Faith renewed in Offaly hurling

By Kevin Egan

It’s Sunday afternoon, and the sun shines down on joyous scenes in Glenisk O’Connor Park. Something between six and eight thousand people have come to greet the Offaly U-20 hurlers and welcome the James Nowlan Cup to the county for the first time, and while it’s not exactly Mardi Gras in Rio (despite the omnipresence of Brazilian colours!), it’s as close as you’re likely to see on this island.

The field is thronged with girls and boys pucking sliotars over and back to each other, teenagers revel in the ongoing celebratory atmosphere, and those of an older generation simply drink it in, basking in the type of day that they experienced many times in the 1980s and 1990s, but that they feared would never come again.

Six years ago a significant cohort from this team reached a Tony Forristal Cup final, losing out to Tipperary, who also had several players that trained on to take part in last Saturday’s final in Kilkenny. That group’s potential to break the cycle of relative underachievement for Offaly at underage level was known from a long way out.

Two years ago, when they burst onto the scene with that memorable Leinster minor final win over Laois in front of a packed house on a Monday night in Portlaoise, that was the moment when the group’s potential to do even more for Offaly hurling became apparent.

After he speaks to the crowd in Tullamore, Leo O’Connor turns to his players and says “Many of you now have three Leinster medals and an All-Ireland. You’ll remain humble, when we finish here, we’ll sign every autograph and take photos with everyone down on that pitch. It’s what we’re built on”, and for the next few hours, that’s exactly what they do.

By now, it’s become part of the matchday routine. A selfie with Adam Screeney or his name signed on a hurl might be the most sought-after prize of them all, but as a group, this panel has embraced their fame, not out of ego, but because they have seen first hand the value of making young supporters believe that the sky is the limit, and that their county can aspire to competing with the best teams in the land.

Offaly chairperson Michael Duignan told Midlands 103 radio that “Edenderry had 30 kids at their underage training, Clara had 28. There’s lads and girls picking up hurls all over the county, which is massive. If I was 7 or 8 again, think of the inspiration I’d get from these lads”.

Those who understand the county’s geography in a GAA context will appreciate the significance of that statement. In towns like Banagher and Birr, or in the rural hinterlands of Coolderry, Clareen, Kinnitty and Killoughey, hurling has never been a hard sell. Tradition and history do a lot of the heavy lifting, and there are no shortage of past heroes to emulate.

Clara never won an Offaly senior hurling championship but did contest four senior finals before winning the first of their six football titles in 1960. The town would be perceived as more of a football heartland, but hurling was always part of the culture too, and with Conor Doyle and Barry Egan representing “the Magpies” on the victorious U-20 team, they could be on an upward curve.

But if hurling can take hold in Edenderry, then the sky is the limit for Offaly.

There are All-Ireland medalists in the town. Former Offaly football captain Finbar Cullen was full back on the 1989 All-Ireland minor winning team that featured Johnny Dooley, John Troy, Brian Whelahan and other future stars, while Cillian Farrell played 20 times for the Offaly senior hurlers, winning a Celtic Cross in 1998.

However this has always been the part of the county that was seen as the football heartland. This Friday, six county councillors will be elected to the new Offaly County Council from the Edenderry Municipal District, an area that contains 14 GAA clubs. 12 are football only, while two – Edenderry and Gracefield – field hurling teams, but would compete at a much higher level with the bigger ball.

Moreover, the wider GAA debate about declining populations in some areas and exploding populations in others, is being played out within Offaly. South Offaly, the area within 15 minutes’ drive of Birr, is suffering from rural depopulation, while Edenderry’s population has more than doubled in the last 25 years.

Everything that has happened across this campaign has proven that Offaly understand the value of exploiting the popularity of this team when it comes to trying to further develop hurling in this area.

On Sunday, Duignan said:

“I hate this term bandwagon. We want all these people. We want everyone who wants to go to a match, if they’re only being introduced to the game or if it’s only a small part of their lives. I think that in the months and years ahead you’re going to see a big Offaly crowd at more and more games”.

It wasn’t just on Sunday, when the hurling was done, that the players were made accessible to supporters either. A week before, the panel went to Nowlan Park to train, before staying around to watch the Kilkenny versus Wexford Leinster SHC game. Before their departure, local and national media were invited to talk to any and all players for over an hour, all as part of the county’s drive to promote the final, promote the team, and promote the sport.

Non-traditional methods were employed too. The work of videographer Mark Forde – an Edenderry native – has been widely acclaimed for doing a wonderful job of capturing the unique atmosphere and the sense of occasion at these games. His clips have circulated heavily across social media, meaning that the engagement between young supporters and Offaly hurling goes far beyond the matchday experience.

The work goes on. This Saturday’s Joe McDonagh Cup final represents a glorious opportunity to capitalize on the feelgood factor and secure a return to Leinster championship hurling.

Laois won the round robin game between the two counties so while Offaly have had the better of things at underage level in recent years, Laois retain a core level of experience and knowhow that will make them very tough opposition this weekend.

In 2023, Offaly’s Joe McDonagh Cup final defeat to Carlow, even if it was in one of the most memorable and exciting games played all year, sapped away a lot of momentum in advance of their U-20 final against Cork, particularly for senior players like Sam Bourke and Charlie Mitchell.

This year, the reverse applies. Supporters will want another chance to get behind the team, meaning that the seniors will get to feed off the type of in-house energy that has driven the U-20s to the top of the mountain this year, while the U-20 players who are likely to see game time on Saturday (Dan Bourke, Adam Screeney, Donal Shirley, Cathal King) will go in with a spring in their step.

“The job continues, the aim is to win senior All-Irelands and it starts with the Joe McDonagh final on Saturday which is a huge game for us” said Duignan.

“The supporters have been a huge part of this journey, and we’re asking them to come out to help us one more time. The early signs are that they are answering that call. It’s not even what they do on the day, it’s mentally for the players, that they know that they’re valued”.

Scenes from Sunday’s homecoming, and everything else that has gone with this incredible year for Offaly hurling, would leave little doubt in that regard.