ST PETER’S Terrace has always been revered as a friendly and welcoming part of Dungloe but it is for its connections to the Donegal SFC Final that it is grabbing the attention this week.
Players from both the Dungloe and St Eunan’s teams have parents that hail from the terrace, and there are ties and friendships which were formed many years ago that are still just as strong today.
Annette Tobin (née Brunnick) is the mother of St Eunan’s captain, Kieran and she now finds herself behind enemy lines in Letterkenny as the big match approaches.
“I was raised in 46 St Peter’s Terrace. My parents were both from Tipperary. We would have watched gaelic of course but the main focus was on hurling back then,” Annette said.
“Now it’s all about the gaelic, and my son Kieran will be playing for St Eunan’s.
“Next door to us were Ann and Tony Sharkey, and their son Ciaran is part of the Dungloe panel.
“Down the road was Fred and Nora Sweeney’s house. I would be great friends with their daughter Marie (Bonner), and Marie and her husband Owen’s son Oisin is playing for Dungloe.
Dungloe’s Oisin Bonner looks for a way past Fanad Gaels’ Paddy Heraghty.
“Marie’s sister Marcella is married to Dungloe manager Dessie Gallagher and they have two sons Daire and Oran on the team.
“Her brother John, also has a son, Dylan Sweeney playing for Dungloe.
“Next door to the Sweeneys is where Peter Ward grew up, and he is the father of Matthew and Daniel Ward.
“Down a couple of doors is where Mary Molloy lived, and she is now based in Letterkenny and is the mother of Eamonn Doherty who will be playing for St Eunan’s this week.
“Across the road from them is the home of the late Liam Reilly, and Margaret and Martina.
“It’s really remarkable that the sons of so many people from St Peter’s Terrace will play in the final on Sunday.”
Marie picks it up from here and talks of how she and Annette headed to England after their school days.
“We both went away to study our nursing, and trained over there and then worked there.
“Owen was playing for the successful Tir Chonaill Gaels teams in London, and that was a good social outlet for us all.
“We would have went to all the games and got infiltrated into the community over there.
“Myself and Owen, and Annette and Peter Ward would have lived together in what we called a flat, but it would probably be called an apartment now.
“Then Annette came home about six months before I did. She got a job in Letterkenny Hospital and I got a job in Dungloe Hospital.
“Annette met Eddie Tobin then one night in the Cottage and she stayed in Letterkenny after that.”
Life can move on, and employment and family life can see priorities change but the Bonners and the Tobins have remained close friends down through the years.
“We would still be very friendly,” said Annette.
“Myself and Eddie, and Marie and Owen, and Peter and Michelle went away together to Alaska last August, in what was a holiday of a lifetime.
Annette Tobin, Marie Bonner, and Peter Ward in Alaska.
“We have always stayed in contact, and we would have been at the All-Ireland Final in July with Marie and Owen as well.
“We would always be in and out the road to Dungloe.
“Particularly when the kids were younger we would have been over a lot so there have always been close ties.”
St Eunan’s and Dungloe haven’t squared off in recent years so there hasn’t been an intense rivalry.
The Letterkenny club were expected to be in the mix for championship honours, but Dungloe’s rise has taken many by surprise.
It was at the quarter-final stage that Annette began to sense that a Dungloe-Eunan’s decider could be on the cards.
“I suppose when Dungloe beat Glenswilly down in Cloughaneely that day.
“We were leaving to head to Ballybofey, and I was saying to the Dungloe ones that we would meet them in the final.
“Then when ‘Eunan’s beat Gaoth Dobhair on the Saturday, you were thinking then that it’s going to be them and Dungloe in the final.
“That’s the way it went and I have got a few cheeky text messages since then.
“The residents of St Peter’s Terrace have put up a sign wishing the Dungloe team well and I was sent a picture of that.
“But I was saying that they can put up all the signs they want, as long as we are still celebrating on Monday morning.”
While the people of Dungloe are delighted to be back in the final after a sixty-year wait, there is a tinge of sadness at those who are no longer with us who would have loved to see the red and white jerseys take to the field on county final day once again.
Marie knows her father Fred would have cherished the chance to watch his grandsons on the big stage.
“We would have always congregated at my father’s house after the games.
“Poor Dessie would have been interrogated about decisions they made, and the boys would have been told what they should have been doing from a young age.
“My father played in the last Dungloe teams to win the championship in 1957 and 1958 and he would have played in the finals in ’61 and ’64 too.
“My grandfather Neil Sweeney won three championships with Dungloe in ’31, ’33, and 1940.
“My father would have loved to have seen Dungloe in another county final but unfortunately it didn’t happen. He died earlier this year.
“But people keep telling me he’s up there pulling the strings for the team.”
Marie will go to Sunday’s match with her husband Owen, son Evan and daughter Eilish.
She doesn’t think she will enjoy the sixty minutes of action but says she has encountered a wonderful fortnight in the build-up.
“I have had a brilliant two weeks.
“I’m working in what is called the day hospital in Dungloe, and some of the patients would be in their nineties.
“A number of them are very interesting GAA men and I’ve been taking in Fr Sean’s book every day and going through old teams, and they are reminiscing about games from the past and it’s really lovely.
“There’s a great buzz about and you would see that even with non-GAA people but they are stopping you and asking about it.”
If young ‘Eunan’s captain Kieran Tobin has penned a few words for a captain’s speech in preparation for Sunday, he certainly hasn’t asked for any advice from his mother.
Kieran Tobin
Annette says he likes to keep things low-key, but the Tobins, including Patrick and Alisha, will be on the terrace in good time on Sunday afternoon, and they will be wearing their black and amber colours.
“There are no divided loyalties now.
“It’s been a good season for St Eunan’s and hopefully they can see it through,” Annette said.
“I hope that it’s a good final but I don’t want it too close.
“I’d like it to be comfortable because I might be able to enjoy the game then.
“But I think it will be a tight match and nobody will want to lose it.”
Marie says she will make contact with Annette before the final, and stressed whatever the outcome, they will still be on speaking terms come Monday morning.
“I will send her a text on Saturday night.
“We would have always followed Kieran with St Eunan’s and the county under 20s, and when Alisha and Patrick are playing too.
“We will wish Kieran good luck on Sunday as usual but not necessarily the St Eunan’s team!
“If Kieran plays well and Dungloe win, we will be happy.
“Myself and Annette won’t fall out about it anyway. We have been neighbours and friends for over fifty years and that won’t stop whatever happens on Sunday.”
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