Jarlath Gilroy, Ballymore hero, on and off the field of play

Few men in Kildare are more firmly entrenched in their club’s successes than Jarlath Gilroy.

The lively former county star forward won Junior and Intermediate Championships as a player with Ballymore Eustace, before leading his club to a Leinster Intermediate title from the sideline in 2010.

“It is great to be able to bring a bit of success to a club and be a part of that, both as a player and as a manager. Success breeds success at younger levels, you have young lads looking up at that then,” Jarlath said.

Jarlath was a substitute at 15 years old on the Senior team when the club claimed a Junior Championship win in 1985. Ballymore beat Ballyteague 1-11 to 2-7 in a razor close final.

It would be Jarlath's last spell on the sideline for quite some time as he was thrust into the starting lineup the following year as Ballymore continued their upward trajectory.

The young, sharp forward and his team went back-to-back to claim the Kildare Intermediate Championship with an eight-point win over Suncroft.

“It was a good oul time. We spent a couple of days at it, but a few of us were a bit young to be following the lads the whole time,” Jarlath recalled.

The title win was Ballymore’s first Intermediate title since 1952 and was followed by a decent spell at Senior level, before relegation and another Intermediate win in '94.

Unbeknown to himself during this time, Jarlath was also picking up vital skills that would serve him well in leading his club to future provincial success. Never more so than his time in the Kildare set-up under the legendary Mick O’Dwyer.

“You wouldn’t really know it at the time, but when you look back and think of the man-management that I saw from him. I definitely learnt a lot there and that was a huge thing that he brought to Kildare at the time,” Jarlath said.

Jarlath would move into the Ballymore Eustace senior management position after spells with the county minor and junior sides, as well as under-age club teams. The now veteran forward was still playing at the time, but stepped away when given the top job.

“It was difficult at the beginning, because you are looking after lads that were your team-mates the year before. You just have to push away from it a slight bit and deal with it a slight bit differently,” Jarlath explained.

Jarlath took over a young side that had been there or thereabouts in the Kildare Intermediate Championship.

As well as eying county glory, the legendary club man knew that success in Kildare gave his side a great chance in Leinster, having seen Maynooth go all the way the year before.

The team he knew so well weren’t getting carried away however and produced a stellar performance to topple Confey in the county final, a team who themselves had achieved Leinster Intermediate glory four years prior.

Despite a first Intermediate title in 16 years, the man at the helm knew he had to keep his side’s feet on the ground to achieve something greater.

“I knew we couldn’t be too far off (a Leinster win). It was a matter of letting them celebrate for a couple of days, but then, to be honest, I stuck into them hard the following Thursday night training-wise,” Jarlath recalled.

After a chaotic away first round win over the Louth champions, where Ballymore trailed by six points and a man after 15 minutes, the Kildare side would carry on their momentum to reach a Leinster final.

We arrive then at one of the most famous games in Kildare football, that never happened. Ballymore Eustace were set to face Meath side Nobber in the 2010 Leinster Intermediate football final.

Despite the outpouring of support and incredible labour from the community, the game was cancelled and Ballymore were set to be without star-man and All-Star James Kavanagh for their home venue final.

“The club did everything they could and the pitch was fine, but Nobber knew that James (Kavanagh) was going to Australia on holiday and mightn’t be back for the following game. They didn’t travel because they said the roads were bad, but yet one of our lads drove to Navan that day to go to the races, so they weren’t that bad,” Jarlath laughed.

“But we pulled the wool over their eyes when we got him home for the final. It was the second week in January. He was gone, but made a couple of phone calls home and said he was available. Someone came up with the money to pay for it and he arrived home on the Thursday. The players didn’t even know he was there until he arrived into the dressing room on Sunday.”

An enormous occasion that was only heightened by the previously laid context. The lift of Kavanagh’s presence and the fervent home support both played their part as Ballymore battled to claim the Leinster title 0-12 to 0-10 over Nobber.

“It was incredible, the club did a huge amount of work around that day for the atmosphere of the occasion. Everyone really pulled together for the Leinster final and we had a big following from all around the county at the time,” Jarlath explained.

“It (celebrations) went on for a week afterwards. From two year-olds to 90 year-olds, it was all smiles.”

The All-Ireland semi-final in the next round would prove one step too far as Ballymore suffered injuries to key men and James Kavanagh headed back down under.

However, the story of the ‘snow final’ that wasn’t and James Kavanagh’s return had already been written into the history books. Ballymore could now sit back and reflect on a legendary year.

“Other than maybe the Senior Championship in the 50s, it was maybe the best year the club ever had. What it did for the village as well and people helping with the snow. People who had never seen a football match, but they saw what was happening in the town and came to back us,” Jarlath recalled.

“It really showed the community spirit and brought us all together. It was a huge highlight to win a Leinster for your club that hasn’t won one before, on your own pitch, it is unbelievable.”

One of the finest hours in Ballymore’s history, but Jarlath holds one of his most recent accomplishments closest of all, an U14 Championship League Championship win alongside his son. It was a true underdog story as the team Jarlath managed had not won a game for two years before claiming the Division 5 title.

“Every meeting you were going and saying you got beat, then to win a competition was superb. I got as much satisfaction from that as 2010,” Jarlath said.

“It was one of my favourite wins ever because they had two years of no wins. But those young lads kept playing, we didn't lose members or have them go somewhere else. They stuck it out and got their reward.”

The Leinster Leader will be doing a feature article from every club in Kildare over the coming weeks and months as part of the Love of the Game series. If you have a suggestion for an article on someone from your club, a legendary player, selfless volunteer or an idea of your own, send them to [email protected]