Keary keen to call time on Shamrocks
The pub is his business, a leased business, so that what he gets out of it is directly dependent on what he puts into it. .
His coaching history is a story in itself, not so much the how – he’s qualified through the GAA foundation and level 1 courses – but where. “I spent three years coaching in Mayo, but employed by a single club, believe it or not — Castlebar Mitchells.
I don’t think people realise the work that’s being done for hurling in clubs like that – I remember one day we had DJ Carey up there, then Richie Power, Larry O’Gorman from Wexford another time.
They raised nearly €50,000 my first year there, around €20,000 the second year, ran camps and everything like that, going from strength to strength. In my last year they actually had two full-time coaches with the club.”
As a player, Gavin also has a bit of history, on the representative scene especially. Won a few All-Ireland titles at underage – a colleges success with St. Raphael’s springs to mind, Cyril Farrell and John Hardiman as coaches – but lost a lot more.
“I was beaten in two minor All-Ireland finals with Galway, beaten in an U21 final, beaten last year in the junior club All-Ireland final by Ardfert, another game we should have won.”
On top of all that, and probably most hurtful of all, Gavin was on the Loughrea team that lost two Galway county senior finals in three years, 2003 and 2005.
In 2006, however, the wheel finally turned. In yet another county senior final, Loughrea finally overpowered All-Ireland champions Portumna.
Subsequent wins over Athleague (Roscommon) and Cushendall (Antrim) now sees them take their place in the All-Ireland decider, bidding to emulate the achievement last March 17 of arch-rivals Portumna.
Between Loughrea and glory? A youthful Ballyhale Shamrocks, backboned by a magnificent half-back line featuring Keith Nolan, Aidan Cummins and Bob Aylward.
Whatever the result, things certainly augur well for the future, reckons Bob. “I started in 1996, when we were intermediate, but we won the county after two years, went back up to senior.
“I remember playing beside Seán Fennelly, Paul Phelan, Tommy Shefflin from the old Shamrocks teams, the last of them — actually Maurice Aylward (current manager) was training us as well that time. Henry (Shefflin) was on that team, Aidan Cummins, Tom Coogan might have been a sub, but that was about it. Ten years on we have a new team. When I went to school, Aidan Cummins, Henry, Tom Coogan, David Hoyne, a few more, they were only a year or two behind me, but we were watching the younger lads, the likes of TJ Reid and those, when they were 12, 13, and we knew there was a lot of talent coming through.”
Greatest threat to that half-back line will be big Johnny Maher, the Loughrea centre-forward. No worries, says Bob. “He’s done a lot of scoring for them alright, but we have the right man for him – we call Aidan ‘Frank the Tank,’ after his uncle Frank (iron man, eight All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny, seven on the field, at midfield). He’s the spitting image of him, the build and all of him.”
So he is. “I’m about 6’1”, around 14st,” says Aidan, a builder; not the kind of man you want to run into on a hurling field, though he scoffs at that suggestion – “Ah, I prefer to play the ball first.” So what does Aidan make of Johnny Maher? “He’s big, but I’ve been on big men all year. But he’s very handy, in fairness, I saw him against Cushendall, very impressive from play and from frees, even scored a point from a line ball.”
Big weekend then for these three, for Loughrea and Ballyhale Shamrocks. 65 years the Galwaymen waited between county titles, this would be the crowning glory on a super season; just 15 years since the Shamrocks last won in Kilkenny, but, with three All-Ireland titles already harvested in the glorious 80’s, their ambitions were never going to stop there.
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