One woman's unwavering faith in Meath football

Anne Farrelly walks into the foyer of The Newgrange Hotel to talk to the Meath Chronicle. She’s there to speak about her life, her interest in sport - and her sporting heroes. Heroes such as Rachael Blackmore.

There is a great deal about the Tipperary jockey Anne likes. She points, for illustration, to Racheal's understanding of the importance of team work - or, as Anne puts it, “her appreciation of all the folk back at the stables who work hard to prepare the horses for the big days.”

Anne points also to when Blackmore recently won the Gold Cup in Cheltenham and how she spoke afterwards about the need for people to have high hopes and aspirations; to think big. Have big dreams. It's the kind of philosophy Anne Farrelly likes to hear.

She is hoping members of the Meath football team are dreaming big too - because that way ,she feels, they may ultimately reap a bountiful harvest.

When it comes to supporting the Royals, there are few more passionate or committed people than Anne Farrelly who has been a member of the Congregation of Mercy Sisters for over 50 years - although she much prefers to be simply called by her name rather than the term 'sister'.

She recalls clearly the day when her passion for Meath football was born. It was a Sunday afternoon in the early summer of 1987. Meath were playing Laois in the Leinster SFC. Anne decided to go to the game . From that moment the fire was blazing. The journey had begun. Different people travelleld to the games with Anne over the years. "Sadly some of those people have passed away while others are now living in nursing homes," she adds.

Anne has made many great friends through her interest in what could be terms as her beautiful obsession. “We had such fun, great excitement, and even much anxiety sitting on the edge of our seats wondering what was going to happen."

She recalls the memorable games she attended and how, in her view, football, sport, is very much like life. "You win some, you lose some but what is important is the enjoyment of the journey together. All is interconnected and inter-related with life," is how she puts it.

“I am over 50 years as a sister and I am always learning about life. Every day Meath go out to play they are learning too, perhaps learning more through defeat than success. This has been the message from the Meath Ladies after their first success last year in the All-Ireland final. What energy, hope, joy and positive outlook they gave us and continue to bring us. If you win you are resurrected but you can be brought down very quickly in the next game. It is about reframing the mistakes, learning and moving on.”

KILMAINHAMWOOD

Anne Farrelly grew up in Kilmainhamwood, the eldest of six children born to her parents, the late Philip Farrelly and Maureen Halpenny. One of Anne’s uncles was Bill Halpenny who earned a kind of a sainthood in the annals of Meath GAA by scoring the goal in the 1949 All-Ireland final when Meath defeated Cavan. As a youngster Anne recalls visiting Croke Park with her father. “ I was there but I did not understand what was going on. “

She attended Mercy Convent Secondary Schools. She then opted to join the Mercy Sisters in Navan, which is now part of the Northern Province of Mercy Sisters. It was the 1960s . It was a different era , there was a different culture in Ireland. A different world.

"We as sisters were very enclosed. Life was harsh for everyone in all walks of life. There was little understanding of our humanity, We did not know what compassion was for ourselves or for anyone else. Thankfully times have changed in that respect today." Anne has spent her life teaching, in various schools both in Meath and Offaly and, briefly the US.

She says she follows Meath for relaxation and fun; win or lose. She goes to games in sunshine or rain, good times or bad. She's not a fair weather supporter. It's the Royals right down the line.

Not only does she enjoy the games she loves reading about Meath football. She makes reference to a "fabulous book" she recently received from a friend. The book is ' Game of the My Life' written by Fergal Lynch of this parish and includes a selection of Meath players - as well as Sean Boylan - who reflect back on their most memorable matches. "Sean shines through the book because they all have something positive to say about him. I especially recall Darren Fay saying how Sean thought him to focus on the ball for the first 15 minutes. Darren said you would be so focused on the ball he could knock somebody over and he wouldn't even notice.

"As a manager Sean also instilled into the players that a game is never over until the final whistle. No cause is a lost cause. If they were losing at half-time they weren't worried, they knew they would get it together. They had that belief in themselves and that's a wonderful thing for any group of people to have. It's a wonderful gift to give them and Sean could do that."

She feels strongly about various episodes of Meath football. Take the famous, or should that be infamous, 2010 Leinster final. "That game should have been played again and not left up to the Meath players to deal with the baggage. I feel Joe Sheridan suffered unnecessarily over that, took a lot of abuse that he didn't have to take."

TALES FROM THE ROAD

Anne herself experienced some unusual episodes following the Royals. She recalls one incident when Meath were playing Cork away and she was due to be picked up by the supporters' bus in Portlaoise. The bus was well on the way to Cashel when someone remembered they had forgotten Anne. "Tony O'Brien from the Meath Supporters' Club contacted me. We arranged that I would drive to Cashel and meet up with the bus there and that's what I did. It was worth it all because Meath beat Cork that day."

She recalls how before the pandemic she drove to Cusack Park in Ennis. "There was no sign of any supporters. I didn't realise the game was cancelled as the pitch was waterlogged. Instead I watched one of the Six Nations rugby games in Ennis in good company that afternoon. Next day the game was played and Meath won. All was not in vain. I have lovely memories of being at all the 'Super 8' games in different parts of the country. It was a sweltering day in Ballybofey as the sun beamed down on all of us while it rained in Killarney. Even though we did not win any of those games it was all gaining experience and learning from defeats."

Nothing was going to stop Anne Farrelly from seeing her team; from indulging in her beautiful obsession.These days Anne lives in Tullamore having thought for many years in the area. "I worked in brilliant primary schools in the area , St. Joseph’s and Scoil Eoin Phoil where the motto was 'Every Child, Every Chance Every Day.' There was and still is a great culture of kindness and understanding, together with a great love of sport in these schools," she adds.

Anne still wears the Meath scarf knitted for her by the students in St. Joseph's. It was presented to her on her retirement in 2009. Then there is the treasured, framed Meath jersey with the signatures of the players in 2009, given to her by students of Scoil Eoin Phoil which she still has sitting in a pride of place in her sitting room. Anne paid tribute to those in Offaly who got her tickets for big games and said how delighted she was to see the Faithful County win the All-Ireland u-20 FC last year. "These young people lifted the hearts and spirit of the county."

One group who certainly lifted hearts of people in her native county was the Meath ladies football team. She has studied them closely and their reasons for success.

"They have this wonderful confidence. An awful lot of people in life suffer from a lack of confidence so it's lovely to see it blossom among a group of people. They lost a couple of league Div 2 finals before they got to Div 1 but they kept at it and got there."

To Anne Farrelly they are heroes all - just like Rachael Blackmore.