Paddy Deegan of O’Loughlin Gaels in action against Alex Delargy of Ruairí Óg Cushendall during the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Club Championship semi-final match between O'Loughlin Gaels, Kilkenny, and Ruairí Óg Cushendall, Antrim, at Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
As O’Loughlin Gaels supporters waited in high spirits for the team bus to return to the club-house following their victory over Na Fianna in the Leinster Club Hurling Final, someone suggested it would be driven by Paddy Deegan as he’d done pretty much everything else that day in a Man of the Match performance that saw him score five points from centre-back.
This O’Loughlin Gaels team has plenty of other prominent leaders like Huw Lawlor, Mikey Butler, Mark Bergin, and Conor Heary, but no-one has been more inspirational than Deegan on the way to Sunday’s All-Ireland Club Final against St Thomas’.
The winning point he scored in the Kilkenny final against Ballyhale Shamrocks will go down in O’Loughlin Gaels lore forever, but over the course of the campaign there have been countless vital interventions that helped his team through a series of white-knuckle narrow victories.
The 28-year-old is at the peak of his powers right now and has been one of Kilkenny’s best players for the past few seasons as well as a giant for his club, and the level he has brought his game to is a testament to his work ethic and enthusiasm more than anything else.
In his teenage years few would have predicted he’d become one of the most influential hurlers in the country as an adult, but Deegan’s insatiable will to extract the maximum from himself should be an inspiration for others.
“One thing about Paddy is that he just loves hurling,” says O’Loughlin Gaels captain, Mark Bergin. “He wasn't necessarily the best player on the club team underage. But he just loved hurling.
“He was the water-boy in 2011 when we reached the senior final. He would have been a huge part of it, everyone got on really well with him because Paddy is a super character.
“When we got to the minor stage he started to develop himself physically. He just loves playing with the club. The club means an awful lot to him. You can see it from his own performances. He's just an exceptional talent and one of Kilkenny's best players over the last number of years.
“In terms of him growing up and saying he would become the star that he is at the moment, you probably wouldn't have said it at the time, but you would say that he had the right attitude.
“He had a huge work-rate, a huge dedication. He wasn't part of successful underage teams in O'Loughlins. Two years before him there was a team that was very good that won the Féile U-14 and he missed the cut. But there he was doing water-boy for them as well, so he just loves being part of it. He loves the club, he loves the set-up. And he really is one of our leaders.”
Paddy Deegan of O'Loughlin Gaels celebrates after the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship final match between O'Loughlin Gaels, Kilkenny, and Na Fianna, Dublin, at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Deegan is one of the most popular players in both his club and county panels because he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
The week before the county final against Ballyhale Shamrocks he gave his pupils in Clara National School a laugh by dressing up as Barbie for Halloween.
And he must do a more than passable imitation of Nicole Sherzinger too because he was front and centre when he and some of his senior team-mates won a club fundraiser lip sync battle as the Pussycat Dolls a few years back.
While he might be easy-going off the pitch, he’s anything but on it. He's not one to ever take a backwards step regardless of who stands in his way.
“The year we won the county senior final in 2016 he would have played midfield against Ballyhale,” O’Loughlin Gaels manager, Brian Hogan, told GAA.ie.
“He would have been coming up against Michael Fennelly and would have been forgiven for looking at him in awe.
“But Paddy would have no fear about marking anyone. He'd back himself to do a job, and the bigger the reputation the more he'd love it.
“I remember that day before the ball was thrown in he even had one or two square-ups with Henry (Shefflin). For a lad
who was just 20/21, just to show that kind of attitude was super and exactly what you'd want.”
Deegan’s defining characteristic as a hurler is his positivity and work-rate. As a defender it’s not his style to drop deep and play it safe, he’s more the gung-ho type who goes looking for the sliotar.
“Paddy just loves hitting ball and he plays the game the same way,” says Hogan. “He's a bit like Tommy Walsh in that regard, all he wants is the ball and he attacks everything.
“Even up in the club he'd be constantly hitting hurling balls and driving the management mad during breaks because he'd be driving them 80 or 90 yards trying to shoot them over the bar when most lads are trying to get a bit of water or catch their breath.
“Even at half-time in matches or training sessions he'd be going around looking for a loose ball to drive it. He's that kind of lad, he's just full of energy, and he plays the same way on the hurling field.
“He's a bundle of energy and all he wants is the ball.”
Sunday’s All-Ireland Final is likely to be defined by a ferocious battle in the middle third, and Deegan will be leading the charge there for O’Loughlin Gaels.
If he can inspire them to the club’s very first All-Ireland victory, they might well let him drive the bus home.
