Seán Óg Ó hAilpín: 'I wish I had my time back again. To savour it and the wins a bit more'

For so long on the big match days you knew where Seán Óg Ó hAilpín would be: right there in Thurles, Limerick, Croker or wherever it was, in the thick of it or on the wing

He’s still the last man to captain Cork to a national senior hurling title, having made the journey from Fiji to Sydney to the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Liam McCarthy in 2005. And he was also part of the last Cork team to win a national league, having in another final against Waterford back in 1998 worn the number 7 jersey he’d make his own for a decade and more. Seán Óg Ó hAilpín though is looking forward to when another Cork captain and team can claim similar distinctions, just as he’s content to have transitioned from being a once demi-god to a self-confessed ‘gofer’ and ‘Joe Soap’.

For so long on the big match days you knew where he’d be: right there in Thurles, Limerick, Croker or wherever it was, in the thick of it or on the wing. Plucking a ball from out of the sky or being the first to scoop it up off the ground. Bursting out, using that immaculate frame to break the tackle. Taking a small tap of the ball, a sideways glance, then offloading it by hand or by bás to launch another Cork attack, score, win. It seemed like he would play forever, live forever, forever Seán Óg.