All-Ireland storylines: Friendships parked between Listowel and Arva
HITTING THE TARGET: MIcheál Ó Deasúna scores for Cill na Martra against Castlerea St Kevin's. Picture: Alf Harvey.
Their friendship goes back over 20 years but Marc Ó Sé and Hugh Hourican will park it for 60 minutes on Sunday as they find themselves in rival camps for the All-Ireland junior club football final.
Ó Sé is coach of Listowel Emmets this year while Hourican, proprietor of the popular Boar’s Head pub on Dublin’s Capel Street, is a proud Arva man.
Their relationship goes back to the late 1990s when Ó Sé’s late uncle and Kerry great Páidí was Kingdom manager and promised to bring the Sam Maguire Cup to the pub the Monday morning after the All-Ireland final. He was good to his word in 1997 as he was again in 2000 and it has become a tradition for winning Kerry and Dublin teams, Marc toasting his five senior All-Irelands there.
The pair are in regular contact but radio silence will be the order of the day the greater Sunday looms.
At this stage, we should just take it for granted that being in the Middle East is not going to stop a player answering the call of his club.
Colin Fennelly did so for Ballyhale Shamrocks this past season before O’Loughlin Gaels beat the All-Ireland champions in the Kilkenny final. The season before, Jack Savage was returning home on weekends from Dubai to line out for Kerins O’Rahillys as they went all the way to an All-Ireland SFC semi-final, one of three Strand Road men who were putting the air miles in to tog out.
A commuter through the club’s successful Cork premier intermediate campaign, Anthony Spillane may have missed the Munster semi-final against Crotta O’Neills but in the following couple of games against Corofin and Tooreen has scored a combined 4-4.
Based in the United Arab Emirates since 2022, Spillane flew home once for a game during that 22 season but in this county, province and All-Ireland run has come back at least six times. “Some people think I am mad, but since I was very young I wanted to play for Castlelyons,” he said back in October.
Coming into Sunday’s All-Ireland intermediate final, Cill na Martra’s top scorer is Micheál Ó Deasúna, his palmed goal against Castlerea last weekend as they eventually overcame the Roscommon and Connacht champions.
The full-forward is sure to be watched closely by the St Patrick’s, Cullyhanna defence but he is no stranger to close scrapes. The twin brother to World and European silver medalist middleweight and Cork boxing hall of famer Christina, “I started boxing when I was 11, I followed my twin brother Michael to training,” Garda Christina told “The Echo” a couple of years ago.
Desmond won gold in the light-middleweight category in last February’s prestigious Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Bulgaria.
GoFundMe and iDonate fundraiser drives ahead of All-Ireland semi-finals and finals are all the rage these days and Castlelyons are no different, raising just over €21,000 head of their clash against Thomastown on Saturday.
Their Kilkenny opponents have accrued €7,900 towards their preparations. Tullogher-Rosbercon raised over €11,000 for their All-Ireland pursuit while St Catherine’s organised a sponsored Strictly Dancing.
Senior hurling finalists St Thomas’ set up a donation portal for their county championship as they have done so again ahead of facing O’Loughlin Gaels on Sunday week. Fresh after beating Castlehaven last weekend, St Brigid’s are well on their way to reaching a fundraising goal of €7,500 as they take on Glen in the football decider.
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