By John Harrington

Darragh Corcoran is quickly accumulating an impressive collection of silverware.

Since 2019 he’s won an All-Ireland Colleges medal with St. Kieran’s; two All-Irelands, three Leinster titles and four county titles with Ballyhale Shamrocks; two Fitzgibbon Cup titles with UL; and a Leinster senior hurling championship with Kilkenny.

On Sunday he’ll get the opportunity to add a League medal to his haul when Kilkenny play Limerick, and there’s even a chance he’ll captain the team depending on how many Ballyhale players are selected.

He’s still only 22 so when you compare his age to his achievements you’d say he’s a very early developer, but that’s not quite the full story.

By Corcoran’s only admission he was “never much good” when he was younger. He didn't make a single Kilkenny underage development squad, but then got his big break in the 2017 Electric Ireland Celtic Challenge.

First established in 2016, the Celtic Challenge is an U-17 developmental competition open to every county in Ireland and which allows counties to field more than one team.

Kilkenny fielded two in 2017, with Corcoran getting the opportunity to play for one of them.

This year’s Electric Ireland Celtic Challenge begins this weekend, and, six years on from his own experience of playing in it, Corcoran has no doubt it played a big part in accelerating his development as a hurler.

“For me it was a great competition because that was the first ever Kilkenny team I was on and I probably haven't looked back since,” he says.

“I had never represented Kilkenny before and the fact I got that opportunity I was just delighted.

“I was never much good when I was younger so I was never picked for development squads. I dunno, I just came good then. From being in St. Kieran's I was brining the hurl to school every day and practicing more and that brought me on a lot.

“And then getting to opportunity to play in the Celtic Challenge gave me a lot of confidence. The experience of playing against different counties brought me on a lot too.

“I was always playing against Kilkenny hurlers but I believe I developed even more by playing against different styles of hurling from different counties.

“After the Celtic Challenge I thought then I could maybe be good enough to play for Kilkenny teams and got that opportunity then with the county U-20s and then with the seniors.”

Corcoran has impressed for Kilkenny since coming back into the team after Ballyhale’s All-Ireland winning club campaign.

He's has won national titles with his school and club, so the only box left to tick is at inter-county level.

Last year Kilkenny were very competitive against Limerick in the All-Ireland Final, and Sunday’s League Final provides an opportunity to judge whether they’ve closed the gap even further.

“Looking back, last year was a good year for Kilkenny, we won the Leinster and got to an All-Ireland,” says Corcoran.

“But the standards in Kilkenny are so high that if you're not winning an All-Ireland it's probably not a great year.

“This year we're fully focused again. We have the League this weekend and hopefully we can get a result out of that and move on to the championship.

“It's nice to get another crack at Limerick. It's going to be a big match and we'll have to be at our best to beat them. We saw them against Tipp, they were in flying form in the second-half so we'll have to bring our 'A' game to beat them.

“When I was a young lad we were going up to Croke Park watching Kilkenny win All-Irelands and now it's the same in Limerick for the young lads there.

“Look, someone has to go and take them off their throne. It won't last forever and hopefully we can be the team that does that.”

Fixtures and information on this year's Electric Ireland Celtic Challenge can be found HERE.