Cork GAA club focus: Final loss spurred on Blackrock hurlers revival

Amid the excitement of an upcoming county final, the management at Blackrock GAA club knew they had to make a major change to ensure more success.

It was October 2017 and the Rockies were preparing to participate in their first Premier Senior Hurling Championship final since 2003, and hoping to claim the county title for the first time since 2002.

It wasn’t to be. Imokilly landed the silverware with a 3-13 to 0-18 triumph at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but the feeling amongst those involved in the running of the club was that they needed to build a platform to give themselves the best chance of success.

“We have done a lot of good work both on and off the pitch recently,” says chairman Ger Coughlan.

“We took on a number of capital projects to enhance the club, to develop the club, and look to the future.

“We saw that we were behind the curve in the things that we were doing, so we did the astro, then the hurling wall, and now we are in the final stages of completing the backfield, which is a fully lit, sand-based surface, which will provide a training and match-day facility, hopefully for the whole calendar year.

“That was something that was seriously lacking because in 2017, when we got to the county final, through no fault of anybody, it was late in the year, but we couldn’t train. We had no facility to train on.

“We were very lucky at the time that one or two other clubs helped us out, but a lot of other clubs weren’t in the position to do that, which isn’t their fault either.

“But we decided, at that point, that we had to do something about it and provide something for the next generation to come.

“So we have done an awful slot in recent years on the capital side of the club and it was all driven by the members.

“Our members provided phenomenal support. We had a ‘Friends of the Rockies’ initiative, where every member, past and present, were asked to contribute and then we did a number of big fundraising events pre-Covid.

“The buy-in from the membership has been super. There is a huge amount of goodwill towards us.

“We set up a club that we are proud of and that the next generation that we will hand over to will have something to work with and, hopefully, keep going and build on.”

The Rockies have since ended their long wait for another county title, a record 33rd in their illustrious history, following their incredible, 4-26 to 4-18 final win over Glen Rovers in 2020.

It came as a rich reward for the work they have done, not only with their playing facilities, but also their clubhouse, which has enhanced the community feel at the club.

“We are absolutely delighted with how it all turned out,” adds Coughlan.

“We have a complex there now to be proud of, that was supported and is now the best of the best.

“It will support all teams and all ages at the club in the future and it will also support the community and a lot of its other clubs that might need our support from time to time, with the astro and things like that.

It’s a real community thing, at the moment, that we have built up a network of people there that whenever they need our support, we will try our best to help them.

“The bar has taken on a life of its own in the sense that, for years the club’s bar has struggled like many of the other club bars.

“But in recent years — due to the buy-in of members and the local community — the bar has become a superb on-site facility that is also a pizza-and-burger joint.

“The food is very good and the response has been very good from people and it has become a real regular for people to not just come from a pint, but to come for their grub.

“It has definitely added to the whole atmosphere and the whole experience that you get at the club now.

“That’s just the off-the-field side of it. On-the-field side of it, we have been very happy with the progress that we have made in the last six or seven years.

“Obviously, the highlight was winning the senior county two years ago, but we have won a number of other titles at intermediate, junior, and minor levels.

“We have been competing quite well at all ages and levels and we will be looking to keep that going over the next few years.

“We have a lot of great coaches and a lot of great mentors at the club and everyone is working together, everyone is rowing the same way— there is regular communication — because they want the best for the club.”

ABOUT BLACKROCK HURLING CLUB

Nickname: The Rockies. 

Membership: 500 adult, 350 juvenile. 

Number of teams: 5 adult, 8 juvenile (from U12 up). 

Major honours: 33 Cork senior hurling titles, 5 Munster club victories, 3 All-Ireland club crowns.

Famous players: John Curtis Murphy, Patrick 'Parson' Coughlan, Andy 'Dooric' Buckley, Larry Flaherty, Eudie Coughlan, Michael 'Gah' Ahern, Paddy 'Balty' Ahern, Eugene 'Marie' O'Connell, John Quirke, Jimmy Brohan, Mick Cashman, John Bennett, Ray Cummins, John Horgan, Frank Cummins, Tom Cashman, Pat Moylan, Dermot McCurtain, Jim Cashman, Fergal Ryan, Wayne Sherlock. 

Division: Seandún 

Facilities: Church Road and Mahon.

IN THE BLOOD FROM THE START

“I THINK I was about four or five when I joined,” begins John Browne.

It wasn’t just because he grew up in Ballintemple and was therefore not far from Blackrock GAA’s base but it was also because of his family ties to the club which made his decision to join the Rockies an easy one.

“My father and my eldest brother Richard would’ve brought me down and I just joined in with Al Coughlan and the Kidneys for Saturday morning coaching.

“It started then and ever since I have been involved,” he adds.

And the rest is history as John, along with Richard and his other brother Alan, would go on to enjoy a successful playing career in the green and yellow of Blackrock and the red and white of Cork.

But as for the highlight from his playing days, Browne is in no doubt.

“I’d say it was probably ’99 when we won the county for the first time,” he insists.

“We hadn’t won it since ’85 and we had a few bad years before it when we were knocked out in the first round and stuff like that and that was your season over.

“My first year playing senior was ’95 then we got to the final in ’98 which we lost so to win it the next year was a massive achievement really.

“I know it’s a cliche that you are playing with your friends but you are. I was also playing with my brother which was a massive thing to have an achievement like that together.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the most important thing in my life because I have kids but apart from that, and my family, it’s huge.

“A lot of my time outside work is spent down here and I have a lot of friends down here.

“To be a part of this club is a great honour and it’s something I really cherish.”

PART OF OUR IDENTITY

“IN my adult incarnation I have been involved for the bones of the last 10 years,” begins Fergal Mac Caochloaich.

But his time with Blackrock GAA, whom he now serves in his role as the club’s public relations officer and also as an underage coach, began long before that.

“I have been the club’s secretary since 2017, but as a child, my brothers won counties with Blackrock and I played as well but I was no good,” he laughs.

“I have been involved with the club since I was a child.

I first came in here with my grandfather when I was a baby and there have been a number of us like that as well that have grown up in the parish.

“I was away for a long time then and it was only when I came back and my own children got involved that I got properly involved.

“I manage the U15s, I organise the fixtures and I will organise who is available, chase fellas, all the background stuff and the lads coach the team.”

Between his two aforementioned roles, he is kept quite busy from week to week but he wouldn’t have it any other way due to what the club means to him.

“For people in Blackrock, not just for me, for a lot of us that grew up in Blackrock the GAA club is Blackrock.

“It’s a part of our identity, it’s a symbol of the community. It is like a large extended family, it’s part of everyone.”