As Tipperary lustily celebrate their 27th All-Ireland hurling title, spare a thought for Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher.
Or should we say Private Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher of the Chéad Chathlán Coisithe, Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Galway.
The hard-working Premier centre-forward – who scored the final point of Sunday’s stunning win over Kilkenny – is shipping out to Syria early next month.
In preparation for his first overseas tour of duty, the 26-year-old should be with his comrades training in the Wicklow Mountains today, but has been given special dispensation to head back to Tipperary with Liam McCarthy and his team-mates
If 2010 was a false dawn this feels like the start of something special for Tipperary | @me_staffordhttps://t.co/frwyaC8cQa
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He will however be expected to return to training later this week, which is one way to sweat out the excesses of an All-Ireland victory party.
“I am deploying to Syria, in the Golan Heights, on the 5th of October,” he told RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey on Morning Ireland. “It is something different, it is my first trip overseas and I am really looking forward to it. It will be six-month trip overseas, so hopefully I will be back fit in April.
“It is what your training builds you up for. Something you have to do to fulfill your contract. It is an experience and I am really looking forward to it. I am going with a good group of boys – they are training in the Wicklow Mountains today,” he said.
“I will have to join them during the week.”
Gulp. At least he knows he is not the first. Kilkenny’s Eoin Larkin returned from his own six-month stint in Syria earlier this year. A corporal in the 3rd Infantry Battalion, Larkin would himself have headed for the Middle East following an All-Ireland triumph last year.
Maher, who was also centre-forward on the 2010 All-Ireland winning team, reflected on what it meant to add a second title six years later.
“It’s magical. It is something you look forward your whole life. If you’re hurling since a young lad you are looking to reach an All-Ireland final and hopefully bringing home a Celtic Cross.
“We are all waking up this morning with the feeling of knowing we have a Celtic Cross in our back pocket. It’s magical and not everyone gets to experience that feeling,” sais Maher, who said he will be keeping his medal close when he heads for Syria.
“I will be holding it close with me out there and I will look at it out there and be looking forward to getting back in April.”
