Beaten down: Ilen Rovers are in freefall and the numbers don't stack up 

SCENIC BUT...: The west Cork coastal harbour town of Baltimore, home to Ilen Rovers. Pic: Larry Cummins

When Cork GAA published their club rankings in November 2019, ahead of the radically redrawn county championship structure throwing in the following year, Ilen Rovers were comfortably inside the 12th place cut-off for the shiny, new Premier Senior championship.

Based on results from the four seasons spanning 2016 through 2019, Ilen Rovers ranked joint-ninth of the 20 teams who held senior status at the time. In sum, they had earned the right to be part of the new, slimmed down top-tier championship.

A significant factor in securing that top-12 ranking was Ilen Rovers reaching the 2019 quarter-finals. 

Throw in Peter O’Driscoll captaining the Cork U20s to a famous All-Ireland win and it was a year of green shoots down their pocket of West Cork.

At the close of the inaugural Premier Senior championship in 2020, the men from Aughadown, Rath, and Baltimore still held top-tier status. Bishopstown bested by nine points in the relegation play-off.

Involvement in relegation play-offs, though, was to become an almost annual occurrence. Three years on from that survival victory, Ilen Rovers have fallen three steps of the Cork football ladder.

Four campaigns, three demotions. Saturday’s removal from Premier Intermediate, after defeat to Macroom, was the latest. 

In 2025, they’ll operate in the fourth-tier, Intermediate A championship.

After a Division 4 league win over Bantry in mid-May - Ilen’s first in either league or championship in 386 days - selector Johnny Holland outlined the club’s reality to the local Southern Star newspaper. 

Ilen Rovers' Dan McEoin shoots from Macroom's Rory Buckley during the Cork Premier IFC relegation/playoff at Dunmanway. 

Emigration, he put it mildly, has not been their pal.

“We’re devastated as regards numbers,” Holland explained. “We had our last win against Dohenys last season, and now we’re missing nearly a dozen of that team. Australia, fellas heading off, is the main reason, and there are more due to go.

“Keith Ricken said to me that we probably have a better team in Perth than we do here at home and he’s probably right.” 

Names such as Sean O’Donovan, Donal Collins, Stephen Leonard, Paddy O’Driscoll, Eoghan O’Donoghue, Daniel O’Driscoll, Cian O’Driscoll, Josh Sheehy, and Donnacha Whooley have all packed their bags and gone out to see the world. 

Ballincollig's J.P Murphy tackling Ilen Rovers Stephen Leonard in 2021. Pic: Denis Boyle

And although the club has dropped and dropped again, there’s nobody at home begrudging those making their lives abroad.

“Since Covid, up to 10 have gone to Australia, another to Canada. They are all very talented footballers that did go. Hopefully they'll come back [at some point], and if they did, that'll improve our situation. But for young people, the world is their oyster,” remarked club executive member and club coach Dominic Casey.

“There are three fellas based in Dublin, and it is a long commute to Aughadown and Baltimore. There’s another in London. Those fellas haven't been playing the last couple of years and all that has a big impact on a small club.” 

Injuries have also hurt. Casey counts seven cruciate ligament ruptures in recent years. There was a double leg break in there too.

“The players that are here, they’re committed, putting the work in, and are very good footballers. If we had them all on the field fully fit, we'd have been more competitive in the intermediate grade.” 

Those are the on-field issues. Then there are the less obvious factors. Baltimore is a highly sought-after summer residence. Attempting to put down roots in the area all-year round is far from straightforward, be that from a pricing or planning perspective.

It’s all reflected in the tightening primary school numbers and the size of the playing pool coming up through the age-grades.

“Outside of football, we are living in a popular location for people looking for holiday homes or looking for second homes. And as a result, it is driving the price of everything through the roof,” Casey continued.

“If you are a young couple looking to live in our area, the price of property is incredibly high. You are competing against a different type of person that has lots of disposable income. Anyone that is trying to live here, it is very, very difficult.

“Our population, as a result, is very seasonal. The local population goes up to about 2,500 in the summer, but it is down to 300 in the winter. Our numbers are very small.” 

A seasonal population feeds seasonal employment, which is often not enough to keep young men at home and available for the Ilen cause.

It’s a cause at a low ebb right now. But there’ll be no towel flung. There’s a second, full-sized pitch being developed at their Church Cross base. 

The work continues.

“There is a good minor team coming through. There is a good U16 team too, albeit short on numbers. It is trying to develop those lads, hopefully, hold our intermediate A status for the moment, and grow from there.

“We had a very successful minor team in 1995. That fed into winning a first West Cork Junior A in 96. All of a sudden there was a bit of momentum, and that momentum carried us through to the 2007 county senior final. 

"If we can build a bit of confidence and momentum, it'll come from there.”