GAA

16th Nov 2017

The magic of St. Martin’s

Niall McIntyre

There’s something special going on in Piercestown.

If you take a scroll down through the St. Martin’s GAA club Twitter account, you’ll be transported into the heart of the most up and coming club in Leinster.

There’s personality, there’s slagging, there’s a club.

The tweets are written in the same way you’d speak to your friends before a training session. Jake Firman, one of the club’s hottest prospects, gets a touch for having a bad haircut. Rory O’Connor, one of the brightest young stars in hurling gets jokingly slated for hitting wide balls.

Yellow to Jake, not sure why, the haircut perhaps.

— St Martin's GAA Club (@StMartinsGAA) October 15, 2017

Rory wide, take him off!

— St Martin's GAA Club (@StMartinsGAA) October 8, 2017

It’s not taken too seriously on the Twitter account, because when you think about it, what’s the point in taking the running of a club’s social media page that seriously?

Players have their performances and actions analysed as if it’s only brothers and sisters who are reporting on them.

One of them was taken to the cleaners for following the recent fashion trend of having his ankles showing below the jeans, just like a bunch of lads would slag him for the same thing.

Good God!! Whose footwear is this at all at all?! Skinny jeans too, the notions. Lads hungry now for dinner. #namethoseshoes pic.twitter.com/kdjcCiezmq

— St Martin's GAA Club (@StMartinsGAA) October 29, 2017

There’s no offence taken, there’s not even any limitations, because in a family, you’re able to say what you think about someone without fear of them taking it up in a bad way.

The St. Martin’s PRO Cian O Lionain is the main man behind the Twitter account and his updates on games enchant the masses for one reason – He tweets the emotions he feels during a game, and he says what he thinks. There’s a bit of humour thrown in for good measure, and that’s why we can all relate to it.

The players join in because they only love the craic he has, and why wouldn’t they?

@StMartinsGAA top class CÓL

— Barry O'Connor (@boconnor6) October 8, 2017

Goals are met with the excitement of a supporter in the stand, and narrow escapes in the last minute of a county final show the heart-in-mouth of a computer, speaking for every St. Martin’s head at that time.

My heart!! Oulart rasper just wide, 30 seconds left.

— St Martin's GAA Club (@StMartinsGAA) October 22, 2017

The point of all this is that there is honesty and sincerity. There’s a special bond between the members of that club and you can feel it even as an outsider when you’re welcomed into the smiling faces when I, an outsider from Tipperary, venture down to Wexford on a cold Sunday morning in November.

There are many reasons that prompted me to explore the possibility of visiting the club. The exciting Twitter account, an enthralling interview with senior camogie player Mags Darcy earlier in the year detailing the relationship between the camogie players and hurlers in the club, the fact that I went to college and played hurling with some of the club’s best young players in DCU last year, and the ridiculous levels of success the club has had over the last few years.

Pictured: Brothers and cousins of the O’Connor clan celebrating their senior hurling triumph against Oulart.

But most of all, I wanted to go down because of the family type relationship St. Martin’s boasts between players and members that are actually related, and those who aren’t actually tied by blood, but, God, you’d think they are.

I went down for a look, and I got a whole lot more than I bargained for.

I get out of my car at around 11.00 am, and I can’t avoid this tall, well-built man in the car-park. He has a friendly, smiling face, the type of face that lets you know he’s going to do his best to slag the arse off you.

Mick Reade is his name and he’s the team’s kit man. He sports an ear-ring, and offers the firmest hand I’ve shook in a long time.

I tell him I’m from Tipperary and he tells me we’ve had our time and Wexford are going to take over.

I don’t even have time to respond before the conversation turns to St. Martin’s, “Jesus, we’ve had some year,” he says, “Sure I’m nearly falling over all the cups in the clubhouse.”

It’s not the type of cockiness that would sicken you, it’s very obvious that he’s a messer.

He’s not wrong. In 2017 St. Martin’s took over. They became the first ever club to win minor A, under-21 A and senior hurling Championships in the one year.

