How schools played a central role in Cork hurling's underage resurgence

You’d not think a Dean Ryan Cup final to be among the key starting points in Cork’s underage reawakening

Tue, 17 Aug, 2021 - 12:00

Eoghan Cormican

You’d not think a Dean Ryan Cup final to be among the key starting points in Cork’s underage reawakening, but that is exactly how Ronan Dwane remembers the 2014 U16½ Munster colleges hurling final.

Dwane, a former Cork County Board coaching officer, Cork minor hurling selector, and development squad coach, was involved with the Midleton CBS team that reached - and won - the 2014 Dean Ryan Cup final against Ardscoil Rís.

It was the first time since 2006 that a Cork school had lifted either the Harty or Dean Ryan silverware and the first time since 2003 that a Cork school had come out on top in the latter competition. Never before had Cork gone 11 years without a Dean Ryan Cup winner.

With a “hit and miss” Cork development squad system having been overhauled for the better in 2013, Midleton CBS’s victory over the then-dominant force in Munster colleges hurling was an early green shoot in the rebuilding of Cork’s underage structures.

The East Cork nursery successfully defended their Dean Ryan crown a year later, with St Colman’s, Fermoy capturing the title in 2017 and 2020.

At Harty level, where only one Cork school - Charleville CBS - had reached the decider between 2007 and 2014, there has been just one year since - 2016 - where a Cork school wasn’t involved in the decider.

Even more noticeable than the now annual involvement of a Cork side in the Harty final is the spread of schools to reach the concluding day of action in recent years.

St Francis’ College, Rochestown, made a first Harty final appearance in 2015, Fermoy were there in 2017, Midleton contested back-to-back deciders in ‘18 and ‘19 (winning the latter), as did Christians in ‘19 and ‘20.

“That’s four schools that were up at the required level, a clear sign that improvements were being made,” remarked Dwane.

“You go back to the gap between 2006 and 2014 without a Harty or Dean Ryan, which for Cork was an awfully long time. The eye had been taken off the ball at colleges level.

“But in the years after, we started to get results at development squad level, we started to get results at schools level.”

Where Midleton and St Colman’s have long and proud traditions in Munster colleges hurling, Dwane said a significant factor in Cork’s recent successes at minor and U20 level has been the rise to prominence of previously unheralded city schools such as Rochestown and Christians.

Current Cork senior panellists Robbie O’Flynn, Robert Downey, and Billy Hennessy were part of the first Christians team to compete at Harty level in close to a century in 2015, while the quartet of Eoin Downey, Padraig Power, Jack Cahalane, and Robbie Cotter from this year’s Cork U20 team lined out for the college in either the 2019 or 2020 Harty finals.

“Christians have really taken up the mantle of a city school developing players,” Dwane continued.

“Donal O'Mahony deserves credit for driving that on when you consider the low base from where they started to where they are now. I remember being at the 2015 U14A Cork colleges final between Midleton and Christians. I went to shake Donal's hand after Christians won and said to him that we'll be seeing a lot of Christians in the future. He said, ‘yeah, absolutely’. They have really pushed on since.

“It is important city players have schools in the city that will help with their development. You now have Christians, Rochestown, and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG is still doing an awful lot of good work.”

The aforementioned O’Mahony is a selector with the Cork U20s and he told this newspaper prior to the delayed 2020 All-Ireland final that “a real building block” in the county’s underage resurgence has been the competitiveness of Cork schools at the business end of the Harty Cup.

“To be up beating Ard Scoil Rís, Thurles CBS, Nenagh CBS, and then when they put on the Limerick or Tipperary jersey, if you are beating them at schools level it gives you that confidence.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Cork U20 manager Pat Ryan.

“There is huge work after going into the schools. Our performances and achievements at Harty level over the past couple of years has been a huge benefit to what is going on with Cork.

“I see it there with our own players and how friendly they are with fellas they were in school with from different clubs, and that is mainly because they were on bus journeys together going up to play Thurles CBS, Nenagh CBS, or Ardscoil Rís in the Harty.

“Unfortunately, for about a ten-year spell, we were getting hammered all the time in Harty and that just drains the life out of you and makes it hard for players to actually believe they are good enough to compete. It gives great confidence to players winning big Harty games with their schools.”