Launching a whiskey in the middle of a pandemic sounds stark raving bonkers but you have to hear John O’Brien out.
In actual fact, the pubs were open when Jim Mac Irish Whiskey was debuted in the lead-up to the All-Ireland SHC final last December. With O’Brien’s Tipperary hurling pedigree and the label featuring a caricature of his uncle Jim McDonnell in one hand holding a hurley across his shoulders and a sliotar in the other, the timing didn’t work out too badly.
“We were hoping to launch March last year but with everything that happened we couldn’t,” recalls two-time All-Ireland winner O’Brien. “We were given advice to hang tough and hold off until the whole thing blew over but I was getting itchy feet and I wanted to get it out there.
“With the GAA connection, and the All-Ireland final dropping on December 13 I said that this wasn’t going to happen again so close to Christmas and with everybody in lockdown it was probably going to be the biggest gift season on record.
“So we took the chance, I put the feelers out to a lot of former GAA players and they were very responsive and gave us a good plug on social media. We were the number one selling whiskey online for Celtic Whiskey and Irish Malts, which were our two biggest platforms.”
Distilled in Cork and inspired by his uncle who ran “The Shop” pub that has been in the family going back to 1887 and was able to sample the whiskey before passing away in April 2019, O’Brien knew hurling was a novel vehicle to sell the premium blended whiskey but is glad to report it has found favour with connoisseurs. “The hurling aspect, that will only get you your first sale. It’s great that the whiskey holds up. It’s a pity the pubs are still closed but we have to suck it up and keep going because in this industry the more I learn about it it’s a slow-moving industry and it’s a long game we’re in for, not a sprint.”
But what feels pretty quick is the 20 years that have passed since O’Brien first came onto the Tipperary senior panel, claiming a Celtic Cross while he was at it. At the homecoming, the plaudits for youngbloods like Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly rang out and the expectation was 19-year-old O’Brien would soon join them a first-team regular.
Two years later and the Toomevara man was not part of Michael Doyle’s plans althought he fought his way back into the panel. He doesn’t look back on those early senior years with much fondness.
“I think it’s going to take time to look back on it with a smile. When I do look back, I feel we should have won more. In the early part of my career, I probably wasn’t putting in the same effort as I should have. When you win the All-Ireland in your first year, you do think it’s going to come easy. I did mature and I did work harder but this was a time when strength and conditioning really wasn’t looked at until the mid-2000s.
“When you saw Liam (Sheedy), Eamon (O’Shea), and Mick Ryan you saw that professionalism and Cian O’Neill played a huge part in physically getting players to a higher standard. In your late 20s, you start to do what you should be doing off the field like yoga, pilates, adding to your stretching and flexibility outside of what you were doing in the gym. It was a learning curve for me. Now they’re probably coming in at 18, 19 and they’re ready to go.
“Do I have regrets about it? I do. More regrets about the finals and games we lost and should have won when everything was going right. There’s a lot of medals I think we left behind. It was a weird time from 2001 to 2008 — I had seven different managers in my career and you look at the very successful teams and they had nothing like that amount of turnover. That’s not an excuse but every manager wants to put their own stamp on things but it takes time to know players.”
Contributing 1-4 from play, O’Brien was top scorer when Sheedy-managed Tipperary ended a seven-year wait for a provincial title as they saw off Clare in the 2008 final. “We didn’t think we would have to wait so long after ‘01. It was unfortunate we didn’t push on further that year but it laid the platform for the gameplan Eamon was trying to impose. We saw the fruits of it once or twice that year but a lot more in 2009 and 2010.
“The rivalry with Clare from the 1990s had died so when we played them in ’08 they were a different team, they were in transition and we probably felt we were a better team. Most of our scores came from play that day but in the second half we saw what they were capable of and came back at us a bit. We kicked on.
“Looking in from the outside, people say it is an aging team and it is and there is no stepping away from that but Covid has affected Tipperary more than most teams in that they haven’t been able to develop the U21 and U20 All-Ireland winning players as much as they would have liked.
“The integration should have come through the league the last two seasons but that really hasn’t happened. There hasn’t been a chance to blood them.
“I know other people mightn’t agree but I do think it’s a major motivation for the older players that people are saying that about you and maybe it’s true that this will be the last season for some of them. They know themselves there isn’t much on the clock but there are still among the best players in Tipperary.”
Three key battles
Aron Shanagher v Pádraic Maher
We are not ruling out Brian Lohan attempting to pull the same trick and pushing Tony Kelly into full-forward. If that is the case, Kelly would be picked up by Cathal Barrett and Maher moved to shadow the man wearing the No 14 jersey. The six-time All-Star, who has had some awkward moments against giant full-forwards, has an added challenge given Shanagher is predominantly a left-handed player.
John Conlon v Noel McGrath
A duel that could decide the game. Conlon is a wily hurler and his display against Waterford will provide confidence but he remains raw as a centre-back especially against a seasoned campaigner like Noel McGrath. If Cathal Malone and Michael Breen are matched as attacking men in midfield, it will be up to Colm Galvin and Alan Flynn to work deeper and protect the half-back line. Galvin is a very clever hurler who will look to plug the pockets where McGrath usually profits but there are few better readers of a game than the Loughmore-Castleiney man.
Aidan McCarthy v Barry Heffernan
Outside of Kelly, McCarthy has been the most in-form player for Clare. On the other hand, Heffernan has arguably been the most consistent defender for Tipp the past three seasons. Heffernan’s strength is in close exchanges and in the air and he is quick, which will be needed against a player as lively as McCarthy. Heffernan can go back should Shanagher prove a handful but along with Seamus Kennedy he presents a wall to Eibhear Quilligan when he is pucking out.
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