They made it to the senior football final, with a huge overlap in the players on the hurling team.

It hasn’t come easy, these players have been on the go for a full year, now, and mixing the two codes provided its own challenges.

The ladies’ year was as good if not better, winning the club’s first ever county senior camogie title and also winning intermediate football.

They won more underage titles as well, completely dominating GAA in Wexford.

The under-10s and 12s are the first team out training this morning, and as one of the youngsters races out past us towards the club’s wall-ball, Mick shouts “come on Spurs” to him, which prompts the youngster to turn around and acknowledge him with the famous dab.

“He’s one of the five Spurs supporters in the club,” says Tottenham fan Mick, “I have to keep them lads close,” he says.

George O’Connor, one of the heroes of Wexford’s 1996 triumph comes over to us, and he’s ready to coach the youngsters of the club, and he’s looking forward to the session just as much as they are.

George who is widely regarded as one of Wexford’s greatest ever players, is the father of Barry, who is a member of the club’s the senior hurlers, and Ella and Katie, who are on the camogie team.

The senior hurlers are training at 11.30am. They are preparing for their Leinster senior hurling semi-final clash with All-Ireland champions Cuala next Sunday at 2.00am in Parnell Park.

Some of the camogie team are out pucking on one of the club’s pitches even though they had no organised training session. They will contest their first ever Leinster senior camogie final next Sunday against Thomastown at 2.30am in Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow.

They come over for a chat, and what immediately stands out is how young they all look.

Mags D’Arcy, who has been Wexford’s camogie goalkeeper since 2003, jokes that she’s bringing the average age down. She’s still two weeks away from her 30th birthday.

Pictured: D’arcy with another famous goalkeeper, Davy Fitzgerald.

“Bar me, the 14 other starting players are around 19 or 20,” says the keeper.

Ciara O’Connor stands beside D’Arcy. She’s the team’s youngest player at 16.

Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow is the venue for the Leinster Camogie Final on Nov 19th. Throw in time is 2.30pm against Thomastown. pic.twitter.com/vyhZiKDQBe

— St Martin's GAA Club (@StMartinsGAA) November 3, 2017

Sisters Lisa and Linda Bolger follow the girls over. They’re members of the camogie team, and have been doing the stats for the hurlers all year, and they worry about their replacements for next Sunday.

“We’re not sure who’ll do it, but if they miss something we’ll be onto them straight away,” laughs Lisa.

Next Sunday will therefore have the club split in two, with parents, sisters and brothers missing their siblings and sons and daughters’ games, and it kills many of them to have to do it.

Maire O’Connor joins us, then. She’s the club’s senior camogie manager. She has two daughters playing on that team, Sarah and Ciara, and her son Joe plays on the senior hurling team, who are managed by her twin brother Tomás.

Sarah, Ciara and Joe are first cousins of Rory, Jack and Harry, all of whom will start on the senior hurling team. These six are first cousins of Ella and Katie, who will be starting for the camogie team in Carlow, and Barry, who will play for the hurlers.

Pictured: Barry O’Connor and his father George.

That’s a lot of O’Connors.

Apart from that famous clan, there are many other family crossovers.

Emma Codd is on the camogie team and her brother Darren is part of the hurling squad.

Hurling defender Conor Firman is readying himself to take on the might of Cuala’s attack, while his sister Lisa is part of the camogie team. Their first cousins Jake Firman and Aaron Maddock are also preparing to take on the Dalkey men.

The club’s chairman Mick Morrissey will have to miss his daughter’s game on Sunday, as he goes to support the hurlers.

It’s a tough dilemma they are facing, but a dilemma that any other club would kill for.

The club’s PRO Cian brings me upstairs in to the clubhouse to meet Frank Codd, a grey haired man who has been the club’s treasurer since “way before you were born,” he tells me, but he remembers the past like it was yesterday, and then he gives me full on report of the club’s county minor A final win that actually was on yesterday.

By the time my tour of the clubhouse was finished, the senior hurlers had just about finished their session.