The Bord Gáis Energy Legends Tour of Croke Park with Johnny Dooley takes place on Sunday July 29 at 10am. For ticket details click here.

By Cian O’Connell

Ultimately it was a story about families, who remained faithful to the Offaly cause. For two decades Offaly were relevant and seriously competitive at the highest level with the Dooleys helping to supply scores and silverware during a fondly recalled era.

Between 1981 and 1998 Offaly hoisted the Liam MacCarthy Cup on four occasions, Johnny Dooley was part of two of those triumph with brothers Joe and Billy also contributing handsomely. That is why Johnny Dooley’s Bord Gais Energy Legends Tour on Sunday should be particularly interesting.

This was an Offaly team packed with characters, who decorated Irish sport with many splendid moments. “It is nice to be asked,” Dooley says about his imminent return to GAA headquarters. “A nice honour, when you are gone as long as I am you would be forgotten about, I'm delighted with it to be honest.”

That isn’t exactly the case, though, because the Offaly panel of the 90s will always be remembered for the manner in which glory was attained.

Fun was always part of the journey, tight knit relationships forged with the Whelehan, Pilkington, Troy, Hanniffy, and Dooley brothers all sampling success in either 1994 or 1998.

“Yeah, I suppose in small counties you do tend to rely on families,” Dooley admits. “We had a few sets of brothers, but it was a regular thing.

“It brought its own pressure aswell, the fact that there were a couple of us playing. It was always nice for family and friends and for our parents in particular to have three sons playing on the one team, but it was a regular occurrence at the time.

“You would be massively proud and privileged to have played for Offaly number one and to be successful is number two. Obviously to represent your club and to represent your family to look back on that is very satisfying. I suppose the icing on the cake is to have played with your brothers at that level and to have done that for 10-12-15 years it is nice to have that as a memory.”

Dooley acknowledges just how glorious a stint it was for hurling in Offaly, who maximised their resources impressively. “It was, we all had come through the system,” he recalls.

“We had watched them compete in '81 and '85 and then we competed in three minors and I went on to play in three Under 21 finals, winning none, but we knew we were up there within distance and that we were good enough to win senior All Irelands.

“It is easier said than done because lots of teams have produced good underage and minor and Under 21 teams, but never progressed to senior. I suppose by 1994 most of us had minors won for five, six, or seven years at that stage and we were at the right age to start winning something at senior level. Thankfully it happened.”

How important was it for the majority of those playing in the 90s that high profile Offaly victories had been witnessed by them growing up? “There can be too much possibly made of it,” Dooley replies. “Offaly came through in the 80s after nothing really, okay we had teams in the 60s, but we didn't have huge success. It didn't hinder their progress.

“A lot of them wouldn't have won minors or anything like that. I suppose we had an advantage, but if you are growing up in a Kilkenny, Cork or Tipp your senior team are constantly competing at a high level it encourages young kids especially the younger kids to play.

“We probably don't have that in Offaly at the moment. We certainly had that growing up because we had the Offaly teams of the 80s and we got to play and sample what Croke Park was like at a young age. Overall it can be an advantage, but it can be done without it on the other side aswell.”

The daring 1994 All Ireland Final comeback win over Limerick and the rollicking 1998 adventure feature prominently in Dooley’s mind, but the Leinster decider in 1995 also brought a deep sense of satisfaction.

“I suppose '94 was nice, we had a good run through the Championship against Wexford in the Leinster Final,” Dooley states. “It was always nice just to get a clean run through the Championship because '98 was different. We came through the backdoor, we had been beaten, it was more of an up and down type year.

“The '95 Leinster Final would have been a highlight for that team. We had played Kilkenny in a League Semi-Final in Thurles and they beat us pretty well.

“With the bookies even though we were All Ireland champions we were fairly raging outsiders so we beat Kilkenny. I think we were 2-16 to 0-5 up at one stage, it was a real wet sort of a day. It was a highlight for that team in a way.

