EVERY few years, a Flor O’Driscoll-shaped light – think of the Bat Signal – beams high into the night sky above Aughadown, Rath and Baltimore.

Every time, Flor O’Driscoll answers.

Ilen Rovers is part of the current manager’s DNA, and that explains why he’s held roles as manager or selector of the adult football team on several occasions.

‘I have been involved in Ilen as long as I can remember,’ he says, so it’s no surprise his earliest Ilen Rovers memory is training in Hegarty’s Field when he was just six years old. That field – a nod to the older days – was close to his homeplace of Lahertanavally in Aughadown parish. It’s where O’Driscoll’s Ilen story began.

First, he was a player. “Top class,” locals still say. A forward who could play wing back. Consistent. Dependable. Intelligent. But his biggest attribute was – and still is – his love for his home club. That fire burns as brightly now as ever. So when Ilen sends out The Flor Signal, he steps up.

‘If anyone says yes to a job like this easily, they probably don’t realise what’s involved,’ O’Driscoll says, explaining why he took the job again this season.

‘I wouldn’t say it took convincing, but it took time to make sure it was the right move for me and also for the people I wanted to bring on board. It also had to be the right thing for the panel, because we wanted to give them the best chance to be successful.

‘If it was just coaching the lads and being involved with the lads, that’s the easy part. The hard part is organising your life and your family and your job around it.

‘If you are going to do a job, you have to do it properly,’ he adds – and that will resonate with anyone who knows him.

Ilen Rovers GAA Club's Shirley O'Sullivan, communications officer, and Flor O'Driscoll, manager, at the club's county final press night. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

O’Driscoll’s commitment to his club is the stuff of legend. There are tales from the early 1990s, when he lived in Dublin and Ilen were struggling at junior level, of how he’d leave the capital early on a Friday to drive home for training. That’s the measure of the man.

Even now, he makes the effort to stay involved with his home club.

‘I don’t live in the parish anymore – I live in Ballincollig – but Ilen is still my identity and this keeps me involved in the community and where I’m from. Football has that ability to keep you connected to where you come from,’ O’Driscoll explains, though he’s always quick to downplay his own role in Ilen Rovers’ story.

He’s similar to another man from the same parish, Skibbereen rowing mastermind Dominic Casey. Both prefer to stand in the background, away from the spotlight, but their fingerprints and identity are unmistakable.

Look at how often O’Driscoll – post his playing days – has put his shoulder to the wheel for Ilen. Player-selector in 2004/05. Manager from 2006 to ’09, including that famous senior county final against Nemo Rangers in 2007. Selector in 2010. Manager again from 2018 to ’20. Selector in 2021 and ’22. Now, manager again.

He walked in at the start of the season with his eyes wide open, taking over at a time when the club had suffered three championship relegations in four seasons. But what he found surprised him.

‘The togetherness of the group caught me by surprise,’ O’Driscoll says.

‘From being away from this for the last couple of years – I was involved with the underage – I came back expecting them to be in a difficult place considering the bad results in the last few years. But what really impressed me about this group was how together they were and how ambitious they were to put in a big effort to do well this season.

‘They wanted to train well, play well, and see where that takes us.’

The destination is Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Sunday, as Ilen take on Ballinora in the county Intermediate A decider – and the opportunity to jump straight back up to Premier Intermediate.

The turnaround from previous seasons to this has been dramatic, but O’Driscoll saw signs all year that his players could achieve something special.

The one-point Division 5 county league loss to Gabriel Rangers in June stands out.

‘We put in a fantastic performance against a very good team. I felt that day that this is a team that will fight to the death, even when things are going against them,’ he recalls.

Or the 0-16 to 2-9 league win over Glenville in April:

‘We were a point down in injury time, against a gale and down a man, but we came back and won.’ That was another important moment for a group who had forgotten what it was like to win.

Beating Boherbue (group stage) and Adrigole (semi-final) in the championship are results that jump off the page too – but the groundwork was laid earlier, as O’Driscoll and his management team gave Ilen the tools and confidence they needed to turn their fortunes around.

Again, everyone is glad O’Driscoll answered the call. But there was never any doubt that he would. He’s an Ilen Rovers man

Always has been. Always will.