'We are in a very unique position that we may never be in again' - Dermot Keaveney

By the time Dermot Keaveney leads his Naomh Pádraig, Uisce Chaoin team onto the field at Parnell Park this Sunday for their All-Ireland junior club semi-final, a thousand moments will have come together to make it possible.  

At 35 years of age, Keaveney has seen the highs and lows of club football, but this year has been special.  

For a club founded just 36 years ago, making history is not a new concept, but this year’s achievements have brought fresh pride to the players and the community as they travelled through county and Ulster success.  

Having soldiered with the senior team for almost two decades, he’s experienced the heartache of county final defeat with the Naomh Padraig side in 2010 and 2016. This year, however, there was a different drive within the team.  

“At the start of the season, the county title was always the aim for us,” he told Donegal Live.   

“It was our third time in the club’s history getting to a county final. We were there in 2010 and 2016, so, that was the aim – winning the county title. 

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“It’s funny, because at the start of the season when we saw the masterplan fixture list, a couple of the boys were looking at the date of the Ulster final and jokingly said we should book it off just in case.”  

For a team that has been together since the winter of 2023, the journey has been one of determination and optimism.  

“Even going into the championship, we knew, coming off the back of a good Division 2 campaign that winning the county title was achievable,” Keaveney said.  

“We were playing good football and getting good results. We also learned lessons along the way, particularly in an early championship match against Naomh Ultan where we got a good wake-up call.  

“But from there on, it’s just been amazing, and to think that we’re about to play in an All-Ireland semi-final, it’s just a dream come true really.”  

However, the club’s road to this point has been anything but smooth. Twice, the team had to travel to London to face Tara in the All-Ireland quarter-final.   

The first attempt in December was called off due to an unplayable pitch, forcing them to return in January under similarly precarious conditions.  

“We landed in McGovern Park last week and there was another scare that the match was going to be called off again,” he said.  

“Now the pitch was ten times better than it was back in December the first day out, but the referee still needed to inspect the pitch. He gave it an hour and thankfully all went ahead.”  

Despite the near setback, the Inishowen outfit were 1-7 to 0-5 up at the break but a powerful second period eased them, in the end, towards an 11-point victory.  

“If that game was postponed again, mentally, I don’t know what that would’ve done for us,” Keaveney said.   

“I don’t know would we have to have come back to London for a third time or what would’ve happened, but thankfully we got to play it and got the result we wanted.  

“We knew we were in a very unique position that we may never be in again so credit to the boys for being so disciplined and driven over the Christmas break. I don’t know from a club point of view will we ever be talking about club All-Irelands again, so we knew we had to make sacrifices and thankfully it’s paying off.  

“This week it’s just about getting the bodies right. We’ll have a light session on Thursday and just get focused for Sunday.”  

The club’s finest hour will occur this Sunday in Dublin when they do battle with Cork side Cill Mhuire at 1pm. For Keaveney he’s experienced all the near stories and heartbreak the club has gone through, serving as one of the players longest serving members.  

But he feels nothing has driven the team more in his time with Naomh Padraig than doing it for the legacy of their teammate Evan Craig who passed away in September 2024.  

He feels this season, they have played with a deeper purpose, fuelled by the memory of Craig.  

“I’m 35 this year and the club is going 36 years, so that tells you just how young the club is and what we’ve achieved in such a short period of time,” he said.  

“Myself, my brother Eunan, and Cathal McColgan are the only three remaining from the county final in 2010, and Joe McAuley is the only other member who was there in the county final in 2016, so we know the heartache that the senior team has come through, but experience is a great way to learn and the success we’ve had this year is just unreal.  

“With this season, we’ve had the hardship of losing Evan too. When Evan passed away this season, we made him a promise that we were going to win him a county title, when we did that, we said we would get him an Ulster title, and now hopefully, we can win him an All-Ireland title.  

“He’s been with us this whole journey and I know he would be so proud of us.”