“What do I have to do to get a bit of bleedin’ respect around here.” – Dessie Curley, The Snapper
Back in 2001, Dublin were on the trip to Tipp and Kerry were the opposition.
It had been six years since Dublin had won Sam Maguire but they fancied their chances against The Kingdom.
Senan Connell and Vinnie Murphy were part of the Dubs team that pushed Kerry to the very brink at Semple Stadium. In the build-up to that game, the squad had a chance encounter with legendary actor Colm Meaney.
Connell told The GAA Hour Live [go to 1:19:00 below]:
“The Dubs were like ‘The game is at 3:3o… Ah we’ll leave around 2:30’. We ran out for the match and were like ‘Is anyone coming to this match?’
“We were staying in the Horse & Jockey. Myself and Ciaran Whelan were kicking a ball around the car-park and Vinnie is hovering around his [hotel room] window on the second level.
“Colm Meaney shows up. At that time The Snapper was huge – it was everywhere – but he was also in Star Trek. He pulls into the car park and myself and Whelo are like ‘Is that bleedin’ Colm Meaney? It is, it is!’
“He gets out [of his car] and his mam is with him, who’s about 106.
“Whelo goes ‘Would you look at this fella’ because Vinnie is shifting about in the window with a bathrobe on him.
“Next thing, the window goes up and Whelo goes ‘We’re f**ked here Sen’.
“Windows opens, Vinnie drops the bathrobe and goes, ‘Here Colm, can you beam that up?!’
“And Colm Meaney, fair play to him, goes ‘Vinnie, you concentrate on the match!'”
Murphy was a star for Dublin on the day as he came off the bench to lead a second half revival that had Dublin on the brink of a famous win.
As we all know now, Kerry got out of Tipp with a draw after Maurice Fitzgerald’s late, swerving score from the sidelines.
With that, Meaney was back to the day job…
Check out our GAA Hour All-Ireland preview special, featuring Jack McCaffrey, Paul Galvin, Colm Cooper, Peter Canavan, Kieran McGeeney, Senan Connell, John O’Leary and Vinnie Murphy. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
