Norman O'Brien's passion for football endures in the west

By Cian O’Connell

There will be a Mayo flavour to the first of the Galway SFC Semi-Finals in Salthill on Sunday.

James Horan brings experience and further expertise to Cathal Clancy’s well organised Maigh Cuilinn set-up. Down the line, Annaghdown’s management incudes Norman O’Brien and Mickey Conroy.

Annaghdown’s development under O’Brien is one of the stories of the 2026 Corribside Championship. Kilmaine native O’Brien’s passion for football endures.

A friendship has been formed with Conroy, who has made a rich contribution to Annaghdown too. “We just love the game,” O’Brien says.

“Mickey and I are two football fanatics. All we talk about is football, really. I don't think we talk about anything else. Only football. We just love the game. That's the bit about it.”

The Annaghdown players are responding. “We're hoping to instil that love of the game into the group of lads,” he adds.

“I think we've done that in a massive way. They all love the game now. They all know they're meant to be there. They all know that things will be fine on the day when they get stuck into it, they just keep going.

“If they miss one, they'll have a crack at the next one. So, there is an awful lot of attributes from us that are rubbing off on the lads a bit.”

When O’Brien stopped playing, coaching was the next journey. “Kilmaine is my own club, they'd no manager that year,” he reflects.

“I was just finished up playing. David Loughlin and I, a good buddy of mine, we took them. I've been at it since.”

Kilconly benefited from his drive and desire in Galway, while Ballinrobe, where O’Brien is coaching officer are always on the agenda too.

Gaelic Football matters deeply to O’Brien. “I had the fortune or misfortune - whatever way you want to put it - Dad left me over to Kilmaine at seven playing U10s, I haven't had a year off since,” he laughs.

“I've promised my wife solemnly that I'd have a year off soon, but I'm heading for 52 now, and still haven't had a year off. It's an addiction as much as anything else, it's a good drug to be involved in football. You get a great buzz out of it.

“Don't get me wrong, you've days you wonder why you're at it, too. You meet an awful lot of good people, you've great craic. You're always developing yourself as a person, it helps you in home life, it helps you in work life.

“As an old coach of mine, Joe McGrath, used to say, a former All-Star from our own club, 'it will open up more doors than it will close for you'.”

It’s a nice way of looking at sport. The blend of emerging and established players ensures that Annaghdown are now busy preparing for a last four tussle with an accomplished and decorated Maigh Cuilinn panel. “There is a really good balance in the team,” O’Brien says.

“We've a good few 19, 20-year-olds, we've a lot of U21s if you were to go back to that U21 grade.

“Then, we've a few in the middle - 26 and 27, and then we've the boys in their early 30s, who're the mainstay of it. You've the likes of Enda Mullarkey, who is around the 34 or 35 mark.”

Having a fit Damien Comer available is critical. “He's phenomenal,” O’Brien responds.

“It's a different animal entirely when he pulls on the Annaghdown jersey. The whole team comes up a good few per cent. We're a much stronger team with him than we are without him, that's for sure and for certain.”

Conroy’s innovation has been important according to O’Brien. “He has brought huge enthusiasm and huge knowledge to it,” O’Brien remarks.

“He worked at an elite level as a player, and he has the same aspirations as a coach. He brings an awful lot to it. We've a great working relationship.

“We probably spend three or four hours a night laughing, from the minute we leave Ballinrobe to the minute we get back to Ballinrobe. There is great energy. It is never a chore.

“We enjoy going every evening. He has brought an awful lot to it, along with the in-house guys we have along with Brendan Dooley, Martin O'Neill, Niall Coleman, and Anthony Pender, they've been massive too. Just to freshen it up after a few years, it was time to freshen it just to see where we could go.”

That a connection has been forged with Annaghdown means something to O’Brien. “They've great tradition, they've won five senior titles,” O’Brien says.

“They won one in '01, and lost in '02, it has been a long time for them to be out of that bracket when they were so used to it, and they were so strong in the 80s and before that.

“They're a really proud football and hurling club. The football is what they'd be most famous for at senior level, they just love what they do. When they get on a roll, everybody buys in behind them in the whole parish. It's a huge parish so they've great support.”

Home is now in Ballinrobe for O’Brien. A Mayo Intermediate Football Championship Final appearance beckons for the Robe, with Conor and Evan O’Brien involved. “Our house is mental,” he chuckles.

“Elaine, my wife, a Galway woman is the club secretary now. I'm coaching officer. The lads are playing. Sienna our youngest daughter plays, and our eldest daughter (Sophie) used to play.

“It's a big football house, in fairness, it always has been. We don't know anything else. It takes up most of our time outside. There will be great excitement for the next three weeks here, they're 10 years out of senior, and they want to get back to senior.

“Three teams are left in the competition, they know they've to be at 100 per cent to win it, but they're well capable of that.

“They're a fabulous bunch of young lads that have a great chance of becoming a senior team again. That's what everybody in the club wants, to get back to that level again, and to see where we can go from there.”

Before that, though, Annaghdown will be eager to examine Maigh Cuilinn at Pearse Stadium with a sprinkling of Mayo football minds heavily involved. “It is probably something that nobody expected, Annaghdown to be in it,” he says.

“Mickey and I, we've had a great year with the lads, they've worked really hard. James is a massive addition for Moycullen, they're looking at something totally different entirely.

“They're looking to try to win a Connacht and an All-Ireland, we're looking to see how we can shape up against these lads, to see where we're actually at in the grand scheme of things.”

Many lessons have been learned during 45 years as a player, administrator, and manager. O’Brien’s appreciation of sport remains undiminished.