Like so many young Irish men, the attraction of New York was too much to resist for Denis Connolly and nearly ten years on he still resides in the 'Big Apple'. Taking after his late father, Denis snr, on the football field, his departure was seen as big loss to Monaghan, but he's glad to see they've been coping so well since.

When Denis Connolly first began playing senior club football with his native Carrickmacross, the game in Monaghan was, arguably, at its lowest ebb.  

Today the Farney County's last Ulster championship triumph is still dated back as far as 1988 when Sean McCague's charges defeated Tyrone to collect their second Anglo-Celt Cup in three years, but the situation has clearly changed since Connolly first tried his hand at the senior club ranks.  

Since the turn of the millennium, Monaghan have become a force to be reckoned with both on the provincial and national stage and that was undoubtedly helped in no small way by their Ulster Under 21 success in '99, in which Connolly was a focal part of.  

In a tense final with Donegal at Healy Park in Omagh, Monaghan - managed by none other than Eamonn McEnaney - pipped the Tir Chonaill men by a point to clinch the county's second ever title in the grade and end their 11-year famine for provincial silverware.  

"I was playing centre-field that day," recalled Connolly.  

"I had been lucky enough to have a good bit of success before that by winning the All-Ireland Colleges title with Patrician High School in Carrickmacross in '97, but that was definitely the highlight of my playing career." 

The win was a lift that Monaghan sorely needed and brought the famous 'Farney Army' back to Croke Park for an All-Ireland semi-final showdown against a strong Westmeath side. The Leinster champions proved too strong for McEnaney's team on the day and in the end double figures would separate the sides as an impressive Westmeath outfit went on to oust a star-studded Kerry team, which included the likes of Paul Galvin, Mike Frank Russell and Mike McCarthy, in the final.  

Understandably, a defeat in the last four of the All-Ireland series is something Connolly doesn't like to evoke again but it was that same summer that he jetted off across the Atlantic for the first time along with Peter Coyle and Ciaran Tavey to get the New York experience and display their football skills on a different stage.  

"I went over with two lads from the team for the summer in '99 and I really enjoyed it and kind of knew I'd be going back if I got the chance," he explained.

"When I went over again in 2003 it would be to stay and I didn't play because I was just driven by the work opportunity over here." 

It was undoubtedly a bold move by Connolly, as it was at a time when many of the Irish who had emigrated in the late 80s and early 90s were taking the opportunity to make the trek back home.  

However, he wasn't the first Connolly to leave his native county to pursue a new life away from home. Whether he was conscious to it at the time or not, he was following in the footsteps of his father.  

After winning a Connacht Senior Football Championship medal with Sligo in 1975, Denis Connolly snr moved to Monaghan town, where he played for Monaghan Harps as well as Carrick Emmets, both of whom he enjoyed considerable success with, and would eventually marry his future wife, Ita.  

They raised a family which saw Denis jnr and his brother David take after their father when it came to matters on the football pitch. Both went on to play for Carrickmacross at senior level and now find themselves on different sides of the globe.  

Soon after Denis left for the US, David made the short trip east over to London to pursue his career and in doing so he fell in with the Fulham Irish GAA club.  

"David is captain of the Fulham Irish GAA club in London and they would have won the British championship in 2006," Denis explained.  

"David and a few others went out there a couple of years ago and they really lifted the club. The senior team would have gone from being a team struggling to a team that are really competitive outfit over there now." 

This year Fulham Irish will look to wrestle the title back from the ever-dominant Tir Chonaill Gaels and boast the title as London - and maybe even Britain's - top Gaelic football team.  

It will be a similar case for Seamus McEnaney's Monaghan this summer as well.  

The Farney men defied the odds when they retained their Division One status in the National Football League at the expense of provincial rivals Derry and Tyrone and that has fuelled beliefs that McEnaney's team could be the team to be on up north this year. 

Connolly struggles to recall Monaghan football ever being in such a healthy state and feels that the senior side is an outfit which is well equipped all over the pitch. 

"It's great to see Monaghan coping so well in Division One alongside the big guns in the country," he said.

"When I last played for Monaghan we were far from a Division One team and they have improved so much since then. The most important thing for Monaghan now is to stay where they are.  

"They look strong in every department and hopefully this year is the year that they can go all the way in Ulster," added the Carrickmacross man.  

Monaghan's antics in the top tier of the NFL this season has saw them ranked as second-favourites priced at 5/1 to claim their 14th Ulster SFC crown in July, with defending champions Tyrone favourites at 11/8.  

After overcoming the first hurdle in style with a 1-18 to 0-9 over Armagh in Belfast at the start of June, Monaghan now play neighbours Fermanagh at Kingspan Breffni Park in the semi-final on June 27. 

If Tyrone can do the business on their side of the draw, as expected, and reach the final, which will presumably take place at St Tiernach's Park, Clones (the unofficial home of Ulster football finals), who's to say that Banty's boys can't repeat their vital win over the Red Hands back in March with home advantage once more.  

How sweet a success would that be? 

Denis Connolly is the Vice President with the Inside US global executive leadership consulting firm in New York. A firm which works exclusively at the Senior Executive level, empowering business leaders and their teams to make distinctive strategic improvements to their performance in a structured, effective and sustainable manner.  

In the coming months, Denis and his beautiful fiancé, Brinda, are set to finally tie the knot and host their wedding ceremony in India. 

Hogan Stand would like to congratulate and wish them all the best for the future! 

 

 

 

 

Tweet

Most Read Stories