Inter-county players make huge sacrifices during their careers, but has Roscommon captain Ciaran Murtagh made the biggest of them all?

On Sunday, Murtagh will lead the Rossies out against Galway in this year's Connacht SFC final at Pearse Stadium.

The talented forward had been outstanding this year and has led by example as Roscommon preserved their Division One status in the league and marched to the provincial decider.

In an in-depth interview with the Roscommon Herald, the 23-year-old revealed that for the sake of his inter-county career, he completed a degree in Corporate Law before opting to return and become a primary school teacher!!

"I was in NUIG studying corporate law, I finished and got that degree, and then I changed to primary school teaching," said Murtagh.

"Teaching was something that I always wanted to do, I just made a little mix up on the CAO. But I spoke to a solicitor at the time who was playing football as well.

"His wife was a teacher and he recommended that I go down the teaching route if I wanted to play football and once I heard that there was no turning back.

"I just want to bring my football into the teaching and I want to bring up young people to love the game as well. I've worked in the Cul Camps and really enjoyed that."

The love of Gaelic of football was obviously a driving factor in Murtagh's career choice and it is uplifting to see a young man not swayed by financial gain.

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