Dermot O'Brien's long association with Simonstown Gaels has many elements running through it, but a central vein is the number of 'firsts' he achieved with some of the teams he managed. In that respect he can be considered one of the club's greatest pioneers, who helped to accelerate progression through the 1980s and 1990s.
After many years of endeavour and near misses by previous teams over more than two decades, he was manager of the first team to win a junior football championship in 1990.
After a short break away from the sideline, Dermot returned to guide the team to a first intermediate title in 1995. He stayed on into 1996 and consequently was the club's first ever senior manager.
Dermot, who served as club president for the last number of years, died on Wednesday night after a courageous battle with illness and his loss will be felt deeply by his family.
But within Simonstown there will be a great sense of loss too, not just for what he achieved with his teams but for his wit and wisdom, his engaging company and his familiar presence as a supporter and strong advocate of the club's teams and its promotion of football in the Navan area.
Dermot first took charge of Simonstown juvenile teams in the 1980s that his sons Paul and Shane were part of. In 1986 he managed an U-12 team to a county title and two years later followed that up with an U-14 county title with the same core group of players. They also represented Meath at that year's Feile in Kildare. The following year, under his stewardship, Simonstown retained the U-14 title, and represented Meath at another Feile, this time in Galway. In 1990 further underage success followed, when that team he had taken from U-12 progressed to win an U-16 title. Many of those players provided the impetus for the progress that followed at adult level and remain actively involved in the club today, another great legacy.
By then Dermot was already immersed in the club's adult teams, becoming a selector in 1988 and then taking over as manager in 1989. Simonstown beat Cortown in the 1990 final with Paul, at just 16, coming off the bench to make an impact. Seamus Heaney and John Lynch were his assistants. Dermot remained on as manager for the first intermediate campaign in 1991 and then returned as Simonstown lost an intermediate final to Kilmainhamwood in 1994. By then he had forged a new sideline partnership with Jim Lane and John Lally and that intermediate title followed, with a final win over Castletown. Paul and Shane were both involved to share in that success with their father.
He was a strong man manager, who preferred the 'carrot' to the 'stick' and had a unique way of coaxing the best out of his dressing-rooms. The trust he put in players was more often than not reciprocated. Mobile phones were not widely in circulation in those years, never mind WhatsApp and ClubZap, but Dermot's preferred mode of communication was a house visit and a conversation. He left no stone unturned with preparations, going as far as to source a drop of poitín for a stricken player coming down with 'flu on the morning of the intermediate final!
He was a strong dressing-room orator too, fiery when he had to be in times of need. One of his favourite lines was that the game was simple, it was the players who were complicating it! It was a measure of his commitment to Simonstown that even when PJ Carroll was appointed as the first 'outside' manager in 1997, Dermot stayed on as a selector, along with Seamus Heaney for that year. He had a second spell as senior manager, coming back in for one year, 2000, with Sean Barry as his coach. His sideline experience had been sharpened by his years with Walterstown, first as a player and then as a selector in 1980 when Walterstown won a second Meath title and reached the All-Ireland club football final, losing to Cork's St Finbarr's. Two years before, Dermot won a senior medal as a member of the Walterstown squad that made their breakthrough in 1978. He had played at full-back in the 1976 final defeat to Summerhill and also played in the 1968 final, which Walterstown lost to Kells, when he was one of their best players.
For a long time, Dermot had the unique distinction of being the holder of minor, U-21, Div 2, junior, intermediate and senior medals, the full collection of what was available in his time. That was subsequently matched by Meath's 1996 All-Ireland winning captain Tommy Dowd. Dermot enjoyed that association, especially as he had played minor football for Meath with Tommy's father, also Tommy, in the mid 1960s.
Dermot is a member of the esteemed O'Brien family from Johnstown, one of the families that backboned Walterstown's extraordinary rise through the 1960s and 1970s. But he attended primary school in Navan De la Salle and subsequently played his underage football with 'the Salles.' Contemporaries remember him as a player of great skill and speed who represented Meath at minor and U-21 level. His brothers Mick, who died in April, and Eamon, who also managed Simonstown, managed the Meath senior football team while both Oliver and Eamon were on the Meath team that beat Dublin in the 1975 league final, when Mick was manager.
For many years Shane was Simonstown secretary and Dermot himself sat on executive committees and was always at hand to help out in any way he could with an event or a project being undertaken. When Simonstown won a first senior title in 2016, he was both delighted and relieved that at last it had been achieved. He leaves behind a legacy that will be long remembered and appreciated by Simonstown and its members, one his family can be extremely proud of.
