“Moments like that are moments I’ll never forget”.
Armagh player Niall Grimley has spoken out on a beautifully poignant moment following his county’s All-Ireland win on Sunday.
The player lost his brother Patrick in a car accident last year and labelled his All-Ireland win as an “unbelievable but sad” moment for him and his family.
The incident happened when Patrick was driving back from his surprise 40th, in a crash involving four vehicles on the Gosford Road near Markethill..
Patrick’s wife Ciera, as well as Ciara McElvanna, the wife of Armagh’s 2002 All-Ireland winner Kevin, also died in the collision.
Grimley opened up on the moment the team stopped at the crash site on their way back from Dublin to pay tribute to those lost.
Niall Grimley on poignant moment Armagh team bus visited brother’s crash site following All-Ireland win
Speaking on the BBC’s The GAA Social podcast, Niall said: “We were coming down the Newry road, there was singing and beers and the craic was 90.
“I knew it was approaching, and I was a bit tense, and the next thing I can see the bus slowing down.”
Grimley explained that Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney asked him and a few other players to get out of the bus with the Sam Maguire cup.
“We took Sam out and we said a wee prayer for Patrick, Ciera and Ciara,” he said.
“Moments like that are moments I’ll never forget and that’s coming from one man and that’s Geezer.”
The day after Armagh win the All-Ireland, the team are on the bus, heading to Armagh. Life couldn’t be better. Niall Grimley knows the bus is about to pass the spot where his brother Patrick died. This is what happened next
— Thomas Niblock (@thomasniblock) August 1, 2024
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The midfielder also revealed that both Patrick and Ciera’s children joined him on the field at Croke Park after Armagh’s win.
The couple are survived by their three kids, Tadhg, Mya and Cadhla, who were sent home early the night their parents died.
“I was saying to them, ‘your mum and dad wouldn’t believe this’,” Grimley continued.
“When I see my mum and dad smiling, and them kids smiling, that makes me happy.
“All I do is kick a football round a pitch, it’s not really that important, it’s not a big job, but if that gives them happiness and joy, that’s fulfilment for me.
“If I can continue to do that, to keep putting a smile on their faces, then I will.”
After the whistle blew on Sunday, the 30-year-old also dedicated the win to his brother and his wife, saying that he “misses them so much.”
“Yesterday, the first thing I was thinking when the final whistle went was, ‘I wish my brother was here to see that’ because he would have enjoyed it,” he said.
