Pictured is the Naomh Eoin hurling team with four O'Kelly Lynch brothers in the front row - Robert, second from left, Liam, third from left, Tony, fourth from left, and Gerard on the extreme right. The fifth brother, Fergal, is fourth from left in the back row.
By John Harrington
Club teams heavily populated by siblings was once a staple of the GAA, but not so much anymore in an era of smaller families.
The Naomh Eoin hurling team from Sligo that will contest Sunday’s Cúchulainn Cup Division Two Final against St. Fechin’s of Louth are something of a throw-back then, because their panel includes five O’Kelly Lynch brothers, Gerard, Tony, Fergal, Liam, and Robert.
Their father Bill is club secretary, so the match will be a real family affair for the O’Kelly-Lynchs.
"This is the first year all five of them were available to play senior,” Bill O’Kelly Lynch told GAA.ie
“The youngest lad, Robert, this is his first year eligible to play senior so this is the first year it has happened.
“The Cúchulainn League been a great competition as far as we're concerned. It's great to be able to play different eams from outside the county.
“There's only six clubs in Sligo and you're playing the same teams all the time so it's great to have the opportunity to play other teams in a competitive environment.
“You don't know much about the teams you're coming up against so you just go out and play the match. You play to your own strengths and see how you get on against other teams who might have a different style of hurling as well. The lads definitely enjoy it.”
Tony O'Kelly-Lynch in action for the Sligo hurlers.
Naomh Eoin were Cúchulainn League Division 2 shield champions last year, so winning the Cup this year would count as a step in the right direction. The current senior team is the product of hard work at underage level over a number of years.
“For a long time Naomh Eoin teams would have been largely made up of blow-ins to the town here in Sligo,” says O’Kelly-Lynch.
“But we put a lot of effort into the underage and we've seen that start to come through and now the senior team would be mostly our own home-grown players that we've brought through from underage which is great. 20 years ago it was a different story.
“Back then it was mainly made up of guards from other counties and anyone else who was working in the town.”
The beauty of the Cúchulainn League is that most matches are a journey into the unknown, and that’ll be the case again on Sunday when Naomh Eoin play reigning Louth senior champions, St. Fechin’s.
“We don’t know whole lot about them other than that they've won the last two Louth championships and have quite a few on the county team as well,” says O’Kelly Lynch
“We're expecting they'll be a strong team and every game in this competition seems to be a step up as you go through it.”
Sunday, July 16
Cúchulainn League Division 2 Final
Naomh Eoin (Sligo) v St Fechin's (Louth), Kinspan Breffni, 2pm.
Cúchulainn League Division 3 Final
Carrickmacross v Monaghan Harps, Kingspan Breffni, 12pm.
