No rest despite rise to top-tier hurling for hungry Fr. O’Neill’s

NEXT CHALLENGE: Liam O’Flaherty, General Manager, Co-Op Superstores with Fr. O'Neill's Joe Millerick. Pic: Brian Lougheed

Fr. O’Neill’s rise to the premier senior hurling ranks has been one that has stuttered frustratingly in recent years.

Although O’Neill’s have climbed the grades in an impressive fashion since 2005, when they were still hurling at junior level, 2020 and 2021 brought heartbreak as the Ballymacoda/Ladysbridge outfit lost back-back senior A finals.

The 2020 loss to Charleville – whom they face in their opening fixture of this year’s premier senior championship campaign this Saturday - coupled with the 2021 loss to Kanturk has brought a resilience to the side.

It was a resilience that allowed the eldest member of the heavily-represented Millerick clan, Joe, and his teammates to build on the experience of the ’20 and ’21 losses on their route to finally clearing the senior A hurdle against Courcey Rovers last time around.

After all, they were fully aware of the standard required.

“It was definitely difficult to come back from two county final losses, but we knew that we were getting close,” Millerick begins.

“In those matches, we were quite close, so we knew that if we kept the standards up in 2022, we were going to have a real chance and look, we did keep up the high standards.” 

As soon as one pressure valve is released, It’s a case of on to the next job for the Bryan Sweeney and Dave Colbert-managed side.

All that hard work can’t be for nothing, as Millerick explains.

“The pressure is off having got up to the top grade but, there is still pressure to stay there and perform to the best of our ability.

“We do want to do ourselves justice after getting up here. We shouldn’t be putting ourselves down with the pressure either, we should have a cut off it.

“Look, there is pressure but we just want to express ourselves on the day.” 

Reaching Cork’s premier level of hurling in 2023 puts a flag in the ground on a stage never graced previously by Fr. O’Neill’s.

However, while reflecting fondly on that journey, it’s not something 28-year-old Millerick and his teammates are focusing on too much. For them, it’s time to show what they can do at the highest level, they’ve come too far not to do just that.

“Sure look, in 2005, the club was Junior so we’re after progressing a lot in recent years and we’re just trying to play to the highest standard we possibly can and just give the best performance that we can,” Millerick said. “We want to do ourselves justice at this higher grade because we’ve put a lot of work (in) to get here and we want to stay here, that’s really important.” 

 He continued: “It has taken years of work. Not just the players, there have been really good chairmen, really good people on the ground, we have a new facility now, so there’s a lot of work going into that and a new pitch.

“It has taken years of dedication from everyone; From parents, from sponsors, from our board members, from everyone to get to this grade.

“So looks, we’re going to try and make the most of it now.”

We've touched on the Millerick clan already. Five brothers will likely feature on the pitch together throughout the upcoming campaign. Our interviewee, Joe, is the eldest of the GAA-mad bunch. He'll be joined in Rathcormac for their championship opener on Saturday by younger brothers; Thomas (27), Michael (26), Ger (24) and John (22). Teenager Enda is a coming talent too.

“It’s mighty to be playing with your brothers,” the 28-year-old insists. “We all kind of drive each other on as well.

"If one fella was going bad, the other fellas would give him a bit of encouragement.

“We’re a very tight-knit group, so everybody gets on with everybody else but it's great to be playing with all your brothers, in fairness.”