St. Brigid’s Day might be coming early this year

After a dreary Christmas, with its relentless wind and rain, people could be forgiven for meeting the New Year with a resigned sigh rather than giddy enthusiasm. The mood is not helped by the interminable pace of January, which can make tectonic plates look like they are in a bit of a rush.

For many the dreaded seasonal affective disorder — the aptly acronymed SAD — can leave them feeling listless, irritable and just plain cheesed off. It is a month to endure until the year can properly begin. There seems to be nothing to look forward to. Or at least that seemed to be the case.

But, in Kiltoom and Cam a mini spring has sprung. The lads are in the All-Ireland final. St. Brigid’s Day might be coming early this year.

And, perhaps with a nod to the pathetic fallacy beloved by secondary school poetry, the weather is also in on the act. The bright blue skies and fresh crisp air of the recent weather are helping to blow the festive cobwebs away, and people are enjoying the almost imperceptible lengthening of the evenings.

Meeting each other on walks, “Are you heading up to the match?” is the most common question.

“Oh definitely. Fingers crossed.” 

The meeting with Glen in Croke Park this afternoon, like finding a misplaced Christmas present behind the couch, has brought so much happiness to the South Roscommon parish. That this team are being mentioned in the same breath as the stars of the triumph of 2013 is a measure of their achievement.

There is a deep gratitude for the work and joy this group of players has brought to the community. That they can lift us out of a long January is a potent reminder of how sport can bring us together and inspire us, both as participants and spectators.

All around the parish, people are putting that feeling into action, preparing for the big day.

Given the cold weather, the Roscommon Herald is reliably informed that knitting needles are clicking and clacking away, creating a whole wardrobe of hats and scarves to be shown off in Croke Park next weekend. They’re even painting the sheep green and red in some parts of the parish.

In the local schools, where many of the children are related to the players, they too are busy making ribbons and flags, and the playgrounds are full of talk of the final. They remember when the players visited the schools following the successes at county and provincial levels, bringing the coveted silverware with them. They are special days, to be remembered always, inspiring the next generation.

All around the parish of Kiltoom and Cam, which it is said is seven miles long and seven miles wide, the green and red of St. Brigid’s GAA Club blossoms everywhere — on road signs, front walls and the windows of cars. The colours have been there since before the start of the championship and they are good colours for a club to have — the green of the landscape with agriculture at its heart, and the passion and love people have for their club and their locality.

The successes of the club, one of the institutions of the game, are a feature of that landscape, and not just the impressive Newpark grounds. It reminds us that the traditions run subterranean, seismically deep.

At Brideswell, the club legend Gerry O’Malley is immortalised in a beautiful statue. Surrounded by his many, many sporting accolades, he is kneeling as if in a team shot. The monument, which was unveiled in the village in 2017, is a stone-rendered example of that understandable pride.

His statue has become one of the first stops winning St. Brigid’s teams make as they tour the parish. Photos are taken as the team take their place with Gerry and the silverware. It is hoped that on this evening of Sunday, January 21st, the Andy Merrigan Cup will be placed beside him.

Fingers, and toes, crossed.