The Killeagh men looking to take down the Cork champions in the colours of Fullen Gaels

Fullen Gaels face Cork’s Ballygiblin in the semi-final of the All-Ireland Club JHC

Life can bring us in any direction, but our passions never really change, and this is certainly true of Fullen Gaels’ captain, Kevin Fennelly. On Sunday he will lead his side out against Cork’s Ballygiblin in the semi-final of the All-Ireland Club JHC.

An opportunity to work in an Enterprise Ireland graduate programme saw him travel the 550 odd miles from his home place of Killeagh to Manchester in 2019, but before he had ever left the hurling heartland of East Cork, he was already planning how to keep his passion alive.

“The first thing I did when I got the job here was Google ‘hurling in Manchester’ and I got in contact with the chairman of the club, Stan Murray-Hession. I arrived on the Saturday, and I was down at the pitch on the Sunday and from there it took off and it’s been a lifeline for me in Manchester. There’s only one hurling club here, and four football ones so Fullen is the catch-all for all the hurling gang.” 

Although he’s a recent arrival. Fennelly is well versed in the history of Fullen Gaels, and he speaks with authority on their history, particularly the two All-Ireland finals that they lost in 2013 and 2015.

There are links to those teams in the form of Simon Wallace, Kilkenny’s Paddy Duggan, and Wexford’s Greg Jacob. However, Fennelly also has somebody from closer to home for company in the form of fellow Killeagh man, Darren Cusack.

“Darren moved over to Edinburgh for university, and he took a break from the GAA at first, but then he began doing a bit of work in Manchester. I managed to reel him in then and he’s been sensational for us, and he saved the winning penalty against Craobh Rua in the All-Ireland quarter-final. He’s also one of my best friends and we’ve hurled together since we were U7 and it’s pretty special to be running into your best mate after winning a quarter-final in the middle of Birmingham!”

His previous experience of playing Ballygiblin doesn’t stem beyond a game played in sunshine on a Bank Holiday Monday long ago, but the excitement brewing amongst his fellow ex-pats is just as special, yet different from things at home.

“It’s been a massive week, albeit, just amongst ourselves. There’s no bunting around Manchester, no cars painted black and amber; it’s just us and the 60-odd members. I wish it was Sunday already.”