Joe Grimes: The Kerryman thriving with Cork 

Joe Grimes of Cork is tackled by Liam Fannell of Waterford during the McGrath Cup match. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

He’s the Kerryman in the Cork corner.

And no, we’re not talking about selector Ray Keane, younger brother of recently departed Kerry manager Peter.

Although the Cork football team for tomorrow afternoon’s McGrath Cup decider has yet to be named, the expectation is that Listowel native Joe Grimes will continue at midfield for Keith Ricken’s side.

Having made his Cork senior debut when donning the number nine shirt for the county’s McGrath Cup opener away to Clare on January 8, Grimes was again selected in the middle of the park for the county’s second Group A outing three days later.

So, how has it come about that a son of Listowel will wear the red of Cork against his native county this weekend?

Towards the end of the last decade, Garda Joseph Grimes took up station in Clonakilty. And while he initially made the long journey back to North Kerry for training and games with both Listowel Emmets and divisional side Feale Rangers, the 250km round-trip wasn’t a sustainable one.

The transferring of allegiances to Clonakilty came ahead of the 2020 Covid-disrupted season, Grimes plying his trade between midfield and the half-back line during the club’s short-lived stay in that year’s county senior championship.

Under new management, Clon went a great deal further in 2021, Grimes an influential figure at midfield as the men from West Cork reached a first county final — where they fell to the Barrs by the minimum — in 12 years.

“Joe was something that was missing from Clonakilty, we didn’t have a big midfielder,” remarked Clon selector Eoin Ryan.

“He had a very good season for Clon, no doubt about that. We wouldn’t have got to the county final without any of them, Joe included. He is full of heart, very athletic, and very willing to do the hard work.”

Over in Listowel, they kept a keen eye on Grimes and Clon’s progress through the Cork championship.

Listowel Emmets clubman and Feale Rangers chairman Christy Walsh is the proprietor of Christy’s Bar in the North Kerry town.

The pub streamed both the Cork semi-final and final, with a number of cars also travelling across to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the Clonakilty-St Finbarr’s decider.

Grimes’ subsequent Cork call-up means local interest is similarly strong ahead of tomorrow’s game.

Indeed, he’s the second Listowel native in recent times, after Conor Cox with Roscommon, to don a county shirt that is not green and gold.

“While Joe’s home is in Cork at the moment, his family and best friends are still in Listowel. That will probably continue for a long time.”

Walsh, though, is fully cognisant that Grimes’ progress in recent years, leading as it has to an inter-county call-up, might not have materialised were it not for his move across the border.

“His role in helping to bring Clon to the county final gave him exposure that Feale Rangers or Listowel probably couldn’t have given him at the moment because of the standard we’re at,” continued the Feale Rangers chairman.

“Joe has definitely come into himself the last couple of years, his upper body strength has really come on. I know he did a lot of work the last couple of years with a local personal trainer, Graham Shine.

“His main attribute is his stamina, he has a fierce ability to get up and down the field. He’s a work in progress for the new Cork manager.”

The latter point is picked up by Eoin Ryan, who describes the 25-year-old midfielder as a “rough diamond”.

“Joe is raw, so a lot can be done with him. There’s lots of potential there.

“Keith [Ricken] is the right man there and if Cork can get it out of him, it is all the better for Clon, as well. This trip with Cork will do him the world of good. It’ll be interesting to see how he goes,” said Ryan.

While Barrs captain Ian Maguire may own one of the Cork midfield shirts, there’s no obvious candidate as to who will partner him this year.

Killian O’Hanlon continues to work himself back to full fitness after rupturing his ACL last April, while if 2021 Cork U20 captain Brian Hayes does opt for senior inter-county football over hurling whenever the Barrs’ season concludes, he might well be used in the half-forward line given he’s done so well in that position at club level in recent times.

The Kerryman in Cork clothes is certainly in with a shout.