We set TOM LYONS a challenge: pick your top West Cork hurlers. Much like them, he delivered
MAYBE we don’t have any player on the starting fifteen for the All-Ireland final, with Luke Meade waiting and willing to contribute from the bench if called upon, but there is no shortage of good hurlers in West Cork.
Down the years, we even produced really great ones who contributed hugely to the county’s cause. And we’re mighty proud of them.
It’s a very subjective occupation, trying to pick out the best hurlers you have seen playing the game in West Cork, as requested by the editor. I first started hurling with Dohenys way back in 1962, so that gives me over 60 years to pick from. Of course, what constitutes a good hurler to one person might be anything but to another. To me the best means those I enjoyed watching most and who gave me the best enjoyment down the years.
Topping the list is the one and only Tim Crowley of Newcestown. With his club, with Carbery and with Cork in the 1970s, he was a colossus. Every team needs a warrior, a man of steel, and Crowley was that and much more. He was a central, pivotal figure with Cork in the three-in-a-row from 1976-1978. His style looked awkward but there was no shortage of skill, thanks to his early days in Farranferris. With Tim, what you saw was what you got, a hurler in the image of the mighty Cúchulainn himself.
Our next hurler did wear red, too, but it was the red of his native Ballinascarthy that really mattered to him. Colman Murphy, son of the mighty Dan, was an artist with a hurley in his hand. He drew pictures in the air with his skill and touch, and got scores that others wouldn’t even attempt. He led his club to several West Cork titles and deservedly won his county senior medal with Carbery in golden 1994. Lethal from play and frees – if we got a euro for every point he scored, we’d be driving a Mercedes now.
I first saw him at U12 level, using a senior hurler and almost beheading every young player around him. We watched him grow through the ranks to become one of Newcestown’s greats, a Carbery legend and a wearer of the red jersey. Pat Kenneally was special. Tough, hard, brave and utterly fearless, he took it and he dished it out but never took a backward step. His hurling was sublime, his courage and heart immeasurable. Carbery lost the county senior final in 1993 because he was suspended, they won it in 1994 because he was there, in the engine room, making the impossible possible.
Mark Foley won an All-Ireland senior hurling medal with Cork in 1990.
Small of stature, quiet on and off the pitch, he let his hurley do the talking for him. Clon always had hurling potential and in Jimmy Forristal, they had a player who turned that potential into the reality of winning titles. His first touch was always superb – just when you thought you had him in your pocket, he produced the extra special hurling touches that made him a master of the camán. Fearless, too, he finished one final as man-of-the-match with his head wrapped in a white bandage before the days of the hurling helmet. A wizard with a hurley, a born leader on the pitch and a grand character.
They taught him well in Timoleague and honed him in Farranferris and in UCC. By then Mark Foley was a giant of a man, a target on his back in every game but it never fazed him. Time and again he led his troops in maroon into battle and it was no surprise to us when he tore the Tipp back line to shreds in the red shirt of Cork in glorious 1990. His touch for a big man was superb, his striking fearsome. He certainly gave the finger to those who said there were no hurlers in West Cork.
Diarmuid Ó Mathunas' John Paul O'Callaghan in action against Clonakilty.
They were running out of calculators to keep the scores this player registered down the years. In every game with Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas, John Paul O’Callaghan was guaranteed to raise at least half a dozen white flags, the total often going into double figures. While O’Callaghan was on the pitch, Mathúnas always had a chance. Again, small of stature, his skill level was huge, a joy to watch in action.
O’Donovan Rossa hurlers were in their heyday in the 1930s but it certainly wasn’t fashionable to be a Skibbereen hurler for the past two decades. That never worried Flor Crowley, whose heart and soul was in his club’s red hurling jersey. To say he carried them again and again on his broad shoulders might be an exaggeration, but he thrilled us with his non-stop action, his sweet hurling and his never-say-die spirit. He was the engine room of the Rossa hurling team for years. The honours were scarce but our admiration was unlimited, a true West Cork hurler to the core.
They were noted as tough, hard and competitive, dominating hurling in West Cork for 25 years. Courcey Rovers switched divisions in 1974 but not before they had provided us with many great hurling memories and great players and right there in the vanguard was the immaculate Chris Corcoran. A sweet hurler, a marvellous, skilled player who thrilled the crowds time and again.
The breeding was definitely there from all sides and for many generations and he definitely embellished the family name. Paudie Crowley wore the lilywhite shirt of Bandon for many years and his hurling skills as a forward, his heart and his fierce competitive spirit were admired and feared by all opponents. Fiery at times, it made him the great hurler who kept us all entertained in match after match
The rise of the strong rural clubs in Carbery hurling has been a great story of the past 50 years, with Barryroe among those leading the way. In centre back Pat Tobin, they had a prince of hurlers – elegant, artistic, clever, competitive and a born leader. Those Barryroe hurlers forged a pathway for all rural clubs and like Brian Boru of old, it was Tobin, with his masterly displays who led them through many a battle.
Elegance and bravery are the words that come most to mind when we remember this player. Kilbrittain were the undisputed kings of Carbery hurling for many years before fading from the scene for 30 long years. Then in the 1980s they came again, led by a class hurler who was as brave and fearless as he was skilful – Denis Healy was lean, athletic and a player who knew no limits when on form. With him on board, thrilling us all, Kilbrittain regained their prime place in Carbery hurling and he fully deserved his county senior medal in 1994.
Newcestown's Luke Meade in action for Cork.
They were in their infancy as a club when I began hurling in 1962 but since then they have reached the very top layer of hurling in Cork. That is why I make no apologies for including a third Newcestown hurler in my list. When it comes to sheer admiration of any hurler, Jim O’Sullivan always tops my list. I loved watching that man hurling, the way he moved around the pitch, his reading of the game, his intelligence in all he did. A superb hurler, a class act, who, if right was right, should have worn the red shirt of Cork for many years. And we’re delighted that his hurling legacy is now secure in the next generation of O’Sullivan hurlers.
So, there you have it, my favourite dozen West Cork hurlers but for those who still believe there are no hurlers in West Cork, read this list of great players I haven’t included but who thrilled the crowds with their exploits – Con Coakley and Michael Farr, Dohenys; Dick White, St Mary’s; Mícheál Holland and the O’Connell brothers, Kilbrittain; Barry Harte, Tony Crowley and Mike Walsh, Argideen; Fintan O’Regan, Denis Murphy and the White brothers, Clonakilty; Alan Foley, O’Donovan Rossa; Con Tobin, Mike Cahalane and Noel Crowley, Bandon; Adrian White, Vincie O’Donovan and Dan Dwyer, Barryroe; Conor O’Driscoll and Kevin Coffey, St Oliver Plunkett’s; Pat O’Brien, the Collins brothers and Seán Daly, Randal Óg; Ricky O’Flynn and Gerry and Jeremy Ryan, Ballinascarthy; Den Nyhan, Barry Lordan and the O’Donovan brothers, Diarmuid Ó Mathúna; James O’Driscoll and Aaron Hayes, St James: John Crowley and Luke Meade, Newcestown; Liam Hurley and Ted Harrington, Courcey Rovers; Alan O’Connor and David O’Mahony, St Colum’s, etc., etc.
There’s no hurling and no hurlers in West Cork? Think again, my friend.
