Column About the All-Ireland Final of 2022
20 July 2022
A column on how much All-Ireland Finals mean to us. Especially our first one. You can read it here.
Hurling
Excerpt from The Game in The Irish Times
6 June 2022
I was delighted to see an excerpt from my essay ‘Kisses’ from The Game in The Irish Times. Great photos by Daragh McSweeney and lovely illustrations by Fuchsia MacAree. You can read it here.
Piece on Going to a Championship Match in Thurles
10 May 2022
I went to the Clare Cork hurling match in Thurles. Wrote about it for the Irish Examiner. You can read it here.
Launch of Denis Hurley book Cork Hurling: Game of My Life
25 March 2022
I was delighted to launch Denis Hurley’s book Cork Hurling: Game of My Life with Denis in the lovely Cork Waterstone’s in Patrick Street. It was a really enjoyable event, especially after the tough two years we have put in, losing out on so much. Thanks to Denis and Liam Hayes from Hero Books for asking me to be there. There was a great crowd there including several hurlers who feature in the book. It’s a great book, I recommend it highly and it’s now available in all good bookshops. Here are some photos of the night, taken by the great John Breen of Waterstone’s.
Time for another sports diet… maybe next week
1 February 2022
Column in the The Irish Examiner about how much sport I consume. Featuring TJ Reid, Claire Melia, Tom Brady, Jonathan Wilson, Raymond Carver, Jorge Valdano and Catherine Tate. You can read it here.
My Tribute to Canon O’Brien in The42.ie Best Sportswriting of the Week
19 January 2022
Big thank you to the42.ie for including my Irish Examiner Tribute to Canon O’Brien in its Best Sportswriting of the Week. I’m in some amazing company here. You can read the full selection here.
My tribute to Canon Michael O’Brien published in The Irish Examiner
14 January 2022
I was delighted that my personal tribute to Canon Michael O’Brien was published in The Irish Examiner. ‘The Canon’ coached me on six teams between 1979 and 1984. The tribute revolves around The Fitzgibbon Cup of 1983 hosted by The Ulster University at Coleraine. You can read it here. Photo taken in Bellaghy after the win, courtesy of Mick Lyons. That’s me behind the cup.
Piece in Cork Words 2: An Anthology of Contemporary Cork Writing
27 December 2021
I was delighted to have my short essay: ‘Celebrating the Return of Hurling in a Strange Time’ in Cork Words 2: An Anthology of Contemporary Cork Writing among so many great Cork writers. It’s about the return of hope in a dark time. The book is available in Waterstones Cork and Cork City Libraries. The piece was previously published in The Irish Examiner.
Piece in Cork Words 2: An Anthology of Contemporary Cork Writing
19 December 2021
I was delighted to have my short essay: ‘Celebrating the Return of Hurling in a Strange Time’ in Cork Words 2: An Anthology of Contemporary Cork Writing among so many great Cork writers. It’s about the return of hope in a dark time. The book is available in Waterstones Cork and Cork City Libraries. The piece was previously published in The Irish Examiner.
Irish Examiner piece picked among Sportswriting of the Week
1 December 2021
I was delighted that my piece Boring pubs, jumpy legs, Midleton and Glen Rovers: A boy watches his first county final was picked by those lovely people at The42.ie as one of their Sportswriting of the Week choices – in some heady company. You can read the four selections here.