With county title 'famine' over, Conor Stakelum and Thurles Sars aiming to 'do Tipp proud' in Munster
Thurles Sarsfields players and brothers from left, Aidan Stakelum, Darragh Stakelum, Conor Stakelum, and Cian Stakelum celebrate with the Dan Breen Cup. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
The Stakelum family members found each other somewhere amid the final-whistle blue scenes out on the Semple Stadium field for the treasured family photograph.
Brothers Aidan, Cian, Conor, and Darragh Stakelum all started Thurles Sars’ Tipp final victory on Sunday afternoon.
A second photo from the same Semple field may be snapped this weekend as younger sister, Caoimhe, will attempt to bring a fifth county senior medal into the house when the Thurles women take on Clonoulty Rossmore in Saturday’s local camogie decider.
“That was special,” said Conor of Sunday’s family photo, where his other three brothers celebrated pocketing a first county medal.
“It's been a long, long road for us. It was special getting to go out and hurl with your brothers. Mam and Dad, they're definitely very proud. It's nice to transition from out in the back garden bating the heads off each other to doing it out here. It's very sweet.”
Corner-forward for the 2017 Tipp final victory, Conor’s concluding Sunday experience thereafter had been the narrowest of replay defeats in 2021 and ‘23.
The weight of the nine-year wait is why the first words of his acceptance speech declared that “the famine is over”.
“We were beaten in two replays and I can tell you, they were really dark days. Some of the senior group bottled it, and we obviously didn't let that show to the younger lads because they've no baggage or anything. So, we had to deal with that ourselves.
“A lot of emotion is after coming out there the last couple of minutes. It's just nice to be able to undo the wrongs. They were good battles in them county finals that we were beaten in. The better team probably won, but still, that just sticks with you. We used it as fuel for this one,” said the captain.
Wing-back beside Ronan Maher for last year’s short-lived campaign that failed to progress beyond the group phase for the first time since 2019, Conor moved into the No.6 slot when Ronan suffered a broken ankle in the fortnight before their Mid-Tipp opener at the end of June.
Unlike previous injury setbacks to key Thurles figures, Stakelum was immensely proud of how others stepped up when the 2025 All-Ireland winning captain was removed from the playing picture.
“If you look back at the last couple of years, Pádraic [Maher] had to pull the plug on his career. Since that, it’s snowballed. Billy McCarthy had a career-ending injury.
Mickey Cahill, as well, had to come back from numerous injuries. Ronan had been injured as well before. Jack Derby, Harry Fitzgibbon with his neck. We just haven't been dealing with it properly.
“This year, it was just next man up. I think we dealt with it there and then when it happened down in De La Salle. Ronan then led by example in how he looked after himself off the field. We all wanted to get him back and give him the opportunity to be out there on the pitch.”
Thurles’ one and only Munster crown arrived in 2012. Borris-Ileigh, in 2019, are the one and only Tipp club to clasp their hands onto the provincial silverware in the intervening 14 years.
With the Limerick and Waterford champs on the far side of the draw and with five weeks to ready themselves for a semi-final against the Clare or Cork champions, there’s at the very least a negotiable path to a third-ever Munster final.
“You're in bonus territory now. Pádraic will definitely have us in, knuckling down again. We're going to go and do Tipp proud out in Munster and see what happens then. Once you give it socks out on the field and leave it all out there, whatever happens then happens.”
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