Sharpshooter Ryan revels in Pallaskenry’s proud day

It was a hectic weekend for Colin Ryan.

Top scorer in last year’s All-Ireland senior hurling championship, on Sunday in Ennis, Ryan was introduced in the closing minutes of a tight Allianz Hurling League final round league game as 14-man Clare chased down a narrow Galway lead. And soon after he was called on to convert a 65m free to tie the match and gain top spot in the group for Clare.

Colin did the necessary, but pressure? For that, he says, you need to go to the previous day and a different game, the Masita All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Senior C hurling final in Cashel.

For four years Ryan has been teaching at Salesian College Pallaskenry, four years involved on some level or another with various teams in the school but on Saturday, it was their big day in the spotlight, up against a much-fancied Wexford CBS. A big second half display by the Limerick side secured the title (1-9 to 1-6) to the delight of all, especially their young manager. “It’s harder to be on the line; on the field you know you can do something, on the line you’re there with Brian Chambers and Ross O’Donovan (management team), nervous, anticipating, but there’s nothing you can do.

“I nearly had more heart-failure on Saturday than I did in the All-Ireland final!”

This wasn’t about Colin Ryan, however, this was about Pallaskenry, a rare and magnificent achievement for a rare and magnificent group. “Most eyes were on the A semi-finals this weekend and rightly so (Kilkenny schools did the double over Limerick, Árdscoil and Doon beaten), but schools hurling is very strong in Limerick at the moment, at every level. This is a huge win for us, a special day. We have a total of about 560 students – and rising, thank God – but we’re a mixed school, more girls than boys, so we don’t have a huge pick. We’re pulling mostly from two clubs, Ballybrown – they had 11 starters on Saturday – and Kildimo-Pallasgreen, with a few on the panel from Mungret. There are three Limerick minors, goalkeeper Cian Hedderman, centre-back Ross Griffin and midfielder Cillian Gavin, three outstanding players for us but this was very much a team effort. When you see the excitement on the day, the 20 teachers, the parents, the students, all making their way to the game – it was a huge occasion for the school.

“We don’t often get that kind of attention and I think it’s only when we got to All-Ireland stage that people saw how big it is. You start playing games on Saturdays, small things like that make a difference. I know from my own time that those are special memories, you’re playing with fellas you’ll never again play with and that was a message we were trying to get across to the lads: Saturday was the last day for a lot of that panel, seven or eight lads are doing their Leaving Cert this year. Now they’ll always have this memory; in 10 years, in 20 years, in 40 years, they’ll be able to look back and share this year. That never fades.”