Keeper of the Galway flame

He feels that time is running out for a long-cherished project, one that has nothing to do with football. Pat Comer has lived in Galway city and Carraroe, but Connemara fascinates him.

A film-maker - his programme on the adoption of Chinese children, From Here To The Ends Of The Earth, concluded last night on RTE - he plans to make a documentary on Carraroe and "through the subject matter of south-west Connemara, convey a sense of place" and the disappearing lifestyle of the area.

"You can see it going. It's the passing of time. Ireland of the '60s couldn't last into the '70s and Connemara in the 1960s was a lot different than Connemara in the '90s. You notice it in things like kids playing soccer, television and Sky Sports.

"I could give you examples of Aodan O Se's bar where it's choc-a-block for Sky and Manchester United against Liverpool. In the lounge there's this couple of guys that I knew that have died (since) and I'm chatting away and - this is terribly simplistic to represent an area like this but it's true - through the arches there'd be a roar when the ball is wide, you know: `Whohhhhh'.

"Next thing you hear, `what are they on about?' because it's two different worlds and if you had a choice, which world would you like to be in? But I know the older one can't exist any more and this is the way of the new one."

Despite his frequent intimations to the contrary, Pat Comer's intercounty career is still going 14 years after it started. He joined Galway's footballers the year after the county last appeared in the All-Ireland football final and has - on and off but mostly on - been there since.

It's a career that has spanned the `Save of the Season' award in 1984, his first year, and selection as the only goalkeeper in the Irish squad for the International Rules tour to Australia in 1990.

He has played for two clubs as they won their first county title and captained his home club, Salthill, to an All-Ireland final in 1991.

In what may well be his last season he is content to act as understudy to Martin McNamara who has been the best 'keeper in the country this summer.

Carraroe is closely tied up with this Indian summer of his football career. Having moved from the city to Connemara, he transferred clubs because he believed his serious football was behind him. From then on, it would be just for laughs.

Instead a county medal followed and a recall to the county panel. But for Martin Mac's exceptional form, Comer would be on the team.

Football had another context in Carraroe. It was a crash-course to acceptance and he noted the differing status of the game in rural and urban areas.

"I've had the opportunity to see two clubs win their first county title. Salthill will always be my home, but the sense of place in Carraroe was tremendous. In Salthill we got to an All-Ireland final and there were people living on my street who didn't know I was playing. That's the nature of the city, that's the way it is.

"In Carraroe the bunting was all up and it was a sense of occasion for the whole community and I'd like to think for Connemara in general."

In the wider context, he saw that sense of place - as reflected in the character of the people, influenced by the rugged environment - "the mountains, the Atlantic lashing itself to death on the rocks" - fading into twilight at the approach of a modern world.

"When I was living in Carraroe, I met some great people, people who have died. I saw with their passing, the passing of life - not just an individual life but a way of life. Without making it sound over-romanticised or over-nostalgic, there is a sense of place, a sense of innocence and honesty that was I think part of the Irish character. You don't see it so much in modern Ireland, but it still exists in these places.

"It's not a question of sentiment or idealising the people. It's just there's a chance of something very real - maybe very raw - in capturing that character and the people. Language, strength of character, a sense of place, a toughness. This sounds all very cliched, I know that, but if you look for it, it's true."

Football he says is modern. It is designed to modern specifications and makes modern demands on the time of players. But the spirit of the old character, the sense of place, still moves in this evolving game.

After Galway drew with Roscommon in the Connacht final in Tuam, Comer found himself without a lift back to the city. He'd come in with the team on a bus but was making his own way back. Having given up on tracking down someone to provide transport, he decided to head for the open road.

"I thought I'd go hitching for the craic and then I heard Irish being spoken in a pub so I went in. There was a big roar when they saw the gearbag and maybe one or two of them recognised me. They were Aran lads so I went back on the minibus from Aran. I know guys from Aran who come in on a boat the night before a final because they are very proud of Galway."

Another long journey starts in four days' time.