Dessie Farrell basks in warm glow of 'very satisfying' All-Ireland win
Dublin manager Dessie Farrell celebrates after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
When Dessie Farrell woke up in the Crown Plaza Hotel in Santry on monday morning there was a brief moment as he emerged from sleep where he had to figure out where he was and whether Dublin had won or lost the All-Ireland Final the previous day.
A second later the memory of what his team had achieved came flooding back and the satisfaction he experienced was profound.
The previous day and night had felt very different to 2020 when Dublin won an All-Ireland in an empty stadium and the post-match celebrations were muted due to Covid-19 protocols.
“It was great," says Farrell. "There’s always that moment just as you wake up and you’re trying to figure out where you are, what happened yesterday, did you win or lose. Yeah, it was very satisfying to wake up this morning and know we accomplished what we set out.
“It’s funny, you don’t really know what to expect. The time we had after the game back in 2020 was a special time even though it was very different.
“It was just players and backroom upstairs in Parnell Park and it was a lovely couple of hours as a tight group. But definitely the wives, the partners, the parents, the great friends, brothers and sisters who missed out on sharing that time with the rest of us, they make such an invaluable contribution to all our lives being the support and the bedrock.
“What shows up in Croke Park on a Sunday afternoon is the product of an awful lot of other things in the background. It was brilliant for them last night and for us to spend time with people who are so dear and cherished.
“I met some of the parents last night that I hadn’t met over the couple of years and most for the first time and it was great to have some very special conversations with some of those.”
There was a huge outpouring of joy in Croke Park on Sunday, not just from players and management team on the pitch after the final whistle, but among Dublin supporters in the stadium.
Ciaran Kilkenny of Dublin with Dublin manager Dessie Farrell after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
Clearly the experience of losing two All-Ireland semi-finals in a row made this year’s success that bit more special
“Yeah, I think for a lot of Dublin people there was a sense of something special about yesterday’s victory,” says Farrell.
“You can’t really put the finger on what that was. They’re a special group of players and there’s huge affection for them within the city by the people of Dublin so probably something to do with that.”
Another reason this particularly All-Ireland win felt like a landmark one was that it may have been the last dance for many of this Dublin panel.
Dean Rock has already intimated he won’t play for Dublin again, and there will be question marks too over the nine-time All-Ireland winning trio of Stephen Cluxton, Michael Fitzsimons and team captain, James McCarthy.
“We didn’t really speak collectively about that,” says Farrell. “There was an understanding that for some this could be the last dance so to speak and we didn’t try to leverage or use that because sometimes that can be inauthentic, and you’re trying to create a crutch or a hook that may not necessarily work to your advantage.
“They’re all going to be individual decisions for everybody involved and I think yesterday was about that group coming together and it didn’t really matter who was in the group. It was a case of a strong bond developing over the last nine months.
“The young lads brought great energy and enthusiasm and they sparked life into some of the senior lads and definitely having some of the lads who were away come back (helped).
“There was a great sense of comfort in that as well. Being part of the team, the dynamics can be different from one team to another but that sense of cohesion and sense of brotherhood was great amongst the group.
“You can overstep the mark and try and contrive or manufacture that into something that isn’t natural or organic but there was a lovely flow to the season for us. We got the timing right and that blend of youth and experience seemed to work as well.
“That was what yesterday was about. Not necessarily about what was to come or who might be there in the future. We didn’t travel that road. It was more about who we have here at the minute and to be grateful for all those individuals.”
