The Cootehill Celtic hurlers will bid to make it back to back Cavan SHC titles on Saturday against Mullahoran St. Joseph's.
By John Harrington
Cootehill Celtic club-members are rightly proud of their status as the only dual club in Cavan.
The Breffni County hasn’t always been fertile soil for hurling, but thanks to the industry of committed small ball zealots, Cootehill Celtic provides a vibrant outlet for those with a passion for the game in the town and surrounding areas like Kill, Drumgoon, Knockbride, Laragh, and Drung.
The club’s hurling history goes back a long way, they won their first county senior title in 1932, but as far as the modern era goes, 2004 is very much a red-letter year.
Hurling at died out in the club at all levels in the mid-1980s, but in 2004 a determined hurling sub-committee was formed that resolved to breathe life back into the game again.
They fielded an U-10 team that year, and the stated aim at the time was that 10 years down the line they’d hope to be competitive again in the Cavan Senior Hurling Championship.
They were true to their word, because in 2014 Cootehill Celtic won their first county senior hurling championship since 1965 and followed it up with two more in 2015 and 2016.
A good chunk of that generation are still involved. Champions again last year, they’ll bid to make it back to back titles when they play Mullahoran St. Joseph’s in Saturday’s County Final.
The Cootehill Celtic U-13 hurlers who defeated Cavan Gaels in the Cavan Hurling Shield Final last Monday.
The now senior team veterans that started out as U-10s in 2004 have since been reinforced by a new generation of young players who have benefited from both good coaching and ambition at underage level, where they also compete outside of the county to guarantee a good programme of games.
“In 2015 we entered the Monaghan League at underage which brought on our lads a lot,” says Kevin Carney, who coaches the Cootehill U-11s and was a member of the sub-committee that revived hurling in the club in 2004.
“We would have been successful in Monaghan over a number of years in different age-groups, including winning back to back Minor League titles.
“In last couple of years we’ve also competed in the underage Leagues in Armagh. Last weekend we lost the U-17 League Division 1 Final in Armagh to an amalgamation team, Craobh Ciaran, who are Derrynoose and Middletown combined.
“Thanks to a lot of hard work we’ve been able to develop a strong underage tradition and strong underage teams.
“We're in the U-11 Cavan County Final on Monday night and we’d be the dominant force at underage level by a long way in Cavan.”
Team mentors Kevin Carney (right) and Davy Cunningham pictured with the Cootehill Celtic U-11 hurlers.
Traditionally that mantle was held by Mullahoran St. Joseph’s, but their underage structures have withered on the vine in recent years.
It looks like that is now having a knock-on effect at senior level, where Cootehill look poised to replace them as the dominant force of Cavan hurling.
Mullahoran are way out in front on the all-time roll of honour and won four titles in a row from 2017 to 2020, but Cootehill are very much the coming team with a hardcore of veterans now supplemented by the graduates of a number of successful minor teams.
That talent is being harnessed by a very capable manager, Brian Brady, who has been successful wherever he has gone.
He led Cootehill Celtic to the double of Championship and League last year, and has also led his own club Naomh Moninne in Louth to three senior county titles, Inniskeen to a Monaghan senior county title, and Killeavy to an Armagh junior county title.
“They've done a lot of work underage,” says Brady of Cootehill Celtic.
“There's a hardcore there of family with a real passion for it. They draw players from all the football clubs around Cootehill and there’s a good supply of talented young players coming through.
“We won’t be taking anything for granted against Mullahoran though, they’re the only team we didn’t beat last year, we drew with them, and they’re going for their fifth title in six years so you have to respect them.
“But the hope is to win in Cavan and then hopefully have a shot at the Ulster Junior Championship if we're lucky enough to beat Mullahoran at the weekend.”
Growing hurling in counties where football in the dominant force has long proven to be a difficult challenge. But the success of Cootehill Celtic is another of many examples that show if you're willing to work had to sow the seeds, you'll eventually reap a rich harvest.
