Cashel's Oisín O’Donoghue on own-point: 'If we had lost by a point I was on the way to Australia'

Despite that blip against Abbeydorney, it has been an incredible year for the Cashel teenager.

WINNING FEELING: Oisin O'Donoghue says winning the Munster final was a brilliant feeling.  Picture: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

If you’ve come here for the “own point” story, you will have to wait a little longer. There’s more – much more – to Oisín O’Donoghue than scoring against his team.

We’ll get to what happened in Abbeydorney last Sunday week in good time but context is required. See, Saturday’s clash with Watergrasshill in Limerick is the teenager’s fourth final this season. Liam Cahill recently invited him to join the Tipperary senior panel. The Cashel King Cormacs tyro is making waves.

Don't forget either that O’Donoghue scored a goal against Abbeydorney later in that game that turned the match in Cashel’s favour. Or that he played such a pivotal role in the club regaining their senior status for the first time in 10 years.

Or his goal for Tipperary’s U20s being the difference between Brendan Cummin’s side and Cork in the Munster final. Or that across six championship games, he amassed 4-13 from play.

Whatever happens in TUS Gaelic Grounds, the UL fresher can look back on 2024 with pride. And as much as claiming that provincial title for his county in May was sweet, it didn’t compare to seeing off a plucky Carrick Swans side to take the Tipp premier intermediate crown in October.

“Winning a Munster final with Tipperary was a brilliant feeling but winning a county with your club is something very special. There was a massive crowd in Cashel for us and it brought it home all the more. There were lads there supporting us since we were U6 and they in tears. It was a great evening in Brosnan’s afterwards.” 

Son of club chairman and former Cormacs player Seán, O’Donoghue has been raised on songs and stories of Cashel’s successes. Exacting revenge on Holycross-Ballycahill to claim their first and only Tipperary SHC in 1991 and going on to win Munster.

A team coached by Justin McCarthy and featuring his father, the Bonnars to whom he is related, the Fitzelles and current manager TJ Connolly. “I grew up hearing all about the great things Cashel players did for the club like winning Dan Breen in ’91 and going on to win with Tipperary. I grew up dreaming to be just like them.

“We’re saying our goal this year is to write our own bit of history. I’d have a few of the older lads telling me don’t take it for granted because they don’t come around too often. It’s hard not to when it’s my first year up but we’re trying to keep our feet on the ground.” 

Taking that point as easily as he did in the opening seconds the weekend before last, in that very moment it certainly was difficult for O’Donoghue not to think he was made for the afternoon. Only that delight soon turned to dread when he realised it had come at the expense of his own side.

O’Donoghue might have been thrown by the fact the players duelling for the throw-in were lined up on the wrong side. “Well, I’ll say that anyway,” he smiles. “I thought I was in for the game of a lifetime when I put the ball over the bar. I set up for the puck-out and just saw Johnny Walsh look out to me with his hands up and I was, ‘Oh, no.’ If we had lost by a point I’d have packed my bags and was on the way to Australia.”

O’Donoghue’s act became a viral hit but he shrugs it off now. Although, it’s bound to provide material in Cashel’s dressing room for some time to come. “In years to come, I’ll look back on and laugh. The slagging didn’t kick in until after the game. The goal wasn’t mentioned at all. Myself and Ronan Connolly just after it happened, we were laughing. We didn’t know how to react.” 

O’Donoghue is in high demand but he’s fortunate to have accommodating mentors. “(Liam) Cahill said to come into him when I’m finished with Cashel and the college have been very good to me as well and said to concentrate on my club as that’s most important right now and they haven’t expected much of me.” 

If Cashel don’t land the Munster intermediate title, it won’t be for lack of effort or resources. “TJ has put in so much effort and all the background team,” says O’Donoghue. “The father being senior chair. Everything we’ve looked for has been given to us in the club. Travelling to Tralee the night before the semi-final was a perfect example of it.

“Like, I’ve never seen a Cashel team so fit and that comes down to the great work Paudie O’Connor has been doing with us. It’s been unbelievable. We’ve had no real injuries and a lot of that is down to Paudie. We have brilliant facilities and that’s down to the club who have been putting money into the preparation of the players.”