Duals in the crown
THIS is the drill. For training in Loughmore-Castleiney, they never differentiate between hurling and football. Head down to their local field at any time of year, and if the club is still vieing for honours in both codes, the thud of footballs being kicked and the clash of hurleys will ring in the air on the same night. David Kennedy rose to national prominence as a hurler. He manned the heart of the Tipperary defence when they lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2001 and has moonlighted with Kildare in the Christy Ring Cup since 2007. But back at base, fulfilling a dual mandate is all he has ever known.
“We’d regularly mix up our training with both on the same night. If it comes towards the end of the year, we start off with hurling when it is bright. Then when it’s getting darker, you’d hear the roar from the management to stop the match. We throw the hurleys in the ditch, a ball is thrown in amongst us and we drive on.”
In one way, they slip neatly into the stereotype. A rural area with the GAA at its core. There is only three miles separating the two villages of Loughmore and Castleiney in Mid Tipperary, and when the surrounding hinterland is factored in, Kennedy reckons there is just shy of 1,000 residents.
But they also stand apart. To punch above your weight as a small club at senior level in one code is impressive — both codes is exceptional. In Tipperary they are a rare specimen, a club who won the senior hurling title in 2007 and were only beaten by a point in the football equivalent last November.
That’s all before the number of players they dispatch to answer the county call is considered. When Kennedy celebrated September glory a decade ago, he had club-mates alongside him in Paul Ormonde and Noel Morris. Inter-county representation continues. The Tipperary U21 footballers were the only ones of the eight inter-county squads this year not to have a Loughmore-Castleiney player in their ranks. Were it not his hurling demands, Noel McGrath would have completed the set.
The 2009 Young Hurler of the Year is their stellar name but this week he plays a supporting role. The main cast head to Croke Park as part of the first Tipperary minor football side to be within touching distance of the Tom Markham Cup since 1984. His first cousin Liam captains Tipperary, his younger brother John is on the panel while John Meagher and Dara Butler swell the Loughmore-Castleiney contingent to four. The McGrath tentacles reach into every corner of the club. Liam’s father Tom, the resident hurling guru of Tipp FM and a former senior footballer with the county, embodies the dual ethos perfectly. He sketches an outline of the family tree.
“Myself and the three brothers, Pat, Michael and Frankie would have all played in the 80’s and we’d be heavily involved in the club. Liam is my son, and then John and Noel would be Pat’s sons. The lads would all be double first cousins because my wife Bernie is a sister of Pat’s wife Mary. Then Michael’s son Ciarán would have played senior football for Tipperary this year. And the lads aren’t be the first members of the family to have played football in Croke Park either. There was two men from Loughmore, Jim and Billy Ryan, who played for Tipperary on Bloody Sunday in November 1920. They’d be great grand-uncles of Liam and John.”
That historical note offers a clue as to the traditions in the club. They have long been football specialists, with 1986 being the only season between 1965 and 2000 they did not win the Mid Tipperary senior football crown. They also lifted six county titles in that timeframe, wrestling control away from the southern forces that dominated football in Tipperary. Hurling emerged later. Kennedy traces the spread of that gospel back to the arrival of Fr JJ O’Rourke from Birdhill to the parish in the late 1970’s.
“Fr O’Rourke brought the hurling with him when he came to Loughmore. In 1983 they made the big breakthrough, winning the Mid-Tipp senior and won the county in 1988. Ever since then, hurling has become more high-profile. When I was young, both were treated with equal respect. That hasn’t changed and I don’t think it will. Everyone here plays both because we’ve such small numbers. You don’t have a choice, we need everyone to field both teams.”
The current golden underage crop has boosted their resources further. John Meagher has been a colossus as Tipperary minor football full-back ever since being brought on early in the Munster final in July, a game where Liam McGrath’s wonderful individual goal ignited their challenge in Killarney. John McGrath and Daragh Butler, both still underage next year, have made vital contributions from the bench. That’s a testament to the underage structures in the club and the work done at schools level. In Loughmore NS, principal Stephen Maher is the driving force and in Castleiney NS his counterpart John Treacy, the club secretary and father of Liam who was a dual Tipperary minor last year, keeps the fire stoked. Kennedy is nearing the end of his career but the vibrant youthful streak in their team helps the Kildare-based garda to keep making the 150 mile-round trip from Sallins back home.
“I’m coming towards the tail end of my career but it’s very reassuring to see the current minors come through. They’ll take up the mantle. It’s phenomenal what they’ve done being dual players this year. I was talking to John Meagher’s father recently and he was saying the atmosphere in the Tipp football camp is so positive, that it appealed to the lads to juggle the two of them.”
In July the entire Tipperary minor set-up were feted in Loughmore village after claiming provincial glory. The hope now is that they can replicate those scenes with an All-Ireland trophy. There are 60 names in the hat for the 24 precious tickets that the club were allocated for Sunday and coupled with the player’s families, they’ll ensure there is a vociferous Loughmore-Castleiney presence in Croke Park. David Kennedy will watch it on television as he figures there are more deserving homes for tickets amongst club members.
Tom McGrath will definitely be there. At the start of the year, he hoped his son, his nephew and his clubmates would get the chance to grace the sod at headquarters. He figured their best shot was in hurling but after Tipp’s footballers bowed out at in the Munster championship in June against Clare, the year took an unexpected and delightful twist. Sometimes he frets about the schedule they face. On Saturday week, they will be togging out for the Loughmore-Castleiney senior hurlers in the county quarter-final and the following morning the minor hurlers are in action in the Mid-Tipp semi-final.
“It’s a hectic schedule, a lot of big games for the lads in a short space of time. But All-Ireland finals don’t come around too often. How many clubs would give their right arm to be in our place? You have to enjoy it and we certainly will.”
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