Glasgow by birth, but Gaoth Dobhair by the grace of God.
Kevin Cassidy, one of Gaoth Dobhair and Donegal’s greatest gladiators, has a bit of both countries in him.
But there was no prouder Gaoth Dobhair man on Sunday evening as he picked up his third county medal along with his old comrades Eamon McGee, Neil McGee and Christopher McFadden.
It is very hard to believe he is all of 36 as Cassidy (Cass) has the youthful cherubic face of a teenager, the cheeky chappie with heart of a lion and ice in the veins when it really matters (just think of that point against Kildare in 2011 and a similar one against Tyrone earlier that year, both with the left foot).
He has been the Paudie O’Se of Donegal county teams for many years and it is one of the greatest tragedies that he did not get an All-Ireland medal in 2012.
But, on this balmy evening in Ballybofey Cass’s face is full of joy and bonhomie as he reflects on a great victory for his beloved Gaoth Dobhair but also on the Ulster campaign.
They now meet Cargin of Antrim in the Ulster Championship and Cassidy is already looking ahead: “We did not speak too much about Ulster collectively, but I have thought about it and I am sure a lot of people have thought about it.
“We will enjoy a few days and then we will get ready for the Antrim champions.”
And when asked about the magical Odhran MacNiallais, he is quite effusive: “He is unbelievable and we know that is in Odhran.
“I have seen that man since he was ten or twelve years of age doing all that in Magheragallon.
“We are seeing him doing it for Donegal and he is still only 26, maybe there is too much pressure on his shoulders.
“We asked him at the start of the year, to go out and enjoy himself and express himself.
“There is no better player in the country when he is in that kind of form.”
But Cassidy, MacNiallais and Gaoth Dobhair have been on a bit of journey back to the big time.
“Twenty months ago, we were hammered out the gate by Glenties, humiliated for a club like us,” added Cassidy.
“Then Mervyn O’Donnell (Cass’s brother-in-law) came in and took the job nobody wanted.
“He got us all in one room, got everyone buying into what he was doing and all we wanted was to win the Championship.
“So we all bought in and went close last year, but we used the hurt of last year to spur us on.
“We hurt all winter and came back with great determination.”
And Cass is also experiencing a renaissance of sorts as he looked as fit as he was when he was in his 20s.
“You have to do that and put in the extra hours and you can draw such energy from those young lads.
“Mervyn is such an honest guy and we wanted to do it for him, his club, ourselves and our families.
“When you see everyone else making the effort it is easy to put in the effort yourself and that has been the way for the past 20 months.”
