Cuala look to Kerry’s Dublin star Darragh O’Connell

If a Dublin club winning a Leinster senior hurling final is a rarity, a Kerryman featuring on one attempting to do so is even odder.

Darragh O’Connell smiles wryly at the mention of his background: “No matter where you go, I suppose you are always going to get one or two jokes about being from Kerry and playing hurling, but I am well used to it, at this stage.”

Kerry and Leinster will become better acquainted next year when new manager Ciaran Carey leads the county into the province’s qualifier group but, for now, the link is Abbeydorney’s O’Connell. Having transferred to Cuala at the start of the year, the 24-year-old could never have envisaged wearing the navy and blue of the county, never mind being 60 minutes from a Leinster title.

Living in Dublin since 2011 and working in a gaelscoil in Greystones, travelling to and from Kerry for county and club training become too arduous. After five years, he’d reached the end of his tether with those seven-hour round drives. On top of that, he’d signed up for a part-time course at Setanta College.

“When I transferred to Cuala, my sole aim was to make their 15 for championship,” says the corner-back. “Then Ger Cunningham gave me a call around the end of April, beginning of May.”

O’Connell’s debut for Dublin was the proverbial baptism of fire in the Leinster quarter-final replay defeat to Galway, when the game was over as a contest inside the first 10 minutes.

There have been no hard feelings from his former colleagues about his change of allegiance, although from others there’s been the odd jibe. “I have got a couple of comments... ‘you’re representing us like’ but I think all the lads in Kerry respected my decision and they backed me. Even after we won the county final, I got plenty of messages of congratulations. I was born and bred in Kerry so a certain part of me still feels like I’m representing them too.”

His association with Cuala may just be in its infancy but he’s packed so much in the last 11 months. To beat Oulart-the-Ballagh in Tullamore on Sunday would mean a monumental amount for him, the club and county.

“They’ve been waiting 21 years to win a county title and to go on and win a Leinster... only one Dublin club has ever achieved that going back to ‘79 in Crumlin so it’s a long time with one Leinster championship.”