Owen Mulligan was the subject of last night's Laochra Gael on TG4.
In it, the three-time All-Ireland winner with Tyrone revealed that he had a busy week in the build-up to the 2003 Ulster Final replay against Down.
Tyrone drew with Down in a five-goal thriller on the second Sunday of that July. The replay was slated for a week later, again in Clones.
Mulligan had his driving test scheduled for the Monday following the drawn game. It was not the only time the Cookstown player would sit the test that week.
GAA players often receive sympathetic treatment in their native counties and it seems Mulligan was no exception. In all, he sat his driving test four times in the week before the replay - a remarkable number in such a short timeframe.
I was a late developer in getting the licence.
I was doing the driving test with Pat Canavan, a local instructor from Cookstown.
The Monday, we got the test and he said, 'I don't really want you to be panicking because you've got this big match.' So I failed it on the Monday.
He rung me again on the Wednesday and I failed it on the Wednesday.
He rung me on the Friday and said. 'Right, you've an hour go at this here. You'll have to do it this time.' I failed it again on the Friday.
Then on the Saturday morning, I finally got it. Four tests and I finally got it on the fourth time.
Mulligan would go onto score four points in the replay as Tyrone destroyed Down on the path to their first All-Ireland title of the 2000s.
You can watch the full episode on the TG4 Player.
Video via Paul Jenkins
Didn't pass ur driving test 1st time? @owen_mulligan will make u feel better! Catch his @Laochra_Gael tomorrow at 9.30 on #tg4 #gaa #funny ? pic.twitter.com/FS6c78jSK6
— Paul Jenkins (@Paul_Jenkins1) May 16, 2017
Picture credit; Damien Eagers / SPORTSFILE *EDI*
