Gay Sheerin (born 1955/1956) is a former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for the St Ronan's club and at senior level for the Roscommon county team.

Career

Sheerin played half-back as an under-16 player until he was assigned to be goalkeeper. His club, St Ronan's, kept him there. Afterwards, he was called into the county minor team, and there he was assigned permanently as a goalkeeper. A year later, he was assigned to be an outfielder with them, before resuming his former position of goalkeeper at

inter-county Inter-county, is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) List of Gaelic games terminology, terminology which refers to competitions or matches between County (Gaelic games), counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term c ...

level. Sheerin got into the senior inter-county team in the spring of 1977 for the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

. Roscommon won the

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht particip ...

(SFC) in 1977. By then, Sheerin was replaced with first choice goalkeeper Gerry O'Dowd. Sheerin earned the Number One Jersey by 1978, and he received his first of five Connacht SFC medals that same year. Afterwards, Roscommon faced off against Kerry, but did not reach a favorable conclusion.Sheerin was dropped from the county team in 1979, and replaced with John McDermott of Roscommon Gaels.Afterwards, in May 1980, a challenge match against

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

was held to open the

Cloone Cloone () is a village in County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located in the south of the county, just off the R201 road (Ireland), R201 road; its nearest town is Mohill. Its name is an anglicised version of the Irish- ...

pitch. After this, Sheerin resumed his former position again, and was a goalkeeper for the 1980 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. He returned in 1985 after a leave to build his house. In 1985, 1988, and 1989, Roscommon lost three Connacht SFC finals to Mayo, each in

Dr Hyde Park Dr. Hyde Park (''Páirc de hÍde'' in Irish language, Irish) is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) stadium in Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Built in 1969 and officially opened in 1971, it is the home of the Roscommon county football ...

. Sheerin rated the 1986 Connacht final loss to the

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

as the worst. In the early 1990s, Roscommon won two consecutive Connacht titles, defeating Galway in 1990 and Mayo in 1991 with the help of a replay.

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

both defeated them in the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals of those years.

Manager

In 1997 Sheerin managed Roscommon. He was appointed before the league opened. Under his management, Roscommon advanced to a Connacht final in 2001 that they lost to ultimate champion Galway. Galway won the

2001 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2001 Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 115th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on ...

title. Sheerin later quit the job in 2000 after three seasons due to Leitrim defeating Roscommon in the Connacht SFC semi-final. He was later assigned as a selector for Roscommon. In February 2017, he disagreed with the Roscommon manager at the time,

Kevin McStay Kevin McStay (born 9 May 1962) is an Irish Gaelic football manager, commentator, analyst and former player. Educated at St Jarlath's College in Tuam during the 1970s, McStay played for the school team. In retirement from playing, McStay became ...

, over allowing players from the

Mayo county football team The Mayo county football team (;) represents Mayo in men's Gaelic football and is governed by Mayo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Irelan ...

to join Roscommon. Roscommon later won the

2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship The 2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship was the 118th installment of the annual Connacht Senior Football Championship organised by Connacht GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Champio ...

Personal life

In August 1978, Sheerin had barely started an apprenticeship before returning to football. He left the inter-county game in 1983 to build his house. His trade was plastering, but he also worked as a Lakeland Dairies sales representative. Sheerin's inspirations include Brian McAlinden of Armagh, Paddy Linden Monaghan, and Martin Furlong of Offaly. He is married with two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheerin, Gay 1950s births Living people Gaelic football goalkeepers Gaelic football managers Gaelic football selectors Irish plasterers Irish salespeople Roscommon inter-county Gaelic footballers St Ronan's Gaelic footballers