Armagh midfielder Niall Grimley said there were 'three angels looking down' on Armagh after their All-Ireland senior football final win over Galway.
Grimley's brother Patrick passed away last November along with his wife Ciera and Ciara McElvanna after a road traffic accident in Armagh.
The Madden club-man says his motivation throughout the year was to bring joy to Patrick and Ciera's 'three beautiful kids because they've been through enough.'
Grimley had to overcome injury as well as tragedy to make it to the peak of Gaelic football having suffered a neck break in training in 2022.
A number of knocks kept him out of this year's League and the Ulster championship but he made it back in time for the All-Ireland series, making his first start in their win over Derry before having a huge impact in the latter stages of the championship.
He played a key role in the final too, kicking a late score as they overcame the Tribesmen by 1-11 to 0-13, and he dedicated the victory to his late brother.
"When you lose someone so close to you, there's not a minute goes by that you don't think about them," he told Marty Morrissey from their banquet in the Carrickdale hotel.
"There were three angels looking down on us today."
Amid Armagh's All-Ireland success, Niall Grimley and Rian O'Neill pay tribute to lost loved ones.
📺 Watch The Sunday Game on @rteone & @rteplayer https://t.co/hgbwjaYsed pic.twitter.com/EkS4yZRp2R
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 28, 2024
"It's not about the medal or the cup for me - Patrick and Ciera have three beautiful kids and my motivation, night after night, was to put a smile on their faces because they've been through enough.
"Maybe they helped me with my last score," he added.
"There was three angels looking down on us today."
Grimley says winning an All-Ireland for Armagh was everything he ever dreamed of as a kid having watched his club man Kevin McElvanna win a Celtic Cross in 2002. McElvanna's wife also passed away in that devastating car accident last November and Grimley paid tribute to him for inspiring him as a Gaelic footballer.
"With my own club, Kevin McElvanna won an All-Ireland medal and I just looked up to him all the time, and I just thought to myself, one day, I want my dream to come through.
"It's everything you dream of as a young boy practicing,
"It's not just my story," he added, "everyone else has a story, unfortunately, it's part of life and you sorted have to just deal with it and move forward."
