at Under 21 level. Hopefully the club can continue to produce players of their calibre for years to come. Brendan Donnelly's optimism for the future looks well rooted in reality. With a hard-working sub-committee already in situ and coming up with the results at juvenile level, the appointment of Dermot McCaoughey, as Youth Officer could well prove to be the very catalyst Trillick require to catapult the club back to the heady heights of the seventies. Assisting the aforementioned McCaughey the six feet one inch and thirteen and a half stone veteran has certainly got the experience to lend valuable support to Trillick's underage push for excellence. A History and Economics Arts graduate from University College Dublin the ways and wiles of coach Eugene McGee were sampled en route to Saint Joseph's Training College and Sigerson Cup action simultaneously with Queen's University College. While there he had the dubious distinction of losing out with team mates Joe McGrade, Peter McGinnity and Pat Armstrong to former colleagues at U.C.D. in a Sigerson Cup final. There were better times though back at Trillick where the local Seniors proved themselves a class apart in Tyrone competitive fare. All told five Senior Championship county medals were to be secured by Brendan Donnelly. In addition seven All-County League medals were clinched but there could and still should have been more silverware captured. "One of my biggest regrets is that we didn't go on to win an Ulster Club title, maybe we thought we were better than we actually were. In 1974 we had a great chance. We beat favourites Carrickmore in the County Final. In 1983 we had a great chance. Trillick beat favourites Carrickmore in the County Final but lost out to Armagh's Clann na nGael in the provincial final. In 1983 we probably had assembled our best side of all. We were a much more mature team by that stage. We won the League and Championship that year, something which had never been done previously but we lost out to Burren in the first round of the Ulster Club Championship after that". A star midfielder alongside Pat King when Trillick were in their prime, Brendan Donnelly came as close to being selected for an All-Star without getting there as any player could possibly have done. In 1979 he lost out by one vote to Kerry's Sean Walsh for the centre half forward's berth. Still a Railway Cup medal won that year was a measure of consolation for the Trillick stalwart who's married to local lady Clare and dad to Luke, Sarah and Carla. In more recent years, Brendan has made little of a formerly serious knee ailment to maintain his club involvement with Trillick's second string. In addition, his graduation to the forty years old mark has presented him with a whole new lease of life. Starring roles with Tyrone's over forties team have seen him linking up once again with 'erstwhile club colleagues Pat King and the Kelly twins, Tom and Sean. An All-Ireland Masters medal for old master Donnelly himself cannot be ruled out! Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 5th Nov 1993 Tweet

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