Josh Honohan switches from Cork City to champs Shamrock Rovers after relegation

CARRIGALINE'S Josh Honohan is the first signing of the offseason by League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers.

The 22-year-old moves to Tallaght Stadium just days after the Rebel Army lost the promotion/relegation play-off to Waterford FC at Tallaght Stadium.

An exodus is expected from a team without a permanent manager since the beginning of May, and Honohan is the first high-profile name to move away from Turner’s Cross.

The defender, who once lined out for Carrigaline United, was a key member of the Cork City squad that won the 2022 League of Ireland First Division title and he helped the team reach two consecutive Munster Senior Cup finals.

The Hoops have a long history of signing players from the Rebel Army, with that list including Dan Murray and Danny Murphy.

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley heaped praise on his side’s new acquisition once the deal was announced on Thursday afternoon.

He told the club’s media team: "We’ve watched Josh for some time. We’ve really liked him and monitored him for a number of months and we started conversations a while back. Josh is one who fits our profile of what we’re looking for, we think he has a really high ceiling and we feel that we can help him reach that. He’s got really good attributes, we feel he can only improve by coming to Rovers. So we’ll help him and he’ll help us.

Josh can play anywhere, he’s a sort of Liam Scales-type player in that he can play wing-back or centre-back. 

"He just plays the game, he can use both feet naturally which helps as well. So, he’s very comfortable playing as a wing-back or centre-back. We’ll mould him into what we see as his best position as time goes on. But as I say, Josh is one we’ve liked for quite some time.” 

Honohan’s career also includes a run to the Munster Schools Senior Cup final with Rochestown College in 2020.

The defender’s journey to Cork City's first team started in the Underage National Leagues. Honohan only made one senior appearance for the club in 2020 and that was against Midleton in the semi-finals of the Munster Senior Cup at Bishopstown.

The Carrigaline native came of age during the team’s two-year spell in the League of Ireland First Division. Colin Healy oversaw his development, and the defender’s progress led to a call-up to the Republic of Ireland U21s in October 2021.

Honohan’s breakthrough season was in 2022 as he played a key role in Cork City beating Waterford FC and Galway United to the First Division title, and securing promotion to the Premier Division.