Family ties and dual ambition binding Blarney
One Club, One Community: Blarney Woollen Mills has marked a new chapter in its long-standing partnership with Blarney GAA by extending its jersey sponsorship of the club to include camogie.
Blarney were up and running in the Cork senior A hurling championship when placed-ball specialist Mark Coleman managed to find a small gap and squeeze the sliotar into the top corner of the Castlelyons net on the first Saturday in August.
It seems a long time ago now but there is no doubt that last-gasp close-in free deep in stoppage time on day one of the championship was the spark they needed.
A pivotal moment for the 2025 semi-finalists, who left Riverstown 1-21 to 1-20 winners.
They haven’t looked back since, building momentum with victories over Ballyhea and Watergrasshill.
Bolstered by a trio of intercounty stars - Coleman, Pádraig Power and Shane Barrett - which undeniably gives Paul O’Leary’s charges a competitive edge, they secured a bye to the semi-final as leaders in Group 1.
Captain Patrick Crowley widely acknowledges their indisputable contribution, but he is also keen to recognise the combined input from all of the squad members.
“No better man than Mark Coleman,” he says. “I wasn’t stepping up to take it, I can tell you that!
“It was the first game of the championship so there is going to be nerves, it was great to get the win that day, definitely a boost for us as a team and we kind of built on that for the rest of the year.
“Did it shape us for the rest of the group matches? Definitely. You learn from every game, your tactics, decisions during the game - we’ve probably got better at that. It drove us on.
“It is really a group effort, there are lads there in the forward line and back line that are absolutely firing. We have 30 odd lads training every week. The three lads are fantastic players and link up well but everybody has to play their part.”
This is the mid Cork club’s sixth consecutive year in the second tier and they are contenders almost every time.
A perfect three wins from three ensured they progressed straight to the last four and a meeting with Carrigtwohill. En route, they registered 3-71 while conceding 2-54.
The club has made a concerted effort to promote football too, so the big ball has kept them busy in the intervening period.
“While we’ve been off with the hurling we’ve played football, so it’s been great,” Crowley says.
“Almost everybody is a dual player, I’d say there are only five or six lads that are just hurling. Collectively, we’ve all got behind the hurling and football this year, it’s all the players rowing in with the football as well.”
Family connections are the beating heart of most clubs and the Crowleys are no different. Playing beside his brother Seán adds to the occasion.
“It’s great for the family. I’ve three brothers - there’s Brendan the oldest, Seán second, I’m third and then there’s William. We were all brought down to the GAA when we were four or five years of age and started off playing with Blarney.
“Myself and Seán are playing away, William was playing but he took off to Sydney for the beach life. There are a couple of sets of brothers on the team in Blarney so it is a fairly tight-knit group.”
The one disadvantage that may arise from getting a bye to today’s semi-final is the unavoidable break between games, compared to their opponents who’ve had the most competitive of quarter-finals against Na Piarsaigh that required extra time and penalties to decide.
“We were watching Carrigtwohill and Na Piarsaigh and both teams performed very well.
“Carrigtwohill are going to get a real boost off of that.”
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The partnership will continue to support the club's men's teams while now extending to its female players, reflecting the continued growth of Blarney GAA and Blarney Camogie as one united club community since coming together in 2021.
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