HE was only a youngster in 2005 when Ciaran Brannigan was playing for Down in the All-Ireland minor final.
Blood is thicker than water and even though Down beat his native Mayo, seven-year-old Ryan O’Donoghue was delighted and proud to see his big cousin score two points for Down.
Those attacking instincts run in the family. Twenty-one years later its O’Donoghue, whose mother Brenda swapped Bryansford for Belmullet after she tied the knot with Mayo native Michael O’Donoghue, who’ll be playing at Croke Park and spearheading his county’s forward line in Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Kerry.
The Down branch of the clan will be there cheering him on like they always have.
“Ryan has given our family a lot of days out in many locations,” says Ciaran.
“His mother is my godmother and it’s always been tight with Ryan, he would be very similar to me.
“He was in an All-Ireland U20 final in 2018 (against Kildare) he was captain that day, the senior finals in 2020 and 2021, he played for Ireland (at youth level while at Sligo Rovers), he was All-Ireland boxing champion (at 33kg in 2010)…
“We’ve followed him in a lot of sports for a long time and he has won a lot of individual awards but I think he’d swap all of them to get over the line on Sunday with the group.”
Mayo’s track record of near-misses is of course well documented and O’Donoghue (who scored 0-8 in the game) added his own unwanted clip to his county’s lowlights reel when his penalty hit the wrong side of the post in the 2021 final against Tyrone.
That game was Mayo’s sixth decider in 10 turbulent years and after the loss to the Red Hands the Westerners disappeared from the All-Ireland showpiece. Their form in the League and Connacht Championship this season was nothing to write home about but manager Andy Moran unleashed a talented crop of young players and they have swept the county back to the final.
Ciaran Brannigan scored two points for Down in the All-Ireland minor final in 2005. PICTURE: SPORTSFILE
“I love the Mayo madness,” says Brannigan, now manager of Bryansford who are currently joint-top of Down’s Division Two.
“In some of their games you think they’re not going to do anything here and then they can create this madness for 10-15 minutes and blow teams out of the water.
“I’ve always been fascinated by that but this year it looks a wee bit different and I’ve said that to Ryan from the very start.
“At the start of the year he was saying it was going to take time for the group to come together and gel and losing to Roscommon (in the Connacht championship) definitely hurt them but they’ve pushed on and got to an All-Ireland final.”
Ciaran’s younger brother Peter had his stag do and Ibiza a few weeks ago.
After Mayo lost to Tyrone in round 2A it seemed there might be a chance that O’Donoghue would be joining his cousins on the sun-drenched party island.
But Mayo clicked into gear after that narrow loss in Omagh and the stags found a bar that was screening the Mayo-Cork quarter-final and cheered O’Donoghue on as he put the Rebels’ defence to the sword with eight points at Croke Park.
“It was good craic watching him,” says Brannigan.
“Our Peter rang him after it and had a bit of craic with him when he was going down the road home.
“Ryan is very down to earth fella and the way the Mayo people are I don’t think anybody would begrudge them getting over the line on Sunday.
“They’ve always been my second county. When Down are playing I’m at it but we’ve travelled to watch Mayo a lot, we’ve seen a number of games and not just against the Ulster teams, this year.
“Me and my older brother and my nephews have done a good bit of travelling to watch him.
“My nephews think there’s nothing like it… It’s top notch for them. They love the Down players but for them to have a family member playing for Mayo, they love it so we take them to as many games as possible.”
Ciaran Brannigan and his cousin Ryan O’Donoghue
BY the time O’Donoghue was the age of those nephews he was displaying an ability and an appetite for playing football that marked him out as a special talent.
“You could always see it, he’s always had it,” says Brannigan.
“He never went anywhere without a ball, he was always playing and practicing. His mother and father built a house and we’re plumbers by trade so we went down and plumbed it.
“We were down for three or four days and all we did when we weren’t working was kick ball with Ryan. He’s been driven by it all his life.
“When he was studying he would always come back for training, he didn’t miss. He was allowed to do a session in Galway but he’d travel up to Mayo, he wanted to be with the group.
“He has always been a driven character, his mother would tell you that. He’s so obsessed, he’s not just lying about the house and hoping his talent gets him somewhere, he’s just obsessed at what he does and he’s always looking for that extra yard and ready to go that extra mile.”
