Happy days here again for Offaly, as minor hurlers come of age
Not since the GAA glory days of the 1980s and 90s has such a mobilisation of Offaly people been seen.
From early afternoon on Monday, young and old from all corners of the Faithful County escaped across the border to neighbouring Laois to witness a sporting victory of all victories.
They came from every corner of the county to show their neighbours in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise that they meant business.
Over 1,000 Offaly schoolchildren alone - many of them armed with their hurleys and sliothars - were bussed to Portlaoise in a marathon logistical exercise which was coordinated by Ballinamere GAA stalwart, Carina Carroll, and involved the hiring of 20 buses.
With a final scoreline of 0-21 to 0-13 in O’Moore Park, a new generation of Offaly hurlers finally came of age.
They ended a 22-year long famine by being crowned Electric Ireland Leinster Minor Hurling Champions, for only the fifth time in the history of the county, in front of a remarkable crowd of 12,500 supporters who made their way to Portlaoise for this unique and historic fixture, the first-ever provincial minor decider contested by the two Midlands neighbours.
Coming hot on the heels of another famous victory just last August, when the U20s claimed the All-Ireland football title, the future is suddenly beginning to look a whole lot brighter for the Faithful County and its most faithful of GAA fans.
Amid all the delirium and wild celebrations that followed Monday night’s win, the Managing Director of Glenisk Yogurt, Vincent Cleary, agreed that it was a good day at the office for Glenisk, who started the New Year by announcing a major five-year sponsorship deal with Offaly GAA after enduring their own heartbreak last September when the Killeigh-based organic dairy facility was completely destroyed in a devastating fire.
Although he was unable to attend the game on Monday night due to work pressures, Mr Cleary said he had closely followed it on Twitter, and spoke of his immense pride in the fact that the county is enjoying so much success at minor level.
“When I went in to get my coffee on Tuesday morning, all the regulars I met had huge smiles on their faces, and it was just so uplifting to see it,” he said.
He agreed that “many parallels” can be drawn from the resurgence of Offaly GAA and the resurgence of the Glenisk brand, and is looking forward to much more success, on both fronts, in the future.
“To be honest, the small hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I watched the video of Michael Duignan and the players singing ‘The Offaly Rover’ in the dressing room after the match. It’s the stuff of dreams,” said Mr Cleary.
Monday night’s win was indeed the stuff of dreams for many people in Offaly, not least former County GAA Chairman, Brendan Ward, whose Durrow clubman, Dan Ravenill, captained the winning Offaly hurling side.
It was a case of ‘old meets new’ when Brendan extended a hand of congratulations to the brilliant young captain in O’Moore Park.
It was also an emotional and nostalgic night for legendary Offaly hurler, Kevin Martin, whose son, Cillian, was named Man of the Match.
Cillian’s flowing locks– much in the style of Cormac Egan’s famous mullet – attracted much humorous comment among the ‘Twitterati’ brigade with Róisín Glynn commenting “the Offaly lads love a good mullet” and sports journalist, Jonathan Higgins, tweeting: “It seems the key to Offaly under-age success is a good mullet”.
In an interview with Newtalk Radio's ‘Off The Ball’ programme on Tuesday night, Offaly GAA County Board Chairman, Michael Duignan, simply said he was very anxious to “put the pride back in the jersey” after a difficult period for the county in both hurling and football.
It took a tenacious, skilled and determined team of young hurlers just 70 minutes to restore that pride, and they won’t be letting go of it anytime soon.
The summer just got a whole lot better with an All Ireland Championship Semi-Final to look forward to, and maybe more!