‘There is a fierce link between the community in Skibbereen and this team,’ says manager James O'Donovan

AS the red open top bus carrying Skibbereen’s latest inductees to the All-Ireland winning club snailed down North Street on Sunday night, it made an important stop.

O’Donovan Rossa legend Noel O’Driscoll and his wife Nora were there to welcome home the town’s latest champions, amongst them their grand-daughter Aoife who had come on at half-time in the win against Claremorris at Parnell Park earlier that afternoon.

The 16-year-old Skibbereen Community School student, who played a role in every game in this trophy-laden adventure, is the daughter of Joe O’Driscoll, a forward on the O’Donovan Rossa team that won the 1993 All-Ireland club senior football title. She’s a chip off the old block, we’re reliably told.

Aoife and Joe join the dots between Skibb’s two All-Ireland triumphs, and it was a special moment for Noel and Nora to be part of another homecoming in their hometown. They couldn’t make the trip to Dublin, so the plan was, if Skibb won, to bring the cup to them. Another son, Denis, aka Skinner, was midfield in that historic ’93 success, too. 

‘Noel is the heart and soul of O’Donovan Rossa GAA for years, he is the heartbeat of the club, and that brings this all home – it’s all about community and family,’ explained James O’Donovan, manager of this all-conquering Rossas’ ladies team.

‘To see the joy it brought Noel and his wife Nora on Sunday night makes it all worthwhile. Thirty years ago their sons won an All-Ireland medal so to see their grand-daughter win an All-Ireland, too, is very special.’

Emer McCarthy, Allie Tobin and Sarah Hurley celebrate O'Donovan Rossa's All-Ireland final win.
(Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile)

The links between the club legends of ’93 and the new heroes of ’23 highlight how Rossa DNA flows through this football-mad town. 1993 Skibb All-Ireland winner Michael McCarthy now has two daughters with All-Ireland medals to go alongside his – full back Emer is a rock on this team and Aine has featured regularly, too. Current Skibb ladies’ selector James O’Mahony was on the Rossa panel that won the breakthrough county senior title in 1992, and his daughter, Cork footballer Laura, is one of the driving forces of the Rossa juggernaut that won county, Munster and All-Ireland titles this season. 

That O’Donovan Rossa won a second All-Ireland title on the 30th anniversary of the men’s historic first in 1993 was, perhaps, written in the stars, and what both groups share is a strong connection to their community. The modern-day heroes live and work in the town. Goalkeeper Christine Fitzgerald is a junior infants teacher at St Joseph’s Girls’ National School. Defender Michelle Donelan works in Hegarty’s Costcutters run by Trevor Hegarty, chairperson of Rossa LGFA. Jessica Beechinor works in Access Credit Union in the heart of Skibb. Seven players attend Skibbereen Community School, including match-winner Éabha O’Donovan, defender Allie Tobin, sub goalkeeper Tara O’Regan who came in the final and Aoife O’Driscoll, grand-daughter of club great Noel. Lauren McCarthy, Emily O’Donovan and Elaine O’Donovan all go to the local secondary school, too. A large number of the All-Ireland winning panel also coach at Rossas’ Cúl Camp every summer, so the town’s latest headline-makers are familiar faces to young and old. 

‘There is a fierce link between the community in Skibbereen and this team; they really love them,’ James O’Donovan added – and that’s why such a large crowd thronged the centre of Skibbereen late on a Sunday night to welcome home their heroes.

Earlier in the day Skibb edged out Claremorris in a tense All-Ireland junior club football final, with a late Éabha O’Donovan strike helping the West Cork trailblazers to a 2-7 to 0-11 victory.

It meant that a second All-Ireland football title was heading to Skibbereen, a town known for its rowers in recent times but its footballers have put it on the map this year.

O'Donovan Rossa's Jessica Beechinor celebrates the win.

‘The homecoming was incredible, we were coming down North Street and we knew there would be a crowd there, but to see the volume of people that lined the streets for us was amazing,’ O’Donovan said.

Twenty minutes earlier, the Leap native was feted by his own people in Kilmacabea, as the triumphant team made its way to Skibbereen. The bus stopped at the bottom of Leap village, near The Harbour Bar, and out stepped James O’Donovan and the Kilmacabea connections to this Skibb side, forward Kate O’Donovan, who teaches in Skibbereen CS, and defender Aoife Whooley, who came on at half time against Claremorris.

‘That was special, to stop off in Leap, I’m a Kilmacabea man and we have a few players from there, so it meant a lot to see a crowd there and bonfires burning, too,’ O’Donovan said.

It was there that Damien Long, who has ferried the team all over the country, had an open top bus waiting to parade the heroes into Skibb, all adding to the sense of occasion. Hours earlier the Rossas were pushed all the way by the Mayo champions who hit the front with seven minutes to go. Skibb didn’t panic. Instead, they worked a move that ended with Kate O’Donovan popping a pass inside to rising star Éabha O’Donovan who, checked back, found some room to unleash a left-footed shot that fired Skibb back into the lead. Éabha, just called into the Cork minor panel for 2024 as is club-mate Allie Tobin, is a daughter of manager James; he was a proud dad after her 2-5 haul. 

‘It was a special moment for all our family, but we have said it all year, this is all about the team and we always have someone to step up, a different player every day,’ he pointed out.

‘I was hoping Éabha would go for goal when she got that ball, and knew she would. It was great work by Kate O’Donovan to put her through, a great pass.’

That team-work is a hallmark of this Rossas side who have just knitted together the season of their lives. 

The memories will endure, just like with Rossas’ 1993 All-Ireland winners. This triumph will link this group together forever, the band of sisters who ensured Christmas came early to their hometown, whose exploits have shortened the winter and who brought a smile to the faces of so many, like Noel and Nora O’Driscoll.