Malachy O’Rourke: In Profile

By Niall Gartland

LESS than three miles from Cookstown is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it archaeological site of immense historical significance – Tullyhogue Fort, an ancient ceremonial site where chieftains of the great O’Neill dynasty, then the ruling family in Gaelic Ulster, were inaugurated.

Forgive the clumsy, laboured analogy, but going by the palatable sense of anticipation across Tyrone in recent weeks, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that a new High King was set to be crowned.

He’s the name on everybody’s lips – Malachy O’Rourke, who was officially installed as manager of the Tyrone senior intercounty football team on Tuesday night, a formality but no less exciting for that fact.

The buzz is back and Tyrone supporters are expectant – very expectant (no pressure, Malachy). But anyway, we thought it would only be right and natural to proffer a potted history of the man tasked with restoring the fortunes of a team that won the All-Ireland as recently as 2021 before things all went a bit hazy for a few years…

O’Rourke was born in – okay, we’ll gloss over the formative years, but he’s originally from Derrylin on the northern side of the Fermanagh-Cavan borderlands, a part of the country very much associated with Sean Quinn, who transformed a small quarrying operation in the area into a multi-billion pound business. Anyway, that’s beside the point and we’ll fast-forward a couple of decades.

O’Rourke always had an interest in the game beyond, which is typical. When studying to be a PE teacher in St Mary’s, he did his thesis on the V02 capacity of Gaelic footballers and how it could be maximised.

He went on to play for Fermanagh for the bones of a decade and was the team’s designated free-taker, but he won just two championship games, both against Antrim.

He transferred to Errigal Ciaran in 1995. He’d already lived in Ballygawley for a few years by the time of his transfer – it was a half-way house in a sense as he taught in St Joseph’s, Enniskillen, while his Coalisland-born wife Judith, also a teacher, worked in Eglish. He soon became one of the club’s key figures and won a county title in 1997.

O’Rourke began his managerial career with Monaghan club Tyholland in 2001, getting them promoted to the senior grade for the first time in the club’s history.

But it was at the Loup in Derry where he really came to wider prominence as an outstanding young coach, leading the team to an unexpected Ulster Senior Championship title in 2003.

Speaking last year, one of the mainstays of that team, former Derry footballer Paul McFlynn opened up on O’Rourke’s contribution as a parish of fewer than 300 people journeyed to the top of the provincial tree.

“Video analysis and stats came into play. Everything was related to what happened on a Sunday and how they wanted us to play.

“What I also tell people about O’Rourke is that it’s his ability to make you believe you can do it, That has always been, to me, one of his strengths as a manager.”

Following three glorious years at the club, O’Rourke was appointed as manager of his adopted Errigal Ciaran. Success duly followed. They won the 2006 Senior Championship title overcoming Carrickmore in a county final replay and gave Ulster a good rattle, losing out in a semi-final replay against Ballinderry.

That season was Peter Canavan’s swan-song, and the Tyrone icon sang the praises of O’Rourke in a 2014 interview with the Irish Independent.

“Even back then, Malachy had a really good way about him. He was popular amongst his team-mates. He had a good sense of wit about him. He enjoyed the craic and was easy company. There was never any airs or graces about Malachy.”

After a season with Cavan Gaels – where lo and behold they won the county title – O’Rourke came on board for a three-year stint at Fermanagh. They came desperately close to winning their first ever Ulster Championship under his watch, losing the 2008 final against Armagh after a replay. Only for some wayward shooting, they really should’ve won at the first time of asking.

O’Rourke subsequently spent seven memorable years at Monaghan. He took the Farney County from Division Three to Division One in successive seasons and masterminded the downfall of Donegal in the Ulster Championship finals of 2013 and 2015.

Then Glen came knocking – the Derry club struggling to convert a conveyor belt of talent into the polished product.

The Maghera-based club had never won a Derry Senior Championship title before O’Rourke took over as manager in late 2020, and now look. They’re three in-a-row Derry champions, two in-a-row provincial kingpins and just last January, the Andy Merrigan Cup (the club version of the Sam Maguire) was annexed in a dramatic comeback victory over St Brigid’s on All-Ireland final day.

And that sets the backdrop for O’Rourke’s appointment as manager of Tyrone, a county with big ambitions of winning a fifth ever All-Ireland SFC that would bring them level on the overall leaderboard with Down and Cavan.

Upon Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s recent resignation after four years in charge, O’Rourke emerged as the early frontrunner for the vacant position. Then the speculation became something rather more tangible in nature. First, it was reported that O’Rourke had been nominated for the position by his club Errigal Ciaran. Then the moment of epiphany. With deadline for nomination passed, it emerged that O’Rourke was the only man in for the job. A fait accompli, as it were.

What’s more, Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan – one of the frontline figures on the team – publicly endorsed O’Rourke in an interview last week, stating thusly: “The name on everybody’s lips is Malachy O’Rourke.There is no point in veering away from that.

“I am absolutely keen on Malachy O’Rourke managing us. I have been a strong admirer of him for a long time now.

“Actually, I played a charity game up in Donegal for Pat Shovlin three or four years ago, and Malachy was the manager of our team. I nudged Petey Harte) in the dressing room at that stage and I was like, ‘We need this man’.”

O’Rourke was officially rubberstamped as manager on Tuesday evening on the customary three-year term, following a meeting of the county committee.

His backroom team is yet to be officially confirmed but what we do know is that there’s no shortage of talent in Tyrone, whatever about the last few seasons.

There’s the experienced heads – Mattie Donnelly divulged after Trillick’s first-round championship win over Eglish last Saturday that he’s yet to make up his mind about whether to give it another year at county level, but the appointment of O’Rourke is surely a matter of consideration.

Then there’s the aforementioned Morgan and Harte and a raft of that All-Ireland U-21 winning team from back in 2015. Drop down a few years and there’s Darragh Canavan, an exquisite footballer, one of the country’s very, very best. Members of the all-conquering All-Ireland U-20 team of 2022 are already making their mark, and there’s more youngsters coming down the tracks who have won all around them at underage level.

And here’s a stat worth considering – of the team that won this year’s All-Ireland U-20 title, some of whom have already been drafted into the senior set-up, a stonking 11 are eligible for selection again in 2025, an indication of the mammoth potential that could be unleashed in the near future.

Eight of the starting 15 haven’t crossed the overage threshold, namely Conor McAneney, Joey Clarke, Ben Hughes, Conor Devlin, Conor O’Neill, Eoin McElholm, Ruairi McCullagh and Callum Daly, while three who came off the bench in the All-Ireland showdown against Kerry, Fiachra Nelis, Noah Grimes and Caolan Donnelly, are also available.

There’s also, lest we forget, the question about whether we could see the return of some familiar faces who have dropped off the panel for one reason or another in the wake of the 2021 triumph against Mayo.

It’s all makes for a potent cocktail and time will tell whether Mr O’Rourke is the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle – we certainly wouldn’t bet against it.