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Christy O'Connor: Micheál Donoghue and Jim McGuinness chasing addition to elite group

This weekend, Donegal will be aiming to bridge a 37-year gap to their last victory against Kerry on Kingdom soil.

Fri, 07 Feb, 2025 - 20:00

Christy O'Conner is a former top-level goalkeeper turned acclaimed hurling writer, with an intimate and unique understanding of gaelic games.

When Tony Leen sat down with Jack O’Connor in the Bianconi Inn in Killorglin the Wednesday after the 2022 All-Ireland final, O’Connor was the guts of an hour late. Still, he didn’t see the need to sweat or get stressed about why he was held up. There was no need for O’Connor to walk or talk as fast anymore.

O’Connor was a different person to the one that led Kerry to an All-Ireland 18 years earlier. Back then, he was, by his own admission, too obsessive. He had a chip on his shoulder. That gave O’Connor an edge but it also wore him down. The adrenaline was running through him for so many months after the 2004 All-Ireland final that, by the start of 2005, O’Connor was burnt out.

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