The lucky shirt

By Shaun Casey

THERE were plenty of big days in Clones and Croke Park that Stephen O’Neill and Brian Dooher proved the downfall of Armagh, but somewhat ironically, the pair have provided the inspiration for a play centred around the Orchard County winning the All-Ireland.

Around 10 years ago, Niall Conway, from the same Clann na nGael club as the two Tyrone legends, drafted a play as an appreciation of their achievements from the 2005 season, when Dooher captained the Red Hands to their second All-Ireland title.

O’Neill was in the form of his life that season and not only finished the year as the championship top scorer, but went on to collect the Player of the Year award as well for his outstanding performances.

Unfortunately for Conway and the Clann na nGael club, the drama never saw the light of day. Lost in the lines of a forgotten playbook, it looked as if the piece would be gone forever. That was until the end of the 2024 season.

Following Armagh’s heroics last year, capturing Sam Maguire for the second time ever, Conway dusted down his old notepad and got to work. “My inspiration actually came 10 years ago when I wrote a similar play for Tyrone,” said Conway, who now lives in Belfast.

“We’re a very small club but I was lucky enough to play with Stevie O’Neill and Brian Dooher, who were two mega stars. To have those guys in our club was amazing and we played a couple of years up at senior on the back of those two.

“I’ve been doing a bit of writing off and on for about 20 years, plays more so recently. About 10 years ago I wrote a similar play about Tyrone winning the All-Ireland in 2005 as a bit of a homage to Stevie and Brian.

“We used to have a drama group and the guys at home were going to put it on but it didn’t work out. It never got to the stage so I thought I’d give it another crack. The format was already there so I thought I’d write it based on last year’s events, so that’s where it came from.”

The comedy tells the tale of three very different Armagh supporters, Dessie, Francie and JP as they attend all of the championship games last year in the build up to seeing their county collect the Sam Maguire trophy.

To get the play from the page to the stage was as difficult and tense as Armagh’s nerve-jangling decider against Galway. Some drama groups showed a real interest in bringing the story to life, but couldn’t get the cast together.

Conway worked hard around the clubs in Armagh to find a group that would deliver his drama, but was failing to do so. Just when all seemed lost, a shining light shone through the distance and provided a glimmer of hope.

Through his cousin, a taxi driver from Lurgan, Conway made contact with a Clann Éireann clubman Raymond Murray who was excited by the project and decided to give the play a go. When all seemed lost, like a last minute block from Joe McElroy, Murray proved the hero.

“I was going to give up on it but I had a cousin who lives in Lurgan and I explained it all to him, he said he knew a guy Raymond Murray that might be interested in it,” added Conway, who won a Sigerson Cup with Gareth O’Neill, father of All-Ireland winners Oisin and Rian.

“I thought my cousin probably wouldn’t come back to me but he did. He put me in contact with Raymond Murray and I told him the brief about the play and Raymond has a background in acting and productions.

“He thought it was brilliant and he put a cast together by the following weekend. After nearly giving up on it at that stage, that was it all sorted. We met up and Raymond has been great, we’re kind of on the same wavelength and aligned one hundred percent on how it will all run.

“I was nearly giving up on it. It was no one’s fault really, just other groups couldn’t get a cast and others were just busy with other stuff but it sort of had to happen now when it’s still fresh in people’s minds.

“If Armagh were to get beat in the qualifiers early this year then the whole fizz would be out of it. In hindsight, I should have had it out in February or March time but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“The cast members are from various clubs in Armagh and Raymond is from Clann Éireann and they’re going to host it as are Ballymacnab and we’re hopefully going to go to Killeavy and another venue as well.