1 week Ago
THERE WERE A few factors involved in Carlow’s all-time top scorer announcing his decision to retire. A new manager was coming in, marking the start of a new age in the squad. The impending arrival of his second child was another factor in his thoughts about the future.
Younger pups were breaking through to the senior ranks too. And then there was the annual check-in with himself to get a measure of what he could give to the next season. All the evidence pointed to one conclusion: time was moving him on.
After 15 years of playing inter-county football, Darragh Foley knew he needed to retire. The legacy he leaves behind is told by the numbers in his career. His overall scoring total was 12-433 across 165 competitive appearances for his county.
Last year, he overtook Brendan Hayden to become Carlow’s leading scorer when his tally hit the 11-425 mark. After all the goodwill Foley received in the wake of achieving that feat, he thought a retirement statement would be the best way to express his gratitude for their support. “The best way to do it was just to release something and put it to bed.
“It’s nice to reflect back on the messages and when you read them, you look back at the good days and what it meant to a lot of people. A lot of great Carlow footballers just stepped away and didn’t get to say anything [when they retired] and I just wanted to thank the people that were closest to me.” Foley’s career crossed over with Carlow’s most prosperous days in modern football when they ascended to new heights under Turlough O’Brien.
The period was captured by the viral hashtag #CarlowRising. In 2017, they defeated Wexford to earn their first win in the Leinster championship since 2011, with Foley notching two points from play. He added another in their Leinster quarter-final against Dublin as Carlow bowed out with a spirited display despite finishing the game with 14 players after Brendan Murphy was sent off.
The following year, they ended a 33-year wait for promotion to Division 3 and earned a first Leinster championship victory over Kildare since 1953. Carlow also overcame Louth in the opening round of that competition by 2-17 to 0-12, a memory that has been recurring in Foley’s mind lately. He can’t help but wonder how both counties have diverged down different paths since then.
Louth have contested the last two Leinster finals while Craig Lennon became the Wee County’s first All-Star recipient this year since Paddy Keenan’s award in 2010. Carlow are the grade below in the Tailteann Cup and have been back in Division 4 since 2020. “We put Louth away in Portlaoise very comprehensively,” Foley recounts of that provincial campaign in 2018.
“You look at where Louth has gone as a county now and we’ve gone back. It’s a big bug-bear of mine but it’s testament to what they have done. “They were great days in ’17 and ’18.
Even during Niall’s time, we had some great days in the Tailteann Cup. I’ve very fond memories of playing against New York and what that brought to Dr Cullen Park, and the fanfare around that. I got to march behind the Killeshin Pipe Band which was a dream of mine.
I never got to do it at club level, so it was nice to have that moment as well.” Many have questioned the wisdom of committing one’s time to a county’s cause when the top prizes are never within reach. Two seasons of progress and promise out of 15 would seem like an insufficient return to some.
But Foley has no regrets about the effort he invested in his county jersey. “My answer is very simple: I loved it. I loved every moment of it.
I loved the lifestyle of being a county footballer as well, and the structure of it. You get well looked after. You have your strength and conditioning and your nutritionists.
Just the training, the friendships and camaraderie makes it all worthwhile. I come from a small club in Kilbride and we try to battle against all odds. You bring that into the county set-up as well.
“It meant a lot to my club that I was involved with Carlow. So I wasn’t just representing myself and my family, I was representing my club as well. “I just loved representing Carlow.
It was all I wanted to do and I was very lucky that I got to do it for a long time. 15 years is a long time but I was very lucky injury-wise as well. Every year, I weighed it up as to whether the body was able and this year was the first year that I felt it was time to step away.
” Foley intends to continue playing for Kilbride as he adjusts to life outside the inter-county bubble. There is relief in that process as the body is spared from the rigours of county training. But the sudden absence of that structure can be unsettling.
Club football provides an important anchor in surviving that transition. “We have lads in their late 40s playing for us, so I don’t know if the body will hold up that long. We’re a small rural club and we’re fighting to survive.
If we didn’t have those lads playing and togging out, the club would be gone. “A big thing for me was the fear in stepping away. You leave that structure behind.
But it brings new opportunities as well and gives you more time to spend with loved ones. I’m looking forward to doing that and enjoying football differently. When you’re playing county football and you come back to the club, there’s an awful lot of pressure to perform.
“There will always be that pressure to perform but you can kind of go back and enjoy it for what it should be. It’s about community and keeping it going, and having somewhere in the area for lads to go to express themselves.” There were a few conversations with new Carlow manager Shane Curran before settling on his decision to depart.
But Foley was always confident in his decision and they wished each other well. Now he can settle into the life of the supporter knowing that his contribution to Carlow football is enshrined in the annals. “I’m really looking forward to being on that side of the other side of the fence.
I’ll be going to all the games to support the lads. There’s a really tight group there and I just hope that they get the resources needed and the support from the top down. Hopefully we’ll see them progress up to Division 3.
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