TG4 viewers were full of praise for Michael Darragh Macauley after his appearance on the latest episode of Laochra Gael.
The Dublin legend was the latest to feature on the esteemed TG4 series as he touched on his life off the field as well as his wildly successful playing career.
'MDMA' retired with a stunning eight All-Ireland titles as well as five National League titles and a Player of the Year award.
And the legendary midfielder was typically raw and honest in his interviews in the show and opened up on the death of his parents.
He said on the show: "I was in around fifth class, 10 or 11-years-old.
"My Dad told me that my Mum had this thing going on in her lungs, the big C. [You think] it's just a sickness and you really don't think much more about it. There were a few more visits to hospital and she wasn't getting any better.
"I have distinctive memories of going down Foster's Avenue, and my Dad explaining that she wasn't going to make it, and that we had to say goodbye to her. It was tough.
"One of the sadder things is that some of my memories have regressed on it, and I can't remember enough at times. From time to time, people that knew her better than I did, would tell me stories about her. I'm always all ears.
"One day, a woman stopped me in the park, who I'd never met before in my life. She said, 'Are you Michael Darragh? I just wanted to say that I was best friends with your Mam'. Then she tried to run away from me, and I was running after her to get some more stories from her."
Shortly after winning his first Sam Maguire Cup with the Boys in Blue, his father passed away.
"My Dad had lung fibrosis, which is a wasting away of the lungs," he said.
"There's no cure, apart from a transplant. It was a steady downhill battle but it just gradually gets worse and worse. Then he started taking oxygen for an hour a day, then two hours, and eventually it was 24 hours a day he was strapped up to oxygen tanks.
"I was in and out of hospitals, and sleeping on the floors of the transplant unit in the Mater Hospital. It was a bit of a rollercoaster with that. There was always this ray of hope with a transplant, it just didn't come.
"The one question I always myself... I've done the whole feeling sorry for myself [thing], and 'I have no parents' and I've moped around... Christmas has never been great since. It was such a time for family. Christmas Day is the one day that I do feel sorry for myself.
"Day-to-day, I just ask myself the same question: What would your Mom want? What would your Dad want you to do right now? It's so simple but it just gets me out of that hole. If my Da saw me moping around, he'd give me a kick up the arse. My Ma would be saying, 'What are you doing? Get on with yourself'. That's the only thing that got me through."
And viewers were full of praise from Macauley with one social media user saying:
And another added: "Michael Darragh Macauley was probably in 2013/14/15, what the top inter co footballer is now and with an inspiring story to go with it all his talent. As Gaelic footballers go, he certainly broke the mould of midfielders - another top class @Laochra_Gael Proper baller #MDMA"
While another said: "Absolutely loving @Laochra_Gael tonight. @MDMA_9 is a credit to Dublin GAA and just seems like a really sound fella."
And another added: "Great viewing on TG4, @MDMA_9 a true inspiration"
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