Saturday with Declan Hannon: I wouldn’t say I miss playing, but I miss the lads
Limerick's Declan Hannon at the Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Final. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
The time I get up depends on whether or not I’ve been out the night before but usually I’ll get up around 8am. The first thing we’ll do is go for a walk. We’re based around Pembroke St so we’ll probably head towards Herbert Park and grab a coffee and a pastry.
We’ll go for a stroll around the park, take in our surroundings, relax, and chill out.
We will head back in towards the city centre — there’s always a good atmosphere around the place. We might head to Tang for a late breakfast/ brunch. The week is so busy that we like to take it easy on a Saturday morning.
Life looks a little different now, of course. The past 15 years I would have spent in Limerick training or playing a match so now I’ve plenty of extra free time and am enjoying living in Dublin and exploring the city. There are usually games or concerts going on, so I’m enjoying the atmosphere and getting to meet up with people I haven’t seen in years.
I wouldn’t say I miss playing, as such, but I miss the lads — you’re going from seeing them four or five times a week to meeting them only sporadically, so you’d miss the camaraderie. We try to get down to Limerick as much as we can but it’s sporadic and, of course, a lot of my buddies are playing, so they’re busy enough.
I’d hope to meet them more often but it’s difficult when you’re living in different counties. When we get down or people come up to Dublin, we try to make an evening of it.
If I wasn’t at home, an ideal Saturday would be spent on the beach in Ballyheigue in Co Kerry — it is stunning there. If we were abroad, I’d love to be in Ibiza, on the north of the island where it’s quiet — it’s beautiful.
When you’re playing matches and training, that takes number one priority, so it’s different now. I’m focusing on my career, which is busy, and figuring out life away from the pitch. It’s a change but I’m enjoying it and enjoying the bit of extra free time I have.
Depending on the weekend that’s in it, there might be a concert on, so we might be heading to somewhere like St Anne’s Park. Alternatively, I might go to the gym down the road and do a bit of exercise.
I’m a pretty bad planner, so things can go in any direction. We might round up a few buddies and head towards Baggot St to take in a bit of live music. I’m into trad music so I like to go to O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row or to Doheny and Nesbitt’s.
We might go to an Italian restaurant for a pizza. With the price of things these days, however, we will usually eat at home. I’m not a terrible cook but I wouldn’t be inviting too many people over to try my cooking — put it that way. I’m not as careful with my food as I was in the past but I wouldn’t be eating burgers and chips every night. We’re quite good, in general, when it comes to healthy eating.
I watch a lot of sport and there’s plenty of it on at the minute, so I might be at home having dinner and watching sport on the television; either that or we might head into town to watch a game. I’ve learned that, in Dublin, you meet great characters and interesting people.
I’m not a great man for the cinema and I’m too old for nightclubs but the odd time we might go to The Stella in Rathmines for a treat. I haven’t seen the inside of a nightclub for a few years now.
We like to get into a decent series. We recently got back into Love/Hate, which is an old one but a good one, and we’ve also been enjoying Rivals on Disney.
I’m not a great man for reading but I do like to listen to podcasts — a mixture of sport and general entertainment. At the moment, I’m enjoying The Football Pod with Paddy Andrews, James O’Donoghue, and Tommy Rooney — they’re good auld characters, so that’s one I’ve been stuck into recently.
I am interested in a wide range of sports, from soccer and rugby to GAA and horse racing. Saturdays are good for sport, so there’s plenty to talk about.
We could go to bed at about 10pm or it could be 4am, depending on what way the night takes us, but usually I’d head to bed around 11pm and I’ll sleep like a baby at the end of the day.
- Limerick GAA legend Declan Hannon recently teamed up with the newly opened Maldron Hotel Croke Park to officially unveil its new GAA Fan Room, which will be in place in Maldron Hotel Croke Park until the conclusion of this year’s championship season. One guest each night will have an opportunity to stay in this unique room, upon request and subject to availability.
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