Son of his father: How Robbie Brennan’s dad inspired him to bring Meath back to victory

“Yeah, it’s left a gap,” says Robbie Brennan, stirring his coffee and remembering his dad on a cold Monday morning. Patrick Brennan died in October and though he wasn’t a young man and he’d been ill for a while, there’s still nothing easy about the first Christmas. “Listen, that sounds stupid,” Robbie says, catching himself. “Of course it’s left a gap.” Everyone has their origin story. In simple terms, the Meath manager wouldn’t be the Meath manager without his Meath father. Patrick Brennan was born and raised in Kilberry, about 10km north of Navan, and though he eventually moved to Dublin and raised a family and won an intermediate title with St Anne’s, a Meathman he was and a Meathman he...