Cashel's King Cormacs new princes aiming to help Tipperary reclaim All-Ireland hurling throne

Sunday is the first All-Ireland senior final since 1991, when the Bonnars were in their pomp, that Cashel King Cormacs have had more than one representative on a Tipperary panel

Thu, 17 Jul, 2025 - 06:16

John Fogarty

Seán and Catherine O’Donoghue missed Oisín’s goal last Sunday week. There they were in Croke Park alright, sitting in the Hogan Stand, but the folks in front of them were on their feet by the time they rose to theirs and their 19-year-old son had struck that audacious shot.

Then a voice said O’Donoghue was the man who put the ball in the Kilkenny net, then another and his parents turned to each other and embraced. Teenagers scoring senior majors in Croke Park has become a lesser-spotted thing.

Shane O’Donnell’s hat-trick in 2013 would come to mind but the gap between under-age and senior had supposedly become a gulf. Darragh McCarthy, Sam O’Farrell and O’Donoghue have debunked that theory. And Oisín, scoring his third championship goal and second in as many games, is U20 again next year.

At the final whistle, Oisín jumped into the arms of his team-mate, Cashel King Cormacs club-mate and big cousin Eoghan Connolly, Just as he did as a fan after the end of the 2019 U20 All-Ireland final against Cork when Eoghan was part of Liam Cahill’s winning side.

“He idolised him big time,” says Seán.

“Eoghan Connolly is a gentleman on and off the field. All the juveniles look up to him. He has taken on that mantle and is involved in coaching in the club. You’re seeing the real Eoghan Connolly now, a man who can really hurl. He’s turned out to be one of the top backs in the country.”

Tipp U20 ace Oisin O'Donoghue with his father Sean

Catherine’s sister Theresa is married to TJ Connolly, who has managed the Tipperary U21s and led Cashel King Cormacs back to senior level last season.

The Butlers from Holycross-Cahill, the sisters have strong claims for their sons’s prowess and O’Donoghue and Connolly were players of note themselves, part of the club’s sole senior county championship success in 1991 when they later added Munster honours.

Both played at various levels for Tipperary. Seán captained the minors in 1990 and was part of the team that lost to Kilkenny in the following year’s final before featuring for the U21s in 1994. Connolly was a dual player at minor level for two years and at U21 for three.

Sunday is the first All-Ireland senior final since ’91 that Cashel King Cormacs have had more than one representative in a Tipperary panel when the Bonnar brothers were in their pomp and reflects the strides they have been making in recent years.

“It has taken a lot of time to get here,” says O’Donoghue, who is also club chairman. “We kind of took our eyes off the ball in the 1990s when the seniors were successful and the juveniles weren’t brought on at the same time. But in the last 11, 12 years, the juvenile section has been brought back to where it should be.”

Anyone who witnessed Cashel claim a premier intermediate title last season would have been taken by their size. Oisín himself is superbly conditioned for a teenager. Connolly has handed over the baton to Fergie O’Loughlin and Eoin Cadogan this season with hopes high of marking their return to senior level with a bang.

“The gym we have is top class and our juveniles have a qualified strength and conditioning coach overseeing their training and ensuring they do things proper,” says Seán. “We’re definitely on the right track.”

O’Donoghue is an outgoing man and the pride he takes from seeing Oisín and Eoghan is unmistakable. The pair were back in Leahy Park pucking a ball around the evening after the semi-final as children gathered to train and that image filled his heart.

“The boys would have similar personalities. They’re very cool, calm and collected, very humble. Their feet are firmly on the ground and they know what this means to Cashel King Cormacs. The club keeps our juveniles on the straight and narrow and makes good men of them in the future.”

When Oisín was confirmed as the goalscorer, Seán’s thoughts turned to his late father Pat and brother James, who was on that stand-out Cashel team with him and Connolly.

“That they couldn’t be there to watch Oisín in Croke Park,” Seán’s voice falters for a second.

“My father came to Cashel as a detective in 1963. He was on duty when the great Jack Lynch hit the first hurling ball in Rockwell College in ’64. He was a big football man of course but hurling too and involved in the club many years.”

Tipperary forward Oisin O'Donoghue with his parents Seán and Catherine.

Seán would admit to pucking every ball with his son and nephew-in-law. “I would be vocal at matches and Catherine at times wouldn’t like that. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I like to see our players do well, especially the Cashel King Cormacs men.”

In 1991, there were five sets of brothers in the Cashel squad comprising 15 of the 27-man panel – the Bonnars (Cormac, Colm, Conal and Ailbe), the O’Donoghues (Pat, Seán and James), the Fitzells (Pa, Peter and Willie), the Grogans (Johnny and Tommy) and the Slatterys (Tony, Ger and Seán).

Currently, six of the Cashel senior panel are related – Margaret Butler is married to Brendan Bonnar and their sons Con and Ross are there as is Ronan, Eoghan’s younger brother. He was joint-captain of the Harty Cup-winning Cashel CS team, which Oisín was also a member of two years ago.

And that number is likely to grow. Oisín is the eldest of Seán and Catherine’s five sons. After him, there’s Briain (18), Ultan (16), Cormac (14) and Tiernan (12). This week will be expensive but “it becomes an after-thought,” insists Seán. “Occasions like this don’t come around too often.”

Oisín finished his first year in UL and is currently working with Martin Bourke’s Farm Relief Services in Cahir for the summer.

“I’d say he hasn’t been out once on a social night out in UL because of his commitment to his hurling between senior and U20 hurling since last November,” reckons Seán.

“For every county player now, I imagine it’s a life of discipline and everything Oisín does is down to the minutiae from diet to recovery. He doesn’t eat rubbish. It’s all about getting ready for big days like this.”

Father and son wouldn’t talk too much about hurling. When they do, it’s short and to the point. Oisín’s attitude about playing in Croke Park for the first time last Sunday week was simply he would no longer be a rookie after the game.

This Sunday morning, from their homes four miles apart, the O’Donoghues and Connollys will send off their sons as they have done for all their championship games. Seán’s advice for Oisín will be the same as it always is: “Loads of movement.”

The handshake, the hug, the kiss — they will say a lot more.