Denis Coughlan v Dermot McCurtain: Vote for Cork's best city hurlers

WITH your help, we’re looking to pick the best hurler from either side of St Patrick's Bridge from the last 50 years of action.

The Echo has pitched some of Cork’s finest hurling stars from the northside and southside of Cork city together for a series of fun head-to-head battles. Your votes will decide who goes through and you can see the full list of 16 northside and 16 southside players here.

Today's match-up is Denis Coughlan v Dermot McCurtain. So far, Wayne Sherlock and Gerald McCarthy are into the quarter-finals.

DENIS COUGHLAN (Glen Rovers):

IN selecting any team from any era, be it club or county, the Glen’s Denis Coughlan would be very close to being an automatic choice. 

One of the most decorated hurlers that this great club has ever produced, he was a key figure in so many Glen Rovers triumphs at a time when the Blackpool club contained so many great clubmen, players who would die for a Glen jersey.

His glittering career spanned three decades from the ‘60s to the ‘80s and he was one of those players who fitted in comfortably in various positions. We are selecting him here for a midfield slot in this particular exercise but as a wing-back or at centre-back he would be equally at home.

Of course, it must be stressed too that was equally as accomplished when he wore the colours of St Nick’s footballers or in the county colours of Cork. In fact, he was a dual star in every sense of the word. Growing up in Maddens Buildings, one of the great homes of Blackpool, he played with and against some of the greatest players that the great game of hurling ever produced.

Coughlan was a close friend of Christy Ring and Jack Lynch and playing alongside the maestro from Cloyne was one of the great thrills of his sporting life. With the Glen and with St Nick’s he won everything and, of course, with Cork he was a key member of the great three-in-a-row team of the ‘70s.

He was Hurler of the Year in 1977 and with the Glen he won numerous county senior titles in a side of Glen greats like Mick Lane, Finbarr O’Neill, Patsy Harte, Bill Carroll, Tom Corbett among so many others. He was a great stylist of the game but when the bar was raised higher in so many games, his physical presence was equally evident.

Coughlan was selected as an All-Star hurler on four occasions and he was a huge presence in 1973 when another Glen and St Nick’s great, Donie Donovan managed Cork to All-Ireland football glory.

You could safely say that Denis Coughlan was and remains one of the most popular and likeable people ever to grace a GAA pitch Munster club and All-Ireland club medals with his beloved Glen are two of his proudest possessions. He was one of those hurlers that could not be omitted from any starting 15, he simply had it all.

DERMOT McCURTAIN (Blackrock)

DURING his time on the Cork senior hurling panel, Blackrock legend Tom Cashman only ever had one real ritual.

“On the Saturday before a game, myself and Dermot McCurtain used to go over to Blackrock at around 12 o’clock, have a small warm-up and a puck-around,” he said. It was a custom and routine that served the pair of them well.

Having originally played with Delanys, McCurtain was almost 17 when he joined Blackrock in 1974. Just over two years later, he and Cashman were, along with Tim Crowley, added to the Cork squad that had just won the first of what would prove to be three All-Ireland SHC titles in a row.

His pedigree was well-known prior to that, and not just in hurling – along with Johnny Crowley, he won an All-Ireland minor hurling and football double in 1974 and he added an U21 hurling medal in 1976. In addition, he was integral to Coláiste Iognaid Rís claiming a Dr Harty Cup-Corn Uí Mhuirí double in 1975.

There were few teething problems as he adjusted to life at inter-county senior level and he had the number 5 jersey on his back for the second and third legs of the three-in-a-row, with wins over Wexford and Kilkenny in 1977 and 1978 respectively.

While Galway ended the hopes of four in a row in 1979, McCurtain won an All-Star that year and also in 1980, after captaining Cork to a national league title. 

Another league followed in 1981 and, while there was disappointment with All-Ireland final losses to Kilkenny in 1982 and 1983, Cork roared back to win the centenary title against Offaly in Thurles in 1984, with McCurtain’s form impeccable all year, earning him a third All-Star, this time in the left half-back spot.

Having moved back to corner-back, further Munster titles in 1985 and 1986 left him with a tally of eight at senior level, though sadly injury ruled him out of the All-Ireland win in the latter year. He retired following the loss to Tipperary in 1987, having served his county well.

His service to Blackrock was stellar too – a part of county-winning sides in 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1985, winning the club All-Ireland after the second of those and being honoured as Cork Club Hurler of the Year for 1979.

Such a legacy provided inspiration for up-and-coming players in green and gold and also red and white. Little wonder that, in 2000, the legendary Blackrock and Cork player John Horgan picked him out as a reference point when assessing Fergal Ryan: “He reminds me of McCurtain; a great reader of the game and teak tough.”