Gone but not forgotten …

Robert Mizzell might sing about ‘The One that Got Away’ but in Mullingar Shamrocks case it’s the ones that got away. The members were delighted to see Conor O’Brien make such an impressive competitive debut on Friday night last for Leinster against Glasgow. Since his brilliant performances for Ireland in the World Under-20 Rugby Cup, Conor’s football career was headed in only one direction. The loss to Mullingar Shamrocks is a great one and prompted the thought that the other football codes have been unkind to Shamrocks in recent years as a number of promising footballers have entered the world of professional sport. Conor’s brother Sean is currently with Clontarf RFC and of course he too has represented Ireland in rugby at under-age level.  

In 2015 Mullingar Shamrocks won the Under-14 football championship with inspired performances by Aidan Keena and Seanie Mahon … we beat Athlone in the final with Seanie knocking a late, late penalty to the net to secure the victory. Seanie Mahon is currently lining out for St Patrick’s Athletic and has been capped several times for Ireland at Under-16 and Under-17 level in 2017. Aidan Keena is now living the dream in Edinburgh contracted to Scottish Premier League side Hearts where he is currently in a rich vein of goal scoring form for the Hearts youth team. Aidan too has represented Ireland at under-age level in soccer.  Our Under-21 team this year would have been a formidable outfit had the O’Brien brothers and Keena and Mahon been onboard.

Conor Gilsenan, who lined out for Mullingar Shamrocks at under-age level, and captained Ireland rugby teams at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level is now starring for London Irish in the Aviva Premiership and has also captained the exiles from his favourite back row position. He was recently on hand to provide the finishing touches for a great London Irish team try in the European Rugby Challenge Cup match V Stade Francais (Paris), an early contender for the try of the year (Check it out on YouTube … google Conor Gilsenan try).  

We look forward to the day when all five reach the ultimate goal and represent Ireland in their chosen sport at full international level.