Clare connection going a bomb for Kilmallock 

At just 31, James 'Bomber' Hickey’s coaching CV already has heft. He was 22 when Davy Fitzgerald brought him into his backroom team in Clare. 

LEARNING CURVE: James Hickey, left, in 2019 with then Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald. ‘I spent eight years working with Davy. ‘I learnt an awful lot,’ says Hickey.  Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

You may call the Kilmallock manager James Hickey but he goes as much by the nickname ‘Bomber’.

The genesis of it is more Louis than Liston.

“My best friend, Shane Gleeson, his grandfather and mine were also the best of friends,” he recounts.

“They ended up in a row somewhere one night, and my grandfather could have given a lad a few belts, and that’s where the name came from.”

At just 31, Hickey’s coaching CV already has heft. He was 22 when Davy Fitzgerald brought him into his backroom team in Clare. 

There he remained for the journeys with Fitzgerald and kitman Michael ‘Gazzy’ Collins to Waterford and Wexford, as well as Cork, every year handed more responsibility by Fitzgerald.

“I spent eight years working with Davy. I learnt an awful lot,” he says.

“Picked his brain on an awful lot of stuff and to be fair to him he kept progressing my roles. In the latter stages, he had me coaching the goalkeepers in Wexford and doing a nice bit of outfield coaching with Waterford in the two years there. I’m forever grateful for all those opportunities.”

In 2023, Hickey coached Doon with another Clare native Fergie O’Loughlin as manager when they lost out on penalties in a semi-final to would-be county champions Na Piarsaigh. He and Waterford man Noel Mackey were part of Peter Queally’s Kilmallock management in 2024 before the pair took over last year.

Cratloe man Hickey is no renegade. He has coached at every age grade in his club, from U12s to seniors. The bug caught him early. “I find it very rewarding. Every coach and manager wants to win, but when you see improvements in players or maybe you see a team doing something at the end of the game that you worked on, that gives you a good sense of pride and satisfaction.

“I count myself very lucky in Kilmallock that Noel Mackey does the coaching, about 75-80% of the training. I might do one or two drills a night but he does most of it, and he’s a fantastic coach. We kind of throw ideas at each other as well. He has one way of seeing things, and I have another way. And we seem to work very well together.”

The pair will join Pat Bennett in Carlow next season as they aim to go one better than this year’s McDonagh Cup final appearance but there is plenty for doing in Kilmallock. They enter tomorrow’s Limerick SHC final against Na Piarsaigh with a 100% record in the championship, something that looked unlikely earlier in the season.

“I’ll be honest, the first goal this year was to get out of the group. That’s no word of a lie because we were actually relegated in the league. Maybe we got the timing a little bit better this year compared to other years. Obviously, the first two games against Na Piarsaigh and Doon, we knew if we weren’t up to pitch of those games, we’d be found out fairly quick. We had to be razor sharp,” he says.

Their full-back line is unusual in that all three are ciotógs — Aaron Costello, Robbie Egan, who has embraced his repositioning, and Jackie Dwane, who had played a Limerick senior training game before making his first senior appearance for Kilmallock. 

“A Rolls Royce of a player,” Hickey gushes.

Another starlet, Shane O’Brien, first came to Hickey’s attention when he was with Doon. 

“We played Kilmallock in the first round in 2023. I obviously heard a little bit about him and he played that day below in Bruff, corner forward [O’Brien scored five points from play]. I was going home in the car with Fergie O’Loughlin and we were saying, ‘Jesus, he’s some detail’.

“I think people forget that he’s still only 22 years of age. Most hurlers don’t reach their peak until they’re anywhere between 26 or 30. It gave us good confidence that we won the last game clipping 2-19 and Shane only scored one point.

“Obviously, I’m there now three years, but I’d see a big difference in him probably in the last year or two in how he is working without the ball. What he’s done for his age and what he’s going to go on to do is and will be phenomenal.

“He’s just a top-class fella too. He’s the life and soul of the place. He’s always in great form. He’s just such a likeable character. You can never give out to him because he just smiles at you all the time.”

O’Brien’s coffee hut ‘Bean and Gone’ outside Kilmallock’s Fitzgerald Park is the hub for players during the week and after training. There, you might find teenager Dwane and 36-year-old Mulcahy mixing and hopping balls.

Mulcahy is still doing a job for The Balbec, still travelling from Cork. “He’s brilliant around the team, he’s great for young lads,” says Hickey. “He’s the one setting the standards; he’s the one in meetings speaking up the most. He’s such a good leader.

“I’m only 31, but his hurling brain is definitely the best I’ve ever come across. The way he sees things, the way he’s able to pick out things. He’s just an all-round top-class guy.”

Another Cratloe man Tony Considine guided Kilmallock to two county titles. Clarecastle’s Ger ‘Sparrow’ O’Loughlin brought them to another. Hickey smiles at the possibility of the Clare connection working once more.

“The ultimate goal is to try and go back and look after my own club in Cratloe but that might be something for down the line. Kilmallock seem to get a good kick out of Clare managers coming in so hopefully that will continue for another week. “Kilmallock is such a hurling-mad town.

“This year was their 15th semi-final in a row, which is remarkable consistency. I’ve never once driven into the place without a smile, and I’ve never once left without a smile. It’s just a place I love going to. You can feel the love for the game.”