James McAuley has been thrust into a limelight over the past three months that he, nor any of his club colleagues, could have ever seen coming.
The unassuming 22-year-old has, in that short time, ensured that his name has been firmly inscribed in the annals of North Belfast's rich GAA history and heritage. A history and heritage that hasn't always enjoyed such heady days.
Slowly but surely, the St. Enda's club in Glengormley, so often synonymous with images of grief and darkness that has blighted much of their six decade history, and that of the land in which it dwells, have walked towards an ever-brightening light. Led by McAuley, the youthful crop of senior footballers have marched the club jersey as far from the funeral guard of honour, or worse still, the poignancy of the draped coffin, as it has ever been.
As the horror of The Troubles gripped the northern part of the island throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, the club took on the harrowing title of the most terrorised sports club in Ireland, after five of its members were brutally murdered by loyalist paramilitaries between the summers of 1981 and 2002.
McAuley is just about old enough to remember the murder of Gerard Lawlor (19), gunned down just before midnight on a balmy July evening by faceless death merchants on a moped. He was turning on to Floral Road as the shots rang out, en route to the house he shared with his girlfriend and new born son. His crime? That he'd pulled on a Celtic jersey that morning, before going on a Saturday session with his friends.
Speaking in previous interviews, the club captain has said, "It's something I know we are conscious of every time we pull on the St. Endas's jersey." But a sensitivity to the suffering endured by the older members of their clan is also apparent.
The reality is that as much as we might think we know, we have no idea what it must mean to the older members that had to continually pick themselves and the club off the floor in those days. Thankfully, we are in a much better place now.
And whilst the pain of the past, nor those who suffered so cruelly at its hand, will never be forgotten in the shadow of Cave Hill, this coming Sunday that same youthful crop will, once again, have a golden opportunity to continue their own healing narrative.
December 1st gave McAuley, the software development student, the best night of his succinct years. Climbing the steps at the Athletic Grounds to claim the McCully Cup and the title of Ulster Intermediate Club Champions, the precursor to what he himself describes as "one of those nights you'll never forget" back at their Hightown Road base. But while bottles clinked and songs were aired on that evening, the steely determination that characterised St. Enda's path to provincial glory, returned with a vengeance not long after.
https://t.co/c0dVu0bnX2 pic.twitter.com/TyKpuu6HVP
— Naomh Éanna CLG (@NaomhEannaCLG) December 1, 2018
"Frank [Fitzsimmons - Senior Manager] gave us the week off, to enjoy ourselves and try to let what we'd achieved sink in a bit", remarked McAuley today, as he sipped on a frothy latte in an Antrim Road coffee house."The truth is we were itching to get back and prepare for Spiddal, and have been training three nights a week since - Christmas week included".
The month and a half that have come and gone since their last competitive fixture, when trumping Mullahoran in Armagh that night, have allowed for a refocus. Niggles picked up through the cut and thrust of the quickfire Ulster Championship campaign have been ironed out and the selection pool has grown, as midfielder Niall McKeown and corner-back Cormac Scott have re-entered calculations, ahead of Sunday's game in Navan. Both men have returned to full training after cruciate ligament injuries, had seemingly put pay to their seasons, early in the 2018 campaign.
Challenge games against Queen's University Freshers and Ulster Senior champions Gaoth Dobhair over the past couple of weeks demonstrated that a fierce hunger still exists within a squad that first came together more than a year ago to welcome their incoming manager.
If anything, it's led to a conundrum for Fitzsimmons, the former Antrim manager. It's a conundrum that McAuley admits he is none-too-envious of his manager in his bid to figure out.
As far as club football goes, it's quite a unique problem to have. In 95% of club teams in the country, you'll have a surefire starting fifteen that you can more or less bet will play week-in, week-out. With us, we genuinely have a serious amount of options, and it's not an exaggeration to say that nine or ten of the guys that sat out the Mullahoran game are in contention for Sunday.
With so many hands at the wheel, it's not difficult to see where the side's recent success has emanated from, and that ethos of 'one-in-all-in' has provided a vivid backdrop to their pre-Spiddal plans. Perhaps this is evident most in the fact that McAuley, along with talismanic forward Odhrán Eastwood, are double booked for this Sunday. A complication that the centre half-back took to Twitter this week to highlight.
Great to see the GAA learnt from the Corofin/NUIG disaster last year and fixed a game on the same day as the All Ireland club semi finals 👍🏼 https://t.co/9oHmQcpl1T
— James McAuley (@JamesMcAuley96) January 15, 2019
"Myself and Odhrán would have loved to represent Queen's in the Sigerson Cup, post-Sunday's game. But the GAA scheduling made that impossible for us", a frustrated McAuley relayed.
But he was also quick to appreciate the situation he is in.
We can't complain, I suppose. We are sixty minutes away from taking the club to an All-Ireland final at Croke Park. For me, that's the absolute pinnacle. And it's the same for the other boys with outside interests as well. There's a few other lads who have Sigerson interests, the inter-county footballers and hurlers are well into their preparations for the upcoming season, and we have lads who play soccer and other sports at quite a competitive level. We took the decision to attend solely to St. Enda's.
And alongside that camaraderie, lies that reserved self-assurance that has taken the Antrim club to this point. A self-assurance that McAuley believes, continues to grow in the camp, with the Connacht champions lying in weight.
We aren't one of those teams that beat the chest and disrespect opponents we come across. They are Connacht champions and we don't take that lightly. But I stand by what I've been saying all year. We feel we can better anyone on our day, as long as we come well prepared and willing to do the job. Underdogs or favourites tags we take no heed of, and Sunday will not be any different.
It'll be an early start for the yellow and black swathes travelling south for the 2pm throw-in. The vocal Glengormley faithful filled two supporters buses when trekking to Armagh for the Ulster final, as well as the Pearse Óg club bar at the back of the Athletic Grounds both pre and post-match.
Who can blame them for living it up? After all, they're long overdue a bit of enjoyment.
A sporting fairytale is close to completion, but with their boys sixty minutes from Croker, the bleary eyes boarding the 10am express from North Belfast to Navan will be hoping for at least one more chapter beyond the weekend.
Catch all the action from Páirc Tailteann, Navan live on TG4 from 1.55 pm on Sunday 20th January as St. Enda's of Antrim go head-to-head with An Spidéal of Galway in the semi-final of the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Fotball Semi-Final.
