Daniel Grehan talks titles and his family's move to Clogherinkoe

Daniel Grehan and his two brothers have become central figures in Clogherinkoe GAA over the last number of years. A journey that saw them first lift a Junior Championship in 2012 before an Intermediate title as recently as 2020.

However, it could have all been so different for the Grehan’s. Their father, a Meath man, and their mother, Mayo, had no local affiliation and the brothers were originally slated to play for Johnstownbridge. A plan that was all changed in one slip of memory.

Dan explained, “My older brother Conor was good friends with a few lads from Johnstownbridge so he wanted to join them, and I would have followed. Johnstownbridge had a game on a Monday night and someone was supposed to pick him up, but they drove by the house and forgot about him. Clogherinkoe had a game the same night so my mother, being stubborn, dropped him down and he played with Clogherinkoe that night. That is how we ended up playing with Clogherinkoe and we wouldn’t change it for anything.”

After underrage football with Balyna brought the brothers through, The ‘Bridge lost out on three players and a further injection of young players from St Mary’s school in Edenderry would form the basis of Clogherinkoe’s success in years to come.

“I played all of 2010 with the second team and the year after when I was 17. We were probably a middle of the road Junior team from what I remember of watching us. I think around 2011 there was an influx of players from the school. We were all used to a high level of football so when five or six of us broke onto the squad it made a huge difference,” Dan said.

It was straight into the thick of it for Dan in particular as, after one year at wing-forward, he was thrust into midfield for their 2012 JFC title-winning campaign.

“I was quite light and scrawny growing up, and still am I suppose,” he laughed. “I wasn’t probably physically strong enough in 2011, but I was moved out to midfield the year after. It was myself and Brian Graven.”

Clogherinkoe faced hot-favourites Two Mile House in the 2012 Junior county final with a rivalry baked-in from a semi-final clash the year before.

“It was 1-5 apiece at half-time and fairly close the whole way through. We got a goal towards the end. Brian Graven sent a ball into his brother Ciaran, he caught it and buried it into the top of the net. That was the winning of the game and it was a great way to do it because we were level or behind the whole way. To win it at the death like that brought about wild celebrations,” Dan recalled.

A man of the match award for the 18 year-old midfielder would be the cherry on top for Dan, who maintains that any member of that Clogherinkoe side was worthy of the honour that day. The title win was a first for the club since a 1998 Junior Championship win, when they beat Ardclough.

“We probably didn’t realise the significance of it at the time. It is only really looking back afterwards that you realise what it means to the club. Especially the older generation that were there that were for all those years, it meant a lot to them. Me going in fresh as a young lad I probably thought this was going to happen every year,” Dan explained.

“We were only after coming off the back of winning the Hogan Cup with St Mary’s. We had won a couple of Leinster (titles) in years previous. I was getting used to winning and then you have a barren spell of six or seven years where you win nothing. I think we won a Division 2 League in 2016, but apart from that there wasn't much.”

Clogherinkoe beat Two Mile House 2-10 to 2-8 and celebrations for club members carried on until the following Wednesday by all accounts. After the excitement simmered down, it was time to plan for next year and the relentlessly competitive Kildare Intermediate Championship.

“We were always comfortable enough. We never played in a relegation semi-final or final. Chris Byrne was over us the first couple of years at Intermediate and even after 2012 we had a couple of more lads coming through so we were still adding to the team. We had a great few years in terms of development and adding to the squad. We weren’t in contention of winning, but we were comfortable,” Dan said.

“From 2017 on, we were looking upwards and the penny dropped that we thought we could win this. In 2019, we were all sure we were going to win it that year, we had a great squad and were playing really well. We were turned over by Monasterevan in the semi-final, a game we were leading the whole way through, but missed a couple of crucial goal chances.”

Clogherinkoe were favourites for the win that day and the upset loss would undoubtedly be the catalyst behind the push for an Intermediate title the following year. Clogherinkoe, like us all, would have to contend with a lot more in 2020 than anticipated.

The arrival of Covid-19 and the various law changes surrounding group gatherings threw the sporting world into uncharted waters.

Dan explained, “I remember Ronan Quinn was our manager at the time and he would send us on these running sessions. We would do them in groups of two or three and I would go down to the canal in Enfield. Collective training was minimal and even when we did go back there were no dressing rooms or anything like that. It was definitely a big change.”

Clogherinkoe and Kilcock battled their way to the final and faced off in one of the most unique Intermediate decider’s in the county’s history.

“It was very strange (lining out). It was different, but you still get the same medal and still get the same trophy. That's what we kept in our minds, even though things were different, you still were trying to win the same Championship,” Dan said.

“There were people there, but there was a limit of less than 100 supporters for each team. I remember you had to have your ticket in advance and there was a bit of photocopying going on. I think Clogherinkoe ended up with more supporters there than they should have had. I’m sure Kilcock were at the same crack themselves though.”

Clogherinkoe were up for this game like no other and Dan said the team were only emboldened by the loss of key forward Jack Robinson. The eventual IFC winners suspected they were written off before producing their 0-14 to 0-13 win over Kilcock in the final.

“There were no supporters allowed on the field, but still the emotions were really high. I remember going over and putting my arms around my brothers and congratulating them. A few tears probably shed too and yeah…it was a special moment,” Dan said.

“I love everything about the club. I love the members, it is a special club and I think any of the outside managers that have ever come in have always commented on the togetherness and unity of it. Everyone pulls the same way and there are no little groups doing their own thing. It is special that way.”