BY RYAN FERRY
THE Gaeil Fhánada club have enjoyed some fine days at the national finals of Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta and Conor Heraghty is looking forward to getting a taste of the action this weekend in Towney.
Fanad have had ups and downs in the Gaeltacht Championship. They were beaten in the 2006 decider and again by local rivals Downings in 2018.
However, there was delight in 2013 in Waterford when a last-gasp goal from the late Paddy Shiels saw off Oileaín Árainn.
Four years ago a lot of the current team saw off Cill Chomain in a thrilling decider by 2-11 to 2-10.
“This will be my first taste of the All-Ireland,” Heraghty told the Donegal News.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. The boys have talked about previous wins.
“I remember Patrick Shiels scoring the winning goal in the final. I was a young fella watching the cavalcade come home so it’s definitely a big thing in Fanad.
“We are always happy to be in the Gaeltacht and any chance you’d get to win it, you’d hope to make the most of it.
“We will give it a good rattle especially when it’s in Donegal.”
Heraghty was captain of the Fanad side that won the Under 21 ‘D’ title last year.
Shaun Carr, Brian Gallagher, Calum McAteer, Jamie McAteer and Aaron McConigley were all part of that team and are now trying to make their mark at senior grade.
“We said that at the time that it was a good platform to try and push on a bit.
“I think it was the first underage medal that a lot of us had won.
“It’s pushing everyone on. If the older boys know their place isn’t guaranteed, it creates good competition.
Heraghty is studying Actuary in the capital but does his best to stay fit when away from the Fanad peninsula.
“I’m based in DCU and I’m on an internship for the second half of the year so I’ll be in Dublin all summer.
“I’d usually be going home for training but it’s different this year.
“It’s a new experience but Bernard McGettigan and Eoghan Carr are also in Dublin so when you have other boys here it’s great.”
Fanad will be in quarter-final action against Kerry side Lios Póil on Saturday at 1.15pm in Towney.
A win in that will progress them through to the semi-final against Clann nan Gael (Meath) or An Fháirche (Galway).
Lios Póil were beaten by Naomh Muire in the 2024 Junior Final by six points.
Heraghty said: “We will just go down and worry about the game on Saturday.
“We won’t be worrying about after that.
“It could be tough going if you’re playing on back-to-back days but we will see what happens.
“We’re expecting a tough game with Lios Poil and we will worry about the Sunday if we can beat them.”