Eoin Larkin remains an influential figure for Kilkenny.
By Cian O'Connell
It was a demanding winter in so many ways for Eoin Larkin. A six month stint in the Golan Heights with the Irish Defence Forces ended in April and Larkin was delighted to return to the Kilkenny fold.
Back in 2007 Larkin was away on a tour of duty too, but this one was more challenging. “It certainly was than the last time I was away,” Larkin admits.
“Getting up to the pace of the game took me that bit longer. I didn’t do a whole lot of hurling out there, maybe just pucking against a wall. But there is a big difference pucking against a wall and going out there playing an inter county game, even training with the lads. But things have moved on and hopefully we are getting there, slowly but surely.
“I was home at Christmas for a few weeks in between and obviously I wasn’t doing a whole lot of hurling then, either.”
Was Larkin worried about returning to the striped shirt for the Championship? “There was no worry there. Certainly there was no confidence there, either.
“It was just a matter of getting back into things and seeing where it took me. Certainly there were no promises there, either. Nor would I expect one.
“I was gone for six months, from October to April and I didn’t expect to come back and just walk back into things. I know when I came back I had to work hard, gather a bit of form – it didn’t happen straight away.
Eoin Larkin in action against Waterford in the All Ireland SHC Semi-Final replay at Semple Stadium.
“I had my mind made up to go (on the tour of duty). I had thought about retiring last year, when I got glandular fever, but as the year went on, I was enjoying things as much as ever. I was never going to retire. I just wanted to keep going and do want to keep going for as long as I can.”
Larkin recalls how tough life was for people living in Golan Heights. “It is not in a good state now compared to what it used to be like. What it is like now – it is in ruins. If you go into any housing estate here, look at all the children playing, yet when you go over there, it’s a total different kettle of fish.
"We were patrolling that border (Lebanon and Israel). It was more challenging than my previous tour because when I was in Kosovo, the war had finished. They were just rebuilding their lives. Things are still going out there, not as bad as they were.
“We stayed inside the camp, confined there. There were a couple of explosions in a five kilometre radius, but that was about it.
“It was tough to see because when you come back home and see all the lovely things around, you come into Langtons and get lovely grub and things like that, those people over there, they have nothing.
“They can’t come out of their houses. There were very little children around, even the streets and things like that. They were all still in their houses, but they are going through turmoil.”
Brian Cody and Eoin Larkin celebrate following the 2015 All Ireland Final win over Galway.
In Golan Heights Larkin tried to keep himself in decent physical shape. “Just running,” Larkin said about his regime. “I had a couple of niggling injuries so I stayed out of the gym to let them recover, seeing as I was going to be away. I had plenty of time to run in the evening times.
"There was a wall there but there were a couple of lads over there who I had a few pucks with alright. They weren't too into hurling, to be honest.
The manner in which Kilkenny drive on seeking glory remains one of the dominant feature of every Irish sporting summer. Larkin’s honours list is staggering – eight All Irelands, 10 Leinsters, six Allianz Hurling Leagues, three Walsh Cups, two All Stars have all been accumulated in the Kilkenny senior jersey.
In the club and underage ranks Larkin’s career is packed with important victories too, but stresses the role of Brian Cody in ensuring Kilkenny are always relevant. "Brian has the best ability just to park last year and move on and just live in the now,” Larkin explains. “When you go training in January, last year is forgotten and we're focusing on training in the present and moving forward and hopefully onto the All-Ireland and that's just the way we look at it.
“There's nothing that can be done for the past; we've lost games in the past and we still can't do anything about it. We just have to focus on now and the future.”
Breaking and making records has become the norm for Kilkenny, but Larkin doesn’t think the fact that the Cats are seeking a three in a row adds any extra motivation. "No, it doesn't, really,” is Larkin’s assessment. “The last two are apart and we're going for this one and hopefully we can do it. The last two won't make any difference if we're beat. It's the 2016 All-Ireland and that's all we want."
