Lisgoold and Castlemartyr: Two East Cork GAA clubs on similar journeys
Safe hands: Lisgoold goalkeepers Moss O’Connell and Ciaran Cronin celebrate after they defeated Harbour Rovers in August. They are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Castlemartyr by winning the Lower Intermediate decider against Kilbrittain this weekend.
Two East Cork neighbours, two remarkably similar stories.
On Saturday, August 7, Lisgoold won the club’s first-ever Cork junior hurling crown. The emphatic nine-point victory over Harbour Rovers came in the same delayed season as their first-ever East Cork junior hurling title.
Two weeks later on Saturday, August 21, Castlemartyr, a club that lies 20km over the road from Lisgoold, claimed the 2020 Lower Intermediate hurling championship.
The turnaround to the throw-in of the 2021 season was swift, both county champions beginning life in the higher grade they were promoted to on September 12. Similarly swift, as it proved, was their adaptation to these higher plains.
On Saturday evening at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, three months after their respective 2020 final wins, both East Cork sides are back in county final action.
First up is Lisgoold in the Lower Intermediate decider against Kilbrittain at 5pm, followed by Castlemartyr in the Intermediate A final where they’ll do battle with Sars at 7pm.
For Lisgoold, who have a playing membership of approximately 150 across juvenile and adult level, this has been a journey they are still trying to get their head around and one they dearly hope will deliver further silverware on Saturday.
“What really helped us was that we were championship-ready going into the early rounds of the Lower Intermediate given it came so soon after the junior final,” said manager Mossie O’Connell, who also serves as the team’s sub goalkeeper.
“We played the Barrs in the first round in Cobh and I’d say they underestimated us. We are just delighted to be back in another final.”
O’Connell attributes Lisgoold’s success of late to the attitude shift in the club 10 to 15 years ago. Greater focus was placed on underage, while there was also a major investment in facilities.
“Things changed in the club, everyone wanted to do the right thing. There was a big emphasis put on the underage structure in terms of the way they were trained and set up. People moved into the parish with different ideas, everything was embraced, and we all moved forward.
“We have a massive clubhouse that we didn’t have before. We have a fantastic astroturf pitch that was laid in recent years. We can hurl all year round on that, which is a huge benefit.”
So noticeable on both the Lisgoold and Castlemartyr teams is the number of Cork SHC and Harty Cup medal holders.
Lisgoold’s John Cronin was at half-back for Imokilly’s three-in-a-row of Cork hurling crowns, with Castlemartyr’s Brian Lawton another to start all three finals. Others from this Castlemartyr team to feature during Imokilly’s ownership of the county title include Barry Lawton, Barra Ó Tuama, and Joe Stack.
The latter was at full-forward on the Midleton CBS team that came up short in the 2018 Harty Cup decider, while outside him at centre-forward that afternoon was Lisgoold’s Liam O’Shea.
Stack was still on board when Midleton went one better a year later, with Lisgoold centre-back Cathal Hickey, Castlemartyr full-back Darragh Moran, and centre-back Ciarán Joyce other central cogs in the school’s first Harty win in 13 years.
The aforementioned Barry Lawton, who was at corner-forward for Imokilly’s 2018 final win over Midleton, is in no doubt that both clubs have profited from the top-level fare their players have been exposed to through divisional and Harty involvement.
“Imokilly have made great strides and that is benefitting all the teams in the division, as you can see from the East Cork representation in all the different county finals. The Imokilly WhatsApp is busy each weekend as we’d all be wishing each other the best of luck. There is a great bond there in the division,” said Lawton.
But as much as the 29-year-old cherishes his 2018 Cork SHC medal, it is the silverware picked up with the lads he went to primary school with 20 years ago that is valued most.
Lawton is one of only a handful of survivors from Castlemartyr’s 2014 county junior final-winning team. The subsequent campaigns in the old intermediate grade brought little by the way of joy, but all the while they knew there was a wave of young talent rising through the underage ranks where they are amalgamated with Dungourney.
“The club’s centenary is coming up in 2024 so there is a big push on for that to add to our existing facilities and make it more attractive to the young fellas growing up.”
Winning, no doubt, is a help too in that regard.
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