By Cian O’Connell

It has been quite a sporting journey for Sean Mulkerrin.

Next Sunday the promising Galway full back hopes to make his third Allianz Football League start against Donegal. That, though, is only part of the story.

Mulkerrin, who flared to prominence with Galway underage teams and NUIG in the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup, is now eager to establish himself with Padraic Joyce’s senior team.

How the Oileáin Árann GAA club has developed throughout the past two decades is a remarkable adventure in itself, but to be producing a player of substance for Galway at the highest level brings an obvious source of pride.

“There is,” Mulkerrin responds when asked about the sense of pride which exists on the three islands of Inis Mor, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oirr, who comprise the Oileáin Árann club.

“I hope I'm trying to do them proud while I'm on the pitch. I'm the first Aran man to play in the National League, a few have played in the FBD. Hopefully I can kick on now, to keep making them proud.”

Still it isn’t all that long ago, when Mulkerrin would have to make significant logistical arrangements to attend training sessions with Galway underage outfits.

Mulkerrin’s mind wanders back to his teenage years when trying to combine sport and school. A delicate balancing act considering the effort required to make Galway sessions.

“You were probably training on a Tuesday and a Friday night or a Saturday,” Mulkerrin recalls. “So that would have involved getting the boat on the Tuesday evening and then maybe to get the plane back the next morning to be back in for school.

“You'd either get the plane or the half 10 boat, but if you got the boat you'd be missing the same classes every week in the morning. There was an early flight which was perfect. I'd have arranged to stay with one of the lads in the panel or with a relation.”

Friendships were forged and people were always ready, willing, and able to assist. It is why Mulkerrin is thrilled to be playing for Galway now alongside Naomh Anna Leitir Mór’s Mathias O Baireid.

After disembarking the ferry at Ros A Mhíl from Inis Mór, a friendly face usually greeted Mulkerrin. “We played all the way up at minor and Under 20, he was kind enough to pick me up in Ros A Mhíl on his way to town, he was coming from Leitir Mor, he had a long enough journey himself,” Mulkerrin laughs.

Back in 2016 Mulkerrin featured in an All Ireland minor final for Galway and also won an exciting EirGrid Connacht Under 20 Championship medal last year.

That group included Ó Baireid, Matthew Tierney, and Liam Costello, who have featured for Galway in the opening rounds of the Allianz Football League.

“Exactly, there is a handful of them,” Mulkerrin says about those who have graduated quickly into the senior ranks.

“It makes things a bit easier trying to adapt to the high intensity training. It is time consuming, stuff like that, so it is good to have your buddies with you, who you have been with through thick and thin all the way up even from Ted Webb up to Under 20 and senior inter-county. It is good.”

On the sideline Joyce, who was in charge of that team, has the top job now and an exciting time beckons in the west. “It is and his philosophy is definitely a great one,” Mulkerrin adds.

“He is a legend of the game, not only in Galway, but across the county. He is one of the best to have graced the game. He is very insightful, not only for the forwards in our team, but for the backs in terms of how a forward is thinking. He is probably one of the best forwards to have played the game so we have to keep learning from him and from his experiences.”

Currently studying an Arts degree in Geography and Gaeilge in NUIG, Mulkerrin hopes to go down the teaching path. Growing up football was on the agenda in the islands.

“When I was Under 16 we had a minor team, who won a B League against Leitir Mór and after that we didn't have the numbers,” Mulkerrin explains.

“That was us on our own, we had the likes of Patrick O'Donnell, Colm Ó Braonain, they were all in their final year of minor. After that we just didn't have the numbers, no more than other clubs around the country. It was tough to get the numbers so we had to join with An Spidéal. Thankfully for them, they let us join. That was how we kept it ticking.”

The student acknowledges the manner in which the club has prospered is a reflection of the graft and dedication of so many, who continue to deliver on and off the field of play.

“It is, especially with certain circumstances,” Mulkerrin replies. “Not being able to train collectively between the three islands. Other clubs are training two or three times a week, week in, week out. It is tough, but that is the way it is.

“No more than any other club you have lads scattered across the country. You have four or five lads teaching in Dublin, others in Limerick or Cork and then you have Galway based lads working or teaching. You then have a few that are working on the island. We are scattered all over the place, but I'm sure every club has that problem too.”

Ultimately Mulkerrin stresses the value and importance of being involved at Sigerson Cup level with NUIG. "Coming out of minor it was straight into Under 20," Mulkerrin comments.

"That was a big step in itself, then to be involved in the Sigerson, playing in a final, playing the best that there is out there. The likes of Con O'Callaghan and Evan O'Carroll from Laois, two big guys. Not just offensively, but physically too. That was probably the biggest step up, the physicality of the game. No more than the National League, that was another huge step again."

The highly regarded Mulkerrin, who is part of the family group who won the All Ireland talent show in 2009, still goes home whenever the opportunity arises to perform.

“When I can I gig at home, but at the moment it is quiet at home with the tourists,” Mulkerrin states. “The summer is the hectic time trying to play music.

“I'm not missing out on too much at the moment, but when I have a free weekend or have no game I do go home to play music.”

A busy 2020 awaits in the maroon and white.