With the exception of David Clifford, O’Donoghue has been the outstanding forward in the country this season.
In seven championship games the Belmullet clubman has racked up 2-40, top-scoring for his county in six of them. Alongside his voracious appetite for scores he has been playmaker, ball-winner and a tireless worker and motivator.
“He’s a leader,” says Brannigan.
“His role adapts and changes. The game against Louth you think about the scores that he kicked (1-11) but he was turning over ball early in that game around the middle third so he wasn’t just an out-and-out inside target.
“He has done numerous roles and you’ve seen him when the game is in the balance he seems to be involved with a lot of the controlled play where he’s on the ball a lot and he moves it about and gets the right people on it.
“That’s where the new coaching staff (Colm Boyle and Paddy Tally) have really worked because in days gone by Mayo would have been a bit chaotic and they’d have gone for big scores they didn’t need.
“Now they seem a bit more measured and they take the sting out of the game. Ryan is playing a huge part in that, he’s really stepping up.
“Look at the last day against Louth when he kicked that two-pointer right at the end. The emotion he showed… The way he went hard at the fans.
“You don’t see that side of him coming out too often and it was great to see it. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
“He looked different that day and for me it sent out a bit of a message about where this Mayo group are and that’s why I’d be very hopeful they can get over the line.
“And not even just for him, for Mayo. I think all of us that follow Gaelic Football know that they’ve been there, they’ve been knocking on the door for so long…”
Opponents Kerry don’t tend to knock on doors, they kick them open and then make themselves at home. The Kingdom were unconvincing in the early stages of this championship and, like Mayo, they have a loss on their record. But since that defeat to Donegal Jack O’Connor’s side has returned to full strength and moved through the gears with victories against Armagh, Tyrone and Dublin.
Jack Coyne and Ryan O’Donoghue celebrate after the quarter-final win over Cork. PICTURE: OLIVER MCVEIGH
“People ask you: ‘Who’s going to mark Clifford?’ and my question back to that is: ‘Which one?’” observes Brannigan.
“You have to pick up both of them and you have Dylan Geaney and Seanie O’Shea after that, you have half-backs that are comfortable taking scores from 40-45 metres…
“Kerry have an abundance of talent all over the field and that’s why so many people love them and watch them.
“Against Tyrone and Dublin a lot of the decisions went their way. In their semi-final Mayo blew Louth out of the water. I was hoping they would have been tested a wee bit more because everything went for them.
“Their breaking-ball count, their restarts, their inside forward line scoring 2-17… Everything was perfect.
“But if Mayo can walk off the field on Sunday after leaving everything on it they have the talent to get over the line. Kobe (McDonald) and Darragh Beirne have lit up the championship.
“Whenever they’ve been struggling and needed an out-ball, Kobe is the one who has stood up and they’ve put the ball on top of that young lad. He’s got them out of trouble a few times.
“Even Tommy (Conroy) coming on at half-time… Aidan O’Shea as well, what a servant he has been and he’s still there working hard.
“Kerry will be thinking: ‘If one of them clinks it’s ok’ but they have all clicked and they all work off each other and Ryan has developed into a player that’s not just trying to get a few scores, he’s become a leader in that team.
“He knows and he trusts that everybody else can do their role.
“It’s no surprise with Paddy Tally and Colm Boyle in the backroom team that there’s role-clarity and role-acceptance in the team. I’ve no doubt that’s what they’ve been driving into those young lads and it’s great to see because they seem to be playing with a lot of freedom too and when young lads with that much talent are allowed to play with freedom it’s great to see and it’s scary for the opposition.”
Sunday will be an emotional occasion for the clan. If Mayo, who found a variety of ways to lose during that shoulda-coulda decade between 2012 and 2021, can finally find a bit of luck and find a way to win… Tears will be shed.
“We’re a tight-knit family and it’ll be massive, massive,” says Brannigan.
“His mother and father have put in so many miles to be there to support Ryan. Not a game has gone by whether it was soccer, boxing, GAA… They were constantly there. So for them alone I would be emotional.
“I’m really looking forward to it and I hope it turns out to be the result we’re all hoping for.”
Peter Brannigan’s wedding is at the end of September and they’re hoping Ryan O’Donoghue has a special plus-one with him.
A fella called Sam Maguire.