The best day of his life has come in what Niall Grimley described as the worst year of his life.
Falling to his knees, arms raised and looking to the heavens.
The Madden man has just won the biggest prize in GAA but his mind races to one place – his brother, Patrick, and his young family. It’s rarely too far from his mind.
In a truly remarkable and heartrending interview with Thomas Niblock and Oisin McConville, for the GAA Social Podcast, the Armagh midfielder opens up on the emotions of an All-Ireland win just months after losing his older brother – “a father figure” – in a road traffic collision, which also claimed Patrick’s wife, Ciera and good friend Ciara McIlvanna, the wife of 2002 All-Ireland winner, Kevin McIlvanna.
“I’ve never done that ever,” recalls Niall of that now iconic moment where he drops to his knees on the Croke Park turf, moments after the final whistle is blown, signalling in a new crop of Armagh heroes of whom he is well and truly one.
“I don’t even know why I did do it. It was probably just the, ‘oh my goodness, we’ve done it’ and then obviously the first thing that comes into your head is probably just Patrick and Ciera and their three kids…”
Those three kids made their way onto the field in the aftermath, something Niall was delighted to see.
“I just wish my brother was there to see that. I obviously care a lot, I put a lot in but in terms of Patrick he literally knows every stat; he could probably tell you what you’ve scored in a McKenna Cup game in 1999, that would be the type of person Patrick is, like he would he would have been absolutely delighted on Sunday.
“You just wish you go and tell him [what we achieved]…I just wish you could just get a chance to see him again. But no, after the final whistle that probably was a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“Obviously it’s amazing ,the emotion, the celebration, but it’s sort of like ‘he’s not here for this’ and it’s a moment of I wish he was here for. It’s special, unbelievable moment, but again, a very sad moment for me.
“We beat Kerry in the semi-final, it was on the Saturday and the buzz was incredible. The emotion that day was incredible but on the bus on the way home, to be sitting there with my headphones in crying just thinking, I wish he was here.”
Niall recalled watching a video on the Sunday after the semi-final win. It was an old video of Patrick interviewing Tiernan Kelly for Armagh TV.
“It just triggered me,” he said. “I was just crying at the house for two hours thinking, ‘my brother’s going to miss the final and I don’t know why.
“He went on his birthday party and it was like he just sort of just disappeared from me. I haven’t got to see him again. It’s just incredible, but I’ve learned to live with it.”
But speaking of moments and the little things he will cherish forever – one such moment on Monday stood out among them all.
“We were in the Carrickdale Hotel on Monday and we were coming down the Newry Road, and we’re on the bus, there’s singing, there’s beer and the craic is ninety.
“I know it’s approaching [the crash scene]. I know, the scene is approaching and I’m a wee bit tense. You know, I’m sort of like, ‘ah the boys won’t notice’; I just bless myself as I’m going past it every single day and next thing, I can sort of see the bus slowing down, and I’m like, ‘what’s going on’.
“I looked to the front and the bus pulls over and I’m like, ‘ah no, I don’t know what’s going on. And Geezer just asks myself and a few of us to go out. We took Sam out and we had a wee word with Patrick and Ciera and Ciara. Just moments like that, they’re probably moments that I’ll probably never forget. That’s special, special moments for me.”
You can listen to the full interview here with Niall on BBC Sounds.
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