Barryroe GAA

01 March, 2025

Barryroe GAA Club welcomed a special guest to a packed Courtmacsherry Community Centre on Friday night last. Dessie Fitzgerald spoke eloquently on the night about the power of the human mind and its impact when we “Mind our Minds”. An empowering evening dedicated to nurturing your mental well-being with topics such as Resilience, Vulnerability, Decision Making, Goal Setting, Beliefs and Gratitude.

Dessie discussed how these topics have helped get his life back on track. On the 8th of August 2011, Dessie’s brother took his own life. The Mind Health Coach spoke about the experience, “ my life just spiralled from that moment on. I didn't know properly how to deal with that. It's very hard to process.” Two months later Dessie suffered a serious spinal injury in a hurling match. He explained what happened “ I kind of got caught between two players, but I got knees into the chest from one player. And after I did, my head just sprung back and forth and, I fell to the floor and, I was in a daze for a couple of seconds and I was like, right time to get back up. I tried to get back up and I was like, ‘Why can't I get up?’ And a couple of seconds later, I was like, ‘I cannot feel or move anything below my shoulders.’" In an extraordinary display of persistence and drive Dessie is now walking and talks about the power of hope in his journey. He said, “Firstly, hold on to hope. That is the key because if we let go of hope, that's when I fell into a very dark place. Getting back on track again with that element of hope is very important.”

After his presentation, Dessie interacted with the audience with a Q&A session which lasted 30 minutes. Afterwards, Dessie reacquainted himself with some familiar faces from the 2007 Junior A Hurling County Final.

Barryroe GAA would like to thank the community for supporting such an event, Timmy Brien for the use of his audio equipment, Courtmacsherry Community Centre committee for use of their facilities and Dessie Fitzgerald for his attendance.