From teacher to coach, Allen's Uibh Laoire connection has come full circle

Niall Allen knew Chris Óg Jones as a fourth-class primary student before anyone in Cork knew him as a clinical inside finisher.

Ballincollig's Niall Allen with his dad John and brother Brian. Allen was half-forward on the club’s history-making team that delivered a maiden Cork football title in 2014. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

Before Niall Allen ever stood on the Inchigeelagh field to coach the Uibh Laoire footballers, he stood in the local classroom educating the kids he now trains.

Niall, son of All-Ireland winning Cork manager John, is a native of Ballincollig. He was half-forward on the club’s history-making team that delivered a maiden Cork football title in 2014.

The same as dad, he migrated onto the sideline once his playing days were past him. 

Spent three years coaching the Ballincollig footballers. Reached the county semi-final in his final season on the home sideline.

Working with Uibh Laoire is his first outside job. 

But he’s not really an outsider given the Allen ties to Uibh Laoire predate his arrival as coach three years ago. He was no stranger going down there for the throw-in of the 2023 season.

After three decades in the same classroom in Togher, dad John, at the beginning of the last decade, took on the challenge of being principal of a small school out in Kilbarry. He did three years there before retirement.

Kilbarry, for those unfamiliar with the geography of that pocket of mid-Cork, feeds into the Uibh Laoire dressing-room.

When Niall went down the same educator route as his father, much of his college teaching practice was conducted in the Kilbarry classroom. 

He knew Chris Óg Jones as a fourth-class primary student before anyone in Cork knew him as a clinical inside finisher.

Uibh Laoire's Chris Óg Jones shoots from Macroom's Johnny Murphy. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

“A really small school but 70-80% of the lads playing now would have come through there, the likes of Chris Óg, Conor O’Leary, Finbarr McSweeney, the Pickering's, Ian Jones, Aaron O'Donovan. I would have come across a load of them when they were in fourth, fifth, and sixth class.

“After that then, I would have always kept an eye out for them coming up through the ages, coming up through the grades from when they were contesting Mid-Cork junior finals. Having done so much of my teaching practice down there, the connection has come full circle.” 

The Uibh Laoire footballers have been in a hurry for much of this decade.

Won a first Cork junior title during the delayed 2020 season. Won the 2021 Intermediate A title four months later. Have been more than competitive in the third-tier Premier Intermediate ever since. Semi-finalists in 2022 and ‘24. Quarter-finalists in the interim ‘23 campaign. Now finalists.

“When the opportunity arose, it was great to get involved with them; an exciting team coming up through the grades fast and playing a nice brand of football.” 

Allen’s praise for his pupils-turned-promotion-pushers extends far beyond the aesthetics of a side whose 10-46 group phase total this summer was 0-19 clear of the next highest-scoring side across the 12 teams.

Coming from densely populated Ballincollig, he has nothing but admiration for the clubs surviving and thriving off tiny playing numbers.

“They are a fiercely committed bunch who are maximising every inch of what they have because it is a small area with a small population, and for them to be competing up the grades like this is unbelievable for the size of the area.

“It is not as if there is a conveyor belt of players coming every year. Since I have been out there, there has been one player come through from the underage. The players just aren’t there, they just don’t have the numbers. They really maximise what they have.

“They eke every drop they can out of it by training so hard and being so eager to improve, so it is a pleasure to be down there coaching them.” 

For Knocknagree and Cill na Martra last weekend, read Aghabullogue and Uibh Laoire this Sunday. They are the Premier Intermediate shop window teams for community, culture, and collective squeezing of limited means.

“When you see the massive areas versus somewhere like Inchigeelagh, which has a population of a few hundred people, to be competing and challenging for senior status, the same as Aghabullogue, is an unbelievable achievement.

“We lost to Cill na Martra in the quarter-final in my first year involved and to see them competing in a Senior A final two years later, the same with Knocknagree coming up from Junior to be a Premier Senior team, Aghabullogue or Uibh Laoire could be on that trajectory as well.

“All these clubs are maximising what they have, and it probably comes down to those rural club players, how much it means to them, and how committed they are to their clubs to be putting in the time and effort to get to this position.”