The Castlehaven story four years in the making has been worth the wait

THIS is a Castlehaven story four years in the making.

The seeds for the current rich harvest were first sown during the pandemic year of 2020, James McCarthy’s first season back in the Haven hot-seat. The grand plan was to return the club to the throne in Cork, and they eventually have.

It was never meant to be a four-year plan, but that’s what it has turned out to be, with Castlehaven’s county triumph in 2023 ending the ten-year wait to bring the Andy Scannell Cup west for the winter.

‘You forget that this started during the first Covid season,’ captain Mark Collins says, ‘the way James (McCarthy) kept this panel together and grew us closer together during Covid was unbelievable – and that is paying off now. He had us on Zoom calls and was doing sessions with us online. I don’t think there are too many club managers around who put in the work that he did back then, and thankfully now we are repaying this with the success.’

Castlehaven captain Mark Collins raises the Andy Scannell Cup after their victory over Nemo Rangers. (Photo: David Ribeiro)

County and Munster champions, Castlehaven have had to wait for their success. Beaten finalists in 2020. Beaten semi-finalists in ’21 and ’22. They just couldn’t get over the line. But they weren’t too far away either. Each setback a blow, but also strengthening the belief that they were close. Part of The Big Three alongside Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s, it’s only those two city teams that have beaten Castlehaven in the championship in the last four seasons – and by a combined total of just ten points over those four games (and one loss was the 2021 semi-final on penalties).

A WhatsApp received pre-Christmas, from a Castlehaven man, noted this.

‘Here’s one for you. Four years. Played 25 championship games. Won 20. Lost four (Nemo and the Barrs, one on penalties). One draw. Beat top two to win (2023) title. Plus beat Ballincollig, seeded four, Clonakilty seeded five. Not a bad record.’

Castlehaven’s consistency highlights they were knocking on the door to the Promised Land. They have beaten ten different teams since the county championships were revamped for the 2020 seasons – Nemo, Barrs, Clonakilty, Carbery Rangers, Newcestown, Ilen Rovers, Ballincollig, Éire Óg, Valley Rovers and Mallow. They were never too far away, and returned to the summit in Cork the hard way in 2023. That momentum fed into their Munster campaign that culminated in a first Munster club title since 1997, and now they have their eyes on a prize no team from the club has ever won: the All-Ireland senior football title. A season that has been four years in the making.

But beyond that, foundations are being laid for the future of this Castlehaven team. James McCarthy broke his own rule when he agreed to stay on as manager in 2022, for a third season. Two years is enough in any job, he had felt. But the Haven job wasn’t finished.

‘Knowing that we are close (in the Cork Premier SFC) is part of the reason, but what’s more important is building for the future and having the right structures in place for the young fellas coming through,’ he told this paper in 2022.

Compare the Castlehaven team that lined out in McCarthy’s first championship game back in the summer of 2020, against Carbery Rangers, to the team that defeated Dingle in the Munster final before Christmas. The transition has been relatively smooth; still competing for the big prize while adding new pieces to the jigsaw.

Nine players started both games – Johnny O'Regan, Ronan Walsh, Rory Maguire, Damien Cahalane, Mark Collins, Conor Cahalane, Cathal Maguire, Brian Hurley and Michael Hurley. They are the core players. The leaders that set the standards and drive this on. The Cork football captain in Brian Hurley. A football All-Star nominee in Rory Maguire. The classy leader Mark Collins, still buzzing at 33. The All-Star hurling nominee Damien Cahalane. 

New additions to the starting line-up in the games that currently book-end James McCarthy’s latest reign are Jack Cahalane (who came on as a sub against Ross in 2020), Thomas O’Mahony, Ciarán O’Sullivan, Jack O’Neill and Sean Browne and goalkeeper Darragh Cahalane. Jamie O’Driscoll came on as a sub against Dingle, as did Robbie Minihane and Michéal Maguire.

O’Mahony, Minihane, Browne and O’Driscoll – as well as Munster final unused sub Joe Bohane, and panel members, Fiachra Collins and Sean O’Connell – were all on the Skibbereen Community School team that won the Simcox Cup in 2022.

‘We’ve seven lads that have played championship this year that are U21,’ McCarthy told this paper earlier in the campaign. That’s setting firm foundations for what’s to follow. The future's looking good for us as a club; we have good numbers.’

Back to the present though, and the opportunity to go further than any Castlehaven team has before. Three times before, the Haven have contested All-Ireland semi-finals, and they lost each one. Defeat to Baltinglass in 1990, to Kilmacud Crokes in ’95 and to Erin’s Isle in ’98. Ahead of the Munster final James McCarthy urged his team to grab their ‘once-in-a-lifetime chance’. The stakes are higher now. The hope is this journey that started in 2020 has more big days to come.