By Dionne Meehan

FOR the last four decades, the Carlin sisters from Castlefinn have shared an unbreakable tradition.

By supporting their beloved Donegal team side by side at every match, Collette, Roisin and Brid have accumulated a lifetime of unforgettable memories.

Influenced by their late father who was heavily involved in the local GAA club, the sisters attended their first match in 1982, where Donegal U-21s defeated Roscommon to win a first ever All-Ireland title for the county.

An amazing achievement, but it wasn’t the win that made the day memorable.

This is from one of the first matches the Carlin sisters attended. Roisin was 17-years-old and signed the front of the programme. It must have been written in the stars for her to meet a Kerry football fanatic when she began working in Inishowen.

“When I was coming home with the girls in the car, my brown escort stalled at the bottom of a hill in Ballyshannon,” Collette told the Donegal News.

“The guards had to push me in to the side of the banking.

“I was the cause of a lot of traffic that day.”

The match ignited a deep devotion, bound by love and loyalty, and ever since, the sisters have been attending games side by side.

In 1992, they witnessed Donegal’s greatest footballing accomplishment when the senior team defeated the highly fancied Dublin, taking home the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time.

“We were there in ’92 standing in The Canal End with a banner,” Collette said.

“I was teaching at that stage and Donal Reid was on the team, from the Red Hughes Club, and his sister was my principal, Breda McConnell.

“We made a big banner saying ‘Donal dims Guiden’s light’.

“Donal Reid was marking Niall Guiden in the ’92 final and my banner got lost climbing over the fence getting on to the pitch after the match.”

A d.i.y. job of Collette’s which can only be worn on dry days!

In 2012, the sisters watched as Donegal made history once again, bringing the Sam Maguire Cup home for the second time after going head to head with Mayo.

Under the watchful eye of Jim McGuiness, some would say this was the best ever performance by any Donegal team.

Now, with hopes of history repeating itself for a third time this weekend, the Carlin sisters are preparing once again for the journey to Croker.

A place that feels like a second home to them by now, for one of the sisters, Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship between Donegal and Kerry will be quite the mix of emotions.

Roisin, who is proudly loyal to her Donegal roots despite being married to a die-hard Kerry football fan, has had no shortage of Donegal supporters offering to bring her to Sunday’s match. All to keep the peace between the husband and wife.

With a daughter flying over from London for the occasion and a son travelling from Kerry, their auntie Collette was proud to share they will all be boasting Donegal jerseys this weekend!