In 2001, Cormac McAnallen was voted Young Footballer of the Year. In 2003, he helped Tyrone to its first-ever All-Ireland championship win, and was named an All-Star. He was, by any measure, one of the best and most promising young footballers in Ireland.
But in March 2004, Cormac McAnallen died suddenly of an undetected heart condition. He was, truly, a young star cut down just as he entered his prime. As he worked his way up through the ranks of club, school and inter-county football, Cormac almost always had his brother Dónal - just a year older - by his side. Nobody else in the world knew as well as Dónal did how badly Cormac wanted to succeed, how hard he worked, or how much thought he put into his game.
In The Pursuit of Perfection, Dónal...
Dónal McAnallen is an historian, author, and Library and Archives Manager for National Museums NI. His books include The Evolution of the GAA (2009); The Cups that Cheered: A History of the Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Gaelic Games (2012); The GAA in Lisburn (2016); Reflections on the Revolution in the North (2016); and Forgotten Gaelic Volunteers: GAA Members who fought in World War One (2019).
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