A labour of love for hurling star

THE neglected, rabbit-eared television set flickers high on the wall in the corner of the bar. Though ignored, Galway’s Joe Canning nervelessly taps over another free on a night in Semple Stadium that would ultimately see Cork slip quietly from the All-Ireland hurling championship.

It’s a typical Saturday evening in Dublin, as below the TV, revellers in a heaving Temple Bar hostelry swirl happily through the lounge and glassed smoking area. A trio of musicians feed the tourists a diet of Irish music to complement the half pints of cold Guinness, while colourful hen parties funnel through the swinging double doors.

At the bar, at the centre of what is an unusual cast of characters, uninterested in the televised action, is a Wexford senior hurling star (who has ‘hurled on Canning before’) – but is, at the moment, much more engaged in a very different sport.