Louth GAA club | Durnin set for St. Mary’s debut

Louth vice-captain Tommy Durnin is closing in on his long-awaited debut for Ardee St. Mary’s after spending the summer recovering from a calf injury.

The experienced midfielder suffered a tear during Louth’s All-Ireland clash with Donegal, bringing his 2025 inter-county season to a frustrating halt.

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Now, weeks into his rehabilitation, Durnin is back on the training pitch and eager to return to competitive action. “Against Donegal, I was carrying an injury into the game in the second half. I had a bad tear in the calf,” Durnin explained.

“I'm just getting back on the pitch now, the last number of weeks, so I'll hopefully be available for the first game, but again, competition is just as tough, like the Louth team.

“There's a lot of good talent there. I just have to put on the gloves and get working again, so I look forward to that. It's a new journey for me as well. I'll be playing against a lot of guys I've soldiered with over the years, so I'm looking forward to it.”

Reflect and recovery

After years of rarely missing a match, the enforced break gave Durnin time to step back and reflect on both personal and collective progress.

“Over my career, I've been very lucky with not having many injuries. It was nice to get the break and reflect on the year, those highs, but there are lows as well. It just gives you a good time to reflect and see what the next steps are.

“I suppose with Gavin (Devlin) and Peter (Dooley) being appointed, it's something to look forward to in 2026 and what comes with that and the underage development. It is nice to look back, but it’s time to get down to work now.”

Devlin and Dooley

The new Louth management team of Gavin Devlin and Peter Dooley has brought a renewed sense of continuity and purpose to the county panel, something Durnin says players fully support.

“When Ger (Brennan) left, I'd say they were the two guys everyone wanted, the players and everything.

“I think from Louth’s success, Mickey (Harte) and Gavin and the guys, they started the journey and they put structures in place and we've all bought into that and it's just become a natural instinct now.

“That's the standards we strive for, but you can always improve every year, and that's what we're doing. And again, the guys will be pushing more and more; I can see it already with the plans they have.

“I don't think 35 players wanted anyone else, only the two guys. We're very happy with the appointment.

“It's open now for 45- 50 players to come in and impress and get a place in the squad and look forward to getting on the team itself, to push into the 15. Everyone's fighting for it, so it's a great place to be and it's great for Louth.”

New challenge

With recent provincial success under their belts, Louth now face the challenge of holding their ground as one of Leinster’s top sides. Durnin knows the dynamic has changed, and embraces it.

“I’d say Kildare, Meath, they're all gunning for us, but we were gunning for Dublin for years, so we'll embrace that, we love it.

“We've done what we wanted to do in Leinster, but now we've got aspirations to do as well. Every year we sit down, review where we want to go and last year we accomplished some of those goals, but we definitely have more targets we want to set.”