Finuge near final destination
Resident in Watergrasshill in Cork, teaching in Clonmel, Allen has been clocking up close on 900 miles some weeks in service of the North Kerry outfit.
Is he complaining? What do you think?
“When you have a bit of success like we have at the moment it all pays off,” he smiles. “There’s been a few tough years there like when we were beaten in intermediate championship games by a point and it’s hard to pick yourself up after that. But when you get the break around Christmas and you get a break from the driving, you’re reinvigorated for the year. You plan out your weeks; you go back down to Cork after a game. You go to school; you come home, do a bit of recovery, stretching Monday and Tuesday and back into the car again on Wednesday. You get into a routine and it becomes part of your weekday.”
Ironically Allen comes from a lineage steeped in hurling. His father and three uncles all hold two county championships medals playing for Lixnaw.
Allen also has two county senior hurling championships but for him the commitment of playing for both clubs was a bridge too far. “I just thought there was something in this team. The will to win in both clubs is as strong, we’ve all grown up together. We’ve lost so many big matches and today’s game means that we appreciate more where we are. For many it is the biggest game of our careers.”
Finuge’s nearest neighbours Lixnaw hold their hurling as pride of place, but over the years, an accord has been built. It’s this marriage of codes if you will, that has allowed both clubs prosper down through the years.
The 30 or so players lining out in the green and gold are standing on the shoulders of many giants who have worn the club jersey before them. For many clubs it’s a team effort, in Finuge, its more familial. From their first North Kerry championship win in 1967 there have been brothers playing side by side, the Sullivans, Galvins, Lanes and Lyons, the Breens, McElligotts, to name but a few. Today is no exception; two sets of Galvin brothers, four members of the Fitzmaurice family, three Corridons and three McCarthy brothers will run out of the tunnel in Croke Park. Many of them came from the John McAuliffe school of coaching, a national school teacher from Lixnaw who has helped fashion some of the club’s greatest talents.
Allen admits: “John was a great influence on us, he worked with us from underage and many of us would not be in the position we are in today were it not for him.”
For any club that strives to play at the top level, there must be a strong foundation. To that end, Finuge have never faltered, from Martin Whelan, Aidan Galvin, John Buckley, Leo Kennelly, Thomas Sullivan and the current administration, this team is a product of the tireless work done at grassroots. Long serving club member Christy Kileen also points to the influence of county players as a key to the success of the club. He explained: “Having Jimmy Deenihan and Eamon Breen in any club is immense. Jimmy always recognised the need to nurture juvenile players and Eamon has always shown by example. The impact of players like Eamonn Fitzmaurice, Paul Galvin, Maurice Corridon and Enda Galvin who’ve all played in Croke Park will hopefully mean we can bring the cup home.”
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