Hennessy finds his fix in Lixnaw, not Limerick

So why choose Lixnaw?

Wed, 02 Aug, 2023 - 07:20

Mortimer Murphy

When Lixnaw goes in search of a tenth Kerry SHC title on Sunday against neighbours, Crotta O’Neills, Lixnaw's manager will strip as fit as any of the thirty players on the pitch.

Former back-up Limerick keeper Barry Hennessy, a holder of four All-Ireland Senior medals, could have hung in there for a fifth this year but at 33, decided to walk away at the end of last year.

“We’ve incredibly high standards (with Limerick), and it’s very black or white with me, you either live them or you don’t. You could have sat there and given 70 or 80 per cent, and gone through the motions, but that’s where the cracks start to form. If one lad is doing that, another lad sees that, and allowances might be made by management to let that happen, but that’s where the cracks, internally, start to form, and that brings the downfall to success. It was easy for me to say after that I can’t give what’s required, then you just shake hands and you walk away.

So why choose Lixnaw?

“I love coaching, I would have been involved with Ard Scoil Ris in winning a few Harty Cups, and when I finished up, and everyone would be thinking that this fella would be a great goalkeeper coach. Someone locally here got wind that I had been approached by a couple of teams, and one conversation led to another, and I took over in Lixnaw at the start of April. In terms of the other teams, we were probably a little bit behind, but in fairness to the lads, they were doing a bit of training themselves anyway.

“Whatever bit of the league was left was used to experiment and to build our panel, and make sure that we gave everyone an opportunity. I think the lads have enjoyed it, and they have responded very well to it."

Crotta are seeking to end a 55-year title famine and Hennessy believes that hurling in Kerry is underrated. The commitment from Lixnaw's players, he says, "surpasses (Kilmallock) even - and that’s a great credit to where Kerry hurling is at the moment.

"I don’t think it gets the appreciation that it really deserves, outside of Kerry, and even internally in Kerry I don’t think it’s been highlighted enough how much progress has been made. Every newspaper article, or podcast I listen to, is Kerry football at the moment, and I think the Kerry County Board have something unique here with the hurling. We’ve 36 lads here training every night - even in Kilmallock, you’re struggling for 14 or 15 at training.“

Hennessy believes Lixnaw are not being given the credit they deserve.

“If you look at it, Ballyheigue knocked them out of the championship last year in the group stage. Nobody seems to be talking about Lixnaw in terms of that we had no Conor O’Keeffe the first day, we’d no Tweek (John Griffin) the first day, and we were missing a lot. Even going into the first championship game against Ballyduff, the talk was about who Ballyduff were missing."

What about Shane Conway, two-time Fitzgibbon Cup winner, how does the manager rate him?

“Shane is a generational talent. He would get on any county team in Ireland, and I’m not just saying that because I am over him here. He’s extremely humble, works very hard, nice guy to have around the place, good presence. You would understand if he had a lot of airs and graces about him, but he doesn’t carry that at all.

"If anything, I think sometimes he doesn’t realise how good he is. I know he’s taken some criticism down here over the last couple of years, that he wasn’t reaching the heights of what he was capable of, and that’s unfortunate for him.

“Every player hears that. People have to give this guy a break. He’s one cog in a 36-man machine with Kerry, it’s very important that he gets support around him too. That’s what we’ve tried to do here, to take the pressure off him, and get the other lads around him, even the other Kerry lads, to increase their performances and to improve as overall athletes and hurlers."

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