You couldn't make a list of the most beloved athletes in Ireland and not include Mayo's Ciaran McDonald, the only man brave enough to wear cornrows on a gaelic pitch. Well in the process of recording this week's 'The Hard Shoulder' with former Mayo midfielder David Brady, we learned a priceless nugget of info about McDonald's post-defeat drinking habits.
Flash back to late September 2004. It's the Thursday after Kerry had beaten Mayo in the All-Ireland final. The Mayo team are still drinking, when two members of the panel find out they have a club quarterfinal to attend to.
"I got a call," Brady said. "Myself and Ciaran McDonald were drinking brandies and port looking out over Enniscrone beach. The All-Ireland had been on the Sunday. We had been drinking on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. The club manager rang me to say we had a county quarterfinal against Crossmolina the following Sunday."
Drinking buddies instantly became adversaries.
"McDonald was as cute as a hawk too. He knew the five days I had, and I knew the five days he had."
Brady goes on to describe how McDonald made an unexpected cameo that day as a midfiedler --- possibly his only start in midfield in his career --- and who did he mark? Ballina's slightly-groggy David Brady. Ballina would win the match and the All-Ireland.
For what it's worth, the recipe for a brandy and port is deceptively simple and as Tony rightly states, it's the probably the only thing your body could take after drinking for 5 days solid.
Hear about this whole story and more below in this week's Hard Shoulder podcast.
