Cork hurling needs to tap into West Cork steel... Letter to the sports editor
UP IN SMOKE: Cork fans watch the loss to Tipp last July. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
A general look at the history of All-Ireland senior hurling success for Cork reveals that our inter-county teams traditionally consisted of a backbone of hurlers from the big three clubs in the city, St Finbarr's, Glen Rovers and Blackrock, backed up by a handful of hurlers from towns and rural areas around the county.
This recipe for success proved fruitful for the Rebel County historically but the decline of hurling in the city in the last 30 years has meant the pipeline of exceptional inter-county hurlers from this area has dried up substantially in this time.
Another challenge that Cork hurling has faced in modern times was the closure of the boarding element in secondary schools such as Farranferris and St Colman’s. Along with this, the traditional hurling centre in the city, the North Mon, began to experience lean times. In their heyday, these schools and others formed natural nurseries for the game of hurling, whereby youngsters from diverse backgrounds would form close bonds and learn the skills of the game under the watchful eyes of their mentors.
Many of them would experience the thrill of hurling with success in the Harty Cup against other schools from all over Munster during their formative years.
The tradition of the school teacher who loves hurling and coaches the youngsters in the school seems to be a relic of the past in many of our towns and villages around the county. A glance at prominent secondary schools across the country at the moment that are natural hurling nurseries would note institutions such as St Kieran’s in Kilkenny, St Flannan’s in Ennis and Thurles CBS.
In the last 20 years, the Harty Cup has been won once by a Cork school.
Development squads have been formed in recent times, whereby prospective future intercounty hurlers are selected from clubs and are coached collectively. While these developments are positive, these squads are a poor substitute for youngsters hurling competitively with their friends to a formidable level in secondary school.
I was conversing with a coach in Newcestown in the autumn who told me that not only is it almost impossible for West Cork youngsters to be selected for Cork minor hurling panels at the moment, it's also difficult for hurlers from West Cork to even be involved in the development squads in their formative years from 12 to 16 years old. Of the 24 hurlers in the Cork minor panel for last year’s Munster Championship, 14 were from clubs in the East Cork division.
Again, in the last 25 years, Cork has won two All-Ireland minor hurling championships.
While it is acknowledged that a lot of distinguished intercounty hurlers have come from the East Cork division, it should be remembered that the South West divisional representatives, Carbery, were first to win a county senior hurling championship in 1994, followed three years later by their counterparts in Imokilly winning their first in 1997.
Since then, Imokilly have gone on to win another five titles but Carbery’s initial success in 1994 shows that there is potential to discover hurling talent west of the city if those in charge of inter-county panels would cast a glance in that direction and give a fair chance to hurlers there.
Is it possible that Cork are almost exclusively targeting ‘ready-made’ hurlers in their various inter-county hurling panels at the expense of coaching the skills to some raw athletes who could have the potential to perform on the biggest stages? When Fr Michael O’Brien reflected on his coaching days in Farranferris, he once remarked: “Whatever is in the West Cork fellas, you coach them the skills & build them up and they will go through the wall for you.”
Take examples from other counties. As a hurler, Derek Lyng was a virtual unknown from an unfashionable junior club in northwest Kilkenny who hadn’t made the Fitzgibbon Cup team during his student years in WIT. Yet Brian Cody saw something in him. He saw a powerful athlete with potential and Cody developed his skills and made an inter-county hurler out of him.
Derek Lyng would go on to win six All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals playing midfield for Kilkenny despite having never been selected to the Kilkenny minor hurling panel earlier in his career.
Ollie Baker was an influential figure in midfield for the Clare hurlers in the 1990s making his championship debut as a 20-year-old in Ger Loughnane’s first year as manager in 1995. Again, Ollie Baker had never been involved at minor level for his county and in terms of skill, when he joined the county senior panel, he was a limited hurler.
But Loughnane saw something in him when he watched him playing with his club and coached him into becoming an effective inter-county midfielder when Clare won their first All-Ireland in 81 years the same year. Ollie Baker would win a second All-Ireland medal at midfield for Clare in 1997.
It is estimated that the current Cork senior hurling management has had around 50 different hurlers from across the county involved with them since they came together over the winter months. Disappointingly, of that number, there wasn’t one hurler from the south west division called in.
2025 was a promising year for hurling clubs in the division. Newcestown drew with Midleton and defeated Newtownshandrum in the senior hurling championship. Twelve of the starting Midleton team that afternoon are former Cork minor hurlers.
Kilbrittain won a memorable All-Ireland hurling title in Croke Park. Bandon contested an intermediate hurling county final also last year. A couple of years ago, Newcestown got the better of Blarney in a pulsating Senior A final when Blarney had three Cork senior panellists in their team.
It is 21 years since Cork last won an All-Ireland senior hurling championship. It is the longest famine in this proud hurling county’s history. A whole generation of youngsters growing up have no recollection of Seán Óg Ó hAilpín giving his epic acceptance speech on the steps of the Hogan Stand when Cork last brought home Liam MacCarthy.
The scoreline in the second half of last year’s All-Ireland senior hurling final was 3-14 to 0-2. Whether the management who are currently at the helm choose to address it or not, the reality is that scars from this historic collapse are going to be difficult to overcome when and if Croke Park beckons once again for the Cork senior hurlers.
The men tasked with selecting the present panel of senior hurlers are determined to do their utmost to end the famine and win an All-Ireland for Cork. If this management group are looking for potential answers to the soft centre that was exposed in the second half of the All-Ireland final last summer, they could do worse than look west of the city for some steel.
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