‘It has been a great privilege to have been on this journey’
Last Thursday saw Dom Corrigan close the door of his office in the PE Department at St. Michael’s for the last time after 37 years teaching at the Drumclay seat of learning.
Corrigan is, of course, widely known as St. Michael’s Mr. MacRory Cup, leading the school to becoming one of the major forces of colleges football in Ulster while he finally got his hands on the one cup that had eluded him when they landed the Hogan Cup in the spring of 2019.
His enjoyment, though, came from simply working with the students in the school, sporting or not.
“The good thing is that I can look back on my time on the hill with great memories and great happiness, and what will stand out for me is working with great students from Fermanagh and Tyrone over the years.
“Some of them have never kicked a ball at all, and I enjoyed their company as much as the company of star sportsmen. That was all part of the journey – I really enjoyed it, but I think it is now time to go into the slow lane.
“I’m realistic to know that there comes a time that you have to move on, and once I turned 60 I knew I wanted to slow down a bit and take a change of direction,” he said.
And it is seeing those students going on and making an impact in the community that gives Corrigan great pride.
“I take great pride in seeing St. Michael’s students progress and make their mark in all aspects of society, and it is a better place for having many of those St. Michael’s boys exerting a real, positive influence in so many important areas of life. That is a huge thing,” he added.
There is a special eye kept though on those who go on to make an impression in sporting life.
“In sport, you have the GAA obviously, and it is great to see boys competing at a high level with their clubs and the highest level with their county, and then you have the likes of Kieran McKenna and Michael McGovern.
“Kieran is now Manager of Ipswich Town and I follow his progress very closely; I watch out for the Ipswich Town result every Saturday afternoon now. Michael McGovern’s successes with club and Northern Ireland as well – we take great pride with what our past students achieve,” he added.
It is his influence on St. Michael’s MacRory Cup teams, however, that Corrigan is widely recognised for, and it is a competition that he holds in a high regard.
“The MacRory Cup is the envy of all the other provinces in Ireland because of the prestige and the media profile with it.
“For us to have had such great success; for me, it has been a privilege to have been associated with those various teams, and it is brilliant for the school to have had those successes.
“These are things that you don’t take for granted and we as a school are blessed to have had those successes, and I know that there are solid foundations now to drive on.
“MacRory Cup football is a seriously competitive environment where you have new teams coming into it every year or so, and it is not getting any easier, but St. Michael’s will be up there competing, and won’t have any fear of any of them,” he said.
September is the time of the new school year and for Corrigan it was also the start of the MacRory Cup preparation, and he stresses that no matter what quality of team they have, the exact same effort goes into giving them every chance of doing their best each year.
“That is one of the things that I would always have prided myself on. That every team – and that’s the unique thing about Colleges football, that every year it is a new team – and that new team has to be given the utmost of preparation, and the utmost of respect, whether they are going to be genuine MacRory Cup contenders, or whether they are going to be challengers that fall short, you prepare them as if they are going to win the competition.
“That’s the way I would have went out every September with every team.”
That attitude led to plenty of good runs and also MacRory Cup successes, but the big one always eluded Corrigan and St. Michael’s until 2019 when they finally climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Hogan Cup.
“It was proving to be very elusive, and I may have gone on until 70 if I hadn’t got there!
“No, it was a huge part of the highlights of my time with St. Michael’s, eventually getting across the line. It was success that was celebrated not only by that group, but by every group that went before it, and I think the thing that made it so special was that it was celebrated by all Fermanagh folk from all codes of sports. That was special.
“It put St. Michael’s up there; I would have always felt that while winning MacRory’s was great, there was a piece of the jigsaw that had to be complete, and the Hogan Cup coming back to the hill was that big piece of the jigsaw that completed it.”
Looking back, Corrigan says that it has been a privilege to have worked at St. Michael’s for so long.
“I enjoyed the full term. Working with such fantastic young men, year in, year out, it was a treat and it kept me young, so I don’t know what I’m going to do know!
“ I just felt privileged to be part of a journey for the past 37 years.”
So, what is next for the former Fermanagh Manager, who is now in charge of his home club in Kinawley?
Naturally, family is his number-one priority: “Well, first of all, Mary and myself will go to visit Blanáid in London very soon, as she is working there for six months and we are looking forward to that.
“Also, I’ve just signed myself up to the gym in the Lakeland Forum and Leon [Carters] now has the task of knocking me into shape, and this will be one of his toughest assignments yet!
“I’m looking forward to family time and football time in Kinawley – that’s the short-term, and let’s see what the future holds after that.”