Passage West secondary school win first county hurling title since 2010

ST Peter’s Community School, Passage West recently captured the Cork Post-Primary Schools senior D hurling championship for the first time since 2010.

The Passage West secondary school defeated Scoil Mhuire Kanturk following a county final tie that was played in Banteer. 

Their county final heroics are made even more special by the fact that it was the first time the Cork secondary school had fielded a hurling team in competitive action in eight years.

Their senior hurling coach Joe O’Regan was thrilled with their recent win. 

“The last time we won this county title was back in 2010. It was a great achievement to win a county title in our first year back competing at a high level. The standard in the D grade was very strong and considering it was our first year back, it really was a terrific achievement. 

"There was a great support in Banteer. Both sets of schools brought a lot of supporters which helped to generate a great atmosphere. The players played so well on the day and deserved their triumph,” he said.

Joe who hails from Limerick, joined the teaching staff at the Passage West school three years ago, and following some promptings from the students he decided to re-establish a senior school hurling team. 

“We haven’t had a hurling team in the school for about eight years. There is a big soccer community in Passage. It was probably due to two reasons really, a lack of interest from the pupils in playing hurling for the school team and a lack of teachers willing to take the role. 

"The team was set up again this year. I am new enough in the school and after Covid, we decided to get things going. A few of the players were eager to get a team up and running. We have a lot of talented players and we decided we would give it a good go.” 

“The players were great to work with,” said the hurling coach. “They trained hard all year and they put in a huge effort. Most of the players in the squad come from the local Passage West club. We also had a few players from Cobh and one player from Blarney. We are so grateful to all the clubs for the great work they are doing with the players. 

"It is great for the players to get more training and play competitive games with their school team."

"They will benefit from the extra training sessions and games which is great for us and their club teams. It is so important to get the lads in the school out playing hurling.

“At the start of the season, we were apprehensive as it had been so long since the school had participated in competitive hurling. We said we would give it our best and thankfully it all worked out so well for us. The players are so naturally talented. They were also very eager to improve and play for the school team. They had a great interest from the start of the season and I was delighted that they achieved their goal of winning a county title,” he added.

Joe who played with Feohanagh/Castlemahon was helped out by legendary coach Justin McCarthy whose daughter Una teaches at St Peter’s Community School. Joe said both he and the players learned so much from Justin’s coaching methods. 

“Cork great Justin McCarthy’s daughter is a teacher in the school so he volunteered to give us a hand. He helped out with training the school team. 

"It was great to have Justin on board. He was very helpful and enthusiastic. Both the players and I learned so much from Justin."

"His knowledge is unreal. I loved working with him. It was very good of him to help out. We are very grateful to him.” 

Mr O’Regan said Justin a native of Passage West is scheduled to present medals and awards to the senior hurling team in the coming weeks. 

“Justin is due back in the coming weeks to present the victorious hurlers with their medals and awards. The lads are so young that maybe they didn’t know half of what he achieved during his career. They were finding out more and more stuff about his career as the season progressed. They were taken aback after hearing some of his hurling stories. He achieved so much during his playing and coaching career. To have Justin on board with us was unreal.” 

St Peter’s Community School senior hurlers will lose four of their players for next year’s campaign, but the coach is content to stay in the D grade for the foreseeable future. 

“It is great for a small school to get back to playing competitive school hurling. The players loved representing their school team in competitive action. 

"Our aim next year is to go again and have a good run in the Munster championship. We didn’t enter a team in Munster this year because we weren’t sure how things would go for us.

“We will only be losing four players for next year’s squad. Having won the county title we can elect ourselves if we want to go up to the C grade and the County Board will decide. 

"Because of our numbers, we are probably better off staying in the D grade. We don’t have a big panel as the numbers in the school are not that big,” he added.