Making Father proud
Still, when they arrive in Croke Park for the clash with St Colman’s (Newry), it will be strange. Fr Oliver Hughes’ passing last September, the figurehead of the school’s greatest football days, means the game will be a poignant one.
“Fr Oliver was a man that won’t ever be forgotten around St Jarlath’s,” said current selector Clive Monahan.
“We certainly have talked about him, he has been mentioned in our talks leading up the final. He was an absolutely phenomenal coach.
“You’d die for the man on the field. The amount of effort and work he put in with football was incredible. He wasn’t in the school the last few years but there is a huge sense of loss amongst all the past and present students that would have known him. It’ll be strange being in a Hogan Cup final without him.”
The game also marks a notable milestone for the school since their last Hogan Cup final appearance in 2003. In the interim the school shut its door to boarding students and amalgamated with St Pat’s.
“The school has gone through a lot of transition since our last Hogan Cup win,” admits Monahan. “The boarding has been phased out since then. We would have had quality players over the years from Mayo, Donegal and various counties in the Midlands. But things have changed now and it’s taken us a while to get back to this stage.
“Still, this is a strong football area and there’s always been good representation from the local clubs. There are 10 of them on the panel. We have a lot of Corofin lads but overall there’s a good spread which wouldn’t have been the case before. Our catchment area has been widened as we now have more players from the far side of Killererin and also from Dunmore since the amalgamation.”
Monahan is well-placed to chronicle the exploits of St Jarlath’s. The Caherlistrane native boarded in the school along with his four brothers, Peter, Patsy, Tommy and Joseph.
“It took me until third year to win my first Connacht title in St Jarlath’s but then I picked up seven Connacht medals in the next three years. The elusive Hogan Cup medal evaded me. In 1999 I was a sub when we lost to Good Counsel (New Ross) in the final and then in 2000 I was playing when we lost to St Pat’s in the semi-final.”
The most grievous blow came in Monahan’s final year in 2001 when he captained the side in a Hogan Cup decider against Navan kingpins St Pat’s in Croke Park.
“It was a phenomenal experience to get to play in Croke Park. St Pat’s had a very good team, Joe Sheridan was their main man but they’d a lot of other lads that went on to play senior for Meath.
“We’d a strong team ourselves. Nicky Joyce, Diarmuid Blake, Darren Mullahy and Damien Burke went on to play senior for Galway, but it wasn’t to be that day.”
A year on, Monahan finally secured the national medal he craved when Galway swept past Dublin to claim the All-Ireland U21 football title.
The current bunch want their Hogan Cup medal though. With the added incentive of furthering the school’s rich history in this competition and maintain the herculean work done by those who have gone before.
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