TV show to feature Cork’s replica kit

The Cork hurlers’ temporary adoption of the jersey worn by the county 100 years ago is part of a documentary being made for TG4 by Fócas Films about the Rebel colours, called An Fhuil agus Bindealán (The Blood and Bandage).

“The idea is to look at what the blood and bandage means to the people of Cork,” said Sam Kingston of Fócas Films yesterday.

“The Cork jersey seems to have something extra to it, unlike other jerseys. We’re looking at what it means to players, what it means to supporters, and part of that is looking at where it came from in terms of how the county adopted it.

“We’re looking at the original jersey, and whether things would be different if Cork still wore that blue top. We’ll look at the psychology behind it as well, and we plan on meeting Conor McCarthy, who’s working as a psychologist with the Cork footballers, to discuss that.”

The programme will be presented by Irish Examiner columnist Donal O’Grady and directed by Pat Comer. While the plan was always to get Cork players to wear the jersey, nobody expected that they’d do so in a competitive game.

“Donal (O’Grady) discussed the team wearing the jersey in a league game with the Cork County Board, and in fairness they were more than happy to do so.

“They’ll wear it against Kilkenny (on March 12th) and we’ll film them. It should be an interesting angle.

“Donal played for Cork and St Finbarr’s, the club with a link to the old jersey, so he has a personal link to the story as well.”

There has been interest from the public in buying replica jerseys, but Kingston says a commercial release of the jersey isn’t their department.

“That’s not for us to decide, it’s something for the county board to consider. We’re only starting the process of making the documentary, so it probably won’t be on the screens until the end of the year at the earliest. But we’d be interested in hearing from people who have information or photographs of the old jerseys that they’d like to share, certainly.”