VIDEO: Cushendall’s journey to Croke Park is an incredible lesson in perseverance

It’s a long drive to the Glens of Antrim.

It’s a long drive from pretty much everywhere, but once you pass Ballymena you are in for a treat.

Narrow, undulating roads take you through Glenariff Forest Park and suddenly the view opens up in front of you. There is the large, other-world;y mass of Ballyeamon on your right, the wide expanse of the sea straight ahead and, nestled at the bottom of a forbidding hill is the seaside village of Cushendall.

It it not just the place that is so striking, but the pride of place. At Páirc Mhuire children of the parish mingle with the history-making hurlers of Ruairí Óg Cushendall – the pitch a sea of maroon.

Everyone, from the age of five to 75, is kitted out in official club gear. Never afraid to show their colours, everyone is walking a little taller in the Glens this week ahead of the St Patrick’s Day clash with Limerick champions Na Piarsaigh.

For the first time in their history Cushendall will contest the AIB All-Ireland senior club hurling final. It is Na Piarsaigh’s first visit to Croke Park on the big day too, but the Munster men have some way to go to match their opponents’ journey.

Last month’s demolition of Galway champions Sarsfields was Cushendall’s first semi-final victory at the TENTH attempt. Nine times previous they had been crowned champions of Ulster only to stumble at the penultimate hurdle.

Those painful defeats to the likes of Mount Sion, Buffers Alley, Midleton, Birr, St Josephs Doora-Barefield and De La Salle have been forgotten and, on Wednesday, the parish will empty out of the Glens and take that winding road to Dublin in search of an even more glorious vista.