Like most newly-married brides, Carmel Colhoun should today be enjoying all the trappings of a luxurious honeymoon.
The Donegal woman should be perhaps relaxing on a sun-lounger beside a pool in the Maldives or dining in a private beach hut in Tahiti.
Instead she’ll spend the second day of her newly-married life in the Lower Cusack Stand at Croke Park for today’s All-Ireland football final between her native Donegal and Mayo.
That’s because the GAA-mad fan has a canny knack for predicting at least one half of All-Ireland final pairings.
So when herself and fiancee David Brindle sat down last year to choose a date for their wedding, Carmel already had her mind made up that a honeymoon was out of the question.
“We knew roughly when we wanted to get married but I told David that I sensed Donegal would make it to the final.
“I’m a big GAA fan and unless my voice is hoarse or my hands are red from clapping after a game, I feel it has not been worth it.
“I told him that we would have to postpone a honeymoon until after late September and he agreed.
“I’m just so glad my hunch turned out to be true,” she said.
However, up until Thursday last Carmel’s plan was in danger of backfiring spectacularly.
It was only then that a friend from Co Kildare came to the couple’s rescue with much-coveted tickets for today’s game.
David and Carmel first met in December 2008 and got engaged two years later to the day.
They take it in turns every second week driving the 400 mile round trip between Carmel’s home in Castlefinn and David’s home in Tipperary Town.
“If I had a penny for the number of times people say to me “it’s a long way to Tipperary”, I’d be a rich woman.
“I tell them that if David wasn’t worth it then I wouldn’t be doing it.
“All I can say is thank god for free Vodafone to Vodafone calls because we end up chatting for two hours every night,” said Carmel.
Being a huge fan and the week that is in it, nothing less than at least a small tip in the direction of the Donegal GAA team would have been expected of Carmel.
And she didn’t disappoint.
The couple’s colour scheme for their reception at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Letterkenny was green and gold while the guest tables were named after each one of the Donegal team players including Michael Murphy and Karl Lacey.
Taking pride of place in the centre of the room was the Anglo Celt Cup which Donegal won for a second year in a row to be crowned Ulster Champions.
The couple’s cake also had teddy bears wearing both a Donegal jersey and a Tipperary jersey in honour of David’s homeplace.
The couple will settle into married life in the coming weeks but a honeymoon has been arranged.
In November they will jet to Australia with the highlight being a trip to see the Melbourne Cup.
Coming from Tipperary, David was brought up on a diet of hurling and horses.
“We are really looking forward to the honeymoon but there’s the small matter of the All-Ireland final first.
“I can’t believe we have the tickets now because I was getting a little bit worried. They are so hard to come by,” said Carmel.
All they need now is to see Donegal captain Michael Murphy raise the Sam Maguire cup above his head later this afternoon.
Now that would be the perfect start to their married life.
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