By Róise Collins
Two years after taking up photography as a hobby, a Donegal student found himself pitchside to cover the action as Celtic took on Club Brugge in the Champions League at Celtic Park last Wednesday night.
For Dore man, Padraig (Paddy) McFadden the journey to ‘Paradise’ has rounded off a remarkable few years.
A son of well-known local taxi driver ‘Pop-eye’, Padraig has been busy making waves as a sports and gig photographer.
But last Wednesday his childhood dreams came true when he made his debut at Celtic Park to see his heroes in action up close and personal.
“It’s no secret I’m Celtic daft,” he laughed.
“The first thing that I did when I walked out the pitch was look up to where my season ticket is in the Lisbon Lion upper.
“I thought to myself, how did it go from sitting up there to ending up here?”
From listening to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the side-lines to rubbing shoulders with some of his role models, Padraig described Wednesday evening as the pinnacle of his career so far.
“I got the cherry on the top in terms of working for Celtic in the Champions League, I don’t think it gets any bigger than that.
“Well maybe an Old Firm,” he said.
Padraig’s photography and videography career took off just two years ago when as a student he started taking pictures for ATU Sligo’s football teams.
At the time the only equipment he had was his iPhone 11 and a tripod.
“Gradually over time then I started covering Sunday morning and University football,” he explained.
He then invested in a camera and one short month later he had his first break photographing Dean Lewis and Tinie Tempah at Sult Féile, Gaoth Dobhair.
From there he started covering more gigs, and more football matches, all whilst continuing to juggle his studies and a part time job in a supermarket.
Padraig’s hard work didn’t go unnoticed for long.
This time last year he received a message on LinkedIn from Sligo Rovers CEO Andrew Feakins, asking him to work as a club photographer.
“To be honest I didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it did,” he said.
“From what I have learned, once you are in the Irish scene, whether it is League of Ireland or local gigs, then it gets your name out there.
“So then that presents itself with more opportunities,” he said.
“It’s about taking the cards that you’re dealt and how you play them.
“This is coming from a guy who failed math in his Leaving Cert,” he added.
Padraig recalled the day he received his Leaving Cert results, and thinking it was the end of the world.
“The Leaving Cert isn’t the be all and end all, like I thought.
“I remember just switching off the phone and not wanting to talk to anybody.”
He then decided to go down the route of a PLC course.
“The reason I did the PLC was to get my Leaving Cert math, but it gave me an opportunity to move away from home for a year and to see if college was for me.”
This then led to a degree in Marketing, where he learned skills in photoshop and premier pro which he was able to translate into his photography work.
Padraig is now undertaking a Masters in Marketing at ATU Sligo.
“Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it, because you can.
“As I said I was written off academically, but somehow now I find myself trying to do a masters.”
Padraig also spoke bravely of his own battles with depression and anxiety.
“I was diagnosed a couple of years ago but I didn’t let that deter or stop me from getting my dream gig,” he said.
He thanked his family for all their unwavering support, “they were there when I was crying because of my mental health and they’ve been there celebrating the highs”.
“I always go to mum for advice or opinion or a rant, but I don’t think dad gets enough credit for being there in the background and doing what he does.
“He has such good people management skills from his years of work as a taxi driver,” he explained.
He also thanked Kevin Kelly and the crew at Celtic for helping his dream become a reality and the women’s team at ATU Sligo who have kept him grounded from day one.
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