To Joan, Paul, Shane and Orla, Rose, Breda and Dave, Dermot's grandchildren, Niamh, Mel, Kealy, Isabelle, Cian, Conor and Ellen, brothers Oliver, Eamon and Sean, sisters Betty and Margaret and the wider O'Brien family, Simonstown Gaels GFC extends its heartfelt sympathy on the passing of one of their own.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
After many years of endeavour and near misses by previous teams over more than two decades, he was manager of the first team to win a junior football championship in 1990.
After a short break away from the sideline, Dermot returned to guide the team to a first intermediate title in 1995. He stayed on into 1996 and consequently was the club's first ever senior manager.
Dermot, who served as club president for the last number of years, died on Wednesday night after a courageous battle with illness and his loss will be felt deeply by his family.
But within Simonstown there will be a great sense of loss too, not just for what he achieved with his teams but for his wit and wisdom, his engaging company and his familiar presence as a supporter and strong advocate of the club's teams and its promotion of football in the Navan area.
Dermot first took charge of Simonstown juvenile teams in the 1980s that his sons Paul and Shane were part of. In 1986 he managed an U-12 team to a county title and two years later followed that up with an U-14 county title with the same core group of players. They also represented Meath at that year's Feile in Kildare. The following year, under his stewardship, Simonstown retained the U-14 title, and represented Meath at another Feile, this time in Galway. In 1990 further underage success followed, when that team he had taken from U-12 progressed to win an U-16 title. Many of those players provided the impetus for the progress that followed at adult level and remain actively involved in the club today, another great legacy.
By then Dermot was already immersed in the club's adult teams, becoming a selector in 1988 and then taking over as manager in 1989. Simonstown beat Cortown in the 1990 final with Paul, at just 16, coming off the bench to make an impact. Seamus Heaney and John Lynch were his assistants. Dermot remained on as manager for the first intermediate campaign in 1991 and then returned as Simonstown lost an intermediate final to Kilmainhamwood in 1994. By then he had forged a new sideline partnership with Jim Lane and John Lally and that intermediate title followed, with a final win over Castletown. Paul and Shane were both involved to share in that success with their father.
He was a strong man manager, who preferred the 'carrot' to the 'stick' and had a unique way of coaxing the best out of his dressing-rooms. The trust he put in players was more often than not reciprocated. Mobile phones were not widely in circulation in those years, never mind WhatsApp and ClubZap, but Dermot's preferred mode of communication was a house visit and a conversation. He left no stone unturned with preparations, going as far as to source a drop of poitín for a stricken player coming down with 'flu on the morning of the intermediate final!
He was a strong dressing-room orator too, fiery when he had to be in times of need. One of his favourite lines was that the game was simple, it was the players who were complicating it! It was a measure of his commitment to Simonstown that even when PJ Carroll was appointed as the first 'outside' manager in 1997, Dermot stayed on as a selector, along with Seamus Heaney for that year. He had a second spell as senior manager, coming back in for one year, 2000, with Sean Barry as his coach. His sideline experience had been sharpened by his years with Walterstown, first as a player and then as a selector in 1980 when Walterstown won a second Meath title and reached the All-Ireland club football final, losing to Cork's St Finbarr's. Two years before, Dermot won a senior medal as a member of the Walterstown squad that made their breakthrough in 1978. He had played at full-back in the 1976 final defeat to Summerhill and also played in the 1968 final, which Walterstown lost to Kells, when he was one of their best players.
For a long time, Dermot had the unique distinction of being the holder of minor, U-21, Div 2, junior, intermediate and senior medals, the full collection of what was available in his time. That was subsequently matched by Meath's 1996 All-Ireland winning captain Tommy Dowd. Dermot enjoyed that association, especially as he had played minor football for Meath with Tommy's father, also Tommy, in the mid 1960s.
Dermot is a member of the esteemed O'Brien family from Johnstown, one of the families that backboned Walterstown's extraordinary rise through the 1960s and 1970s. But he attended primary school in Navan De la Salle and subsequently played his underage football with 'the Salles.' Contemporaries remember him as a player of great skill and speed who represented Meath at minor and U-21 level. His brothers Mick, who died in April, and Eamon, who also managed Simonstown, managed the Meath senior football team while both Oliver and Eamon were on the Meath team that beat Dublin in the 1975 league final, when Mick was manager.
For many years Shane was Simonstown secretary and Dermot himself sat on executive committees and was always at hand to help out in any way he could with an event or a project being undertaken. When Simonstown won a first senior title in 2016, he was both delighted and relieved that at last it had been achieved. He leaves behind a legacy that will be long remembered and appreciated by Simonstown and its members, one his family can be extremely proud of.
To Joan, Paul, Shane and Orla, Rose, Breda and Dave, Dermot's grandchildren, Niamh, Mel, Kealy, Isabelle, Cian, Conor and Ellen, brothers Oliver, Eamon and Sean, sisters Betty and Margaret and the wider O'Brien family, Simonstown Gaels GFC extends its heartfelt sympathy on the passing of one of their own.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