“Kilkenny scored two late goals, but we had beaten them pretty well. That would certainly one you would remember as a high point, and '98 was definitely a high point.”

Offaly frequently reserved their most dynamic displays when occupying the underdogs role with the 2000 Semi-Final victory over Cork a prime example.

“Yeah, I suppose you could call it a certain type of stubbornness,” Dooley laughs. “When you were written off it got your dander up.

“We would be a laid back bunch enough and historically we would have been known not to take it as seriously as other counties or train as hard or the social side of it might have been different to other teams.

“But when teams write you off you get your dander up and I think any time that the team I played with was written off it brought out the best in us. The day we went to play Clare in Croke Park, the first day, I remember Michael Bond put up on the board in the warm up room - 'Offaly should ring in sick' - the media had us written off completely and we were nearly 10/1 outsiders.

“The first game is a game we should have won. I know the second day was the day it was blown up short. I never knew an Offaly team going out from a dressing room as determined as that day - the first day against Clare. So again that is an example of us being written off, but we had a lot of belief in ourselves even though sometimes we wouldn't always produce our best.”

Offaly weren’t afraid to party during either, but Dooley stresses the importance and value that was always placed on training. “A few of the lads would have been socialising a bit more than others,” Dooley, who won four Offaly SHC titles with Seir Keiran, replies.

“We all enjoyed a pint, but we trained savage hard and we did excellent training. We were massively fit so you can read a bit too much into it, but having said that we did know how to let the hair down, to enjoy ourselves, we knew how to celebrate and to enjoy a victory. We also knew how to train hard and we knew when to peak, when to mind ourselves and when to mind the bodies.

“You see players nowadays they are minding themselves 12 months of the year, six weeks out from a Championship match we would get geared up and then we would know when to peak for the right times of the year.

“We never played particularly well during the League for the simple reason that we weren't that tuned into what was going on or we weren't minding ourselves or we weren't as fit as other teams. That team did have a habit or a bit of a knack about knowing when to get the mind and body right.”

Dooley had been involved with polished Offaly underage outfits so significant hope and expectation was attached to that crop on the grand stage. “We had that, we had a bit of pedigree, but when you get to senior it is much more difficult to win at senior level,” Dooley remarks.

“It is a massive challenge and even nowadays, with Kilkenny as the exception, to get to an All Ireland, to be able to pick up two medals it is a huge achievement. I lost two finals as well so I know what the other side of it is like.

“We had that inner belief and on any given day we always felt we had a chance, no matter who we were playing. We played Cork in '99 and 2000 - on both days we would have given ourselves a 50-50 chance of winning. Other people wouldn't have given us a 50-50, but that is something you need to have if you do want to succeed.”

In the intervening 20 years Offaly have declined which is a blow and Dooley, who did serve as a senior selector, is completely aware of the challenges. Next year Offaly will be involved in the Joe McDonagh Cup so a return to the Leinster and All Ireland Championships is the objective.

“You make your own luck in hurling, you make your own luck in all sports,” Dooley adds. “There is nobody there to dig you out of a hole. You have to dig yourself out. We have dug the hole we are in, if they got a run in the Joe McDonagh Cup, to get out of it, get young fellas in, try to get a bit of positivity going.

“The only drawback is that we don't have a conveyor belt of talent. Our Under 21s were pretty poor this year, our minors a little bit better.

“Our underage system is still not producing the amount of players that we want. So looking into the long or even medium term there isn't that conveyor belt of talent that other counties would have.

“There were some encouraging signs, they started the year well getting a good result early in the League which created a positivity with players back. It just sort of fizzled out in the end, I know the four games in a row was a factor, but you can't use that either.

“All the teams were playing four games over five weeks. The two end results were very disappointing and it brought us crashing back down to earth pretty spectacularly.

“We are back in the Joe McDonagh Cup next year and I don't hear too many Offaly people complaining or giving out about that which sort of tells you its own story. We sort of know that is possibly where we are at.”

Not so long ago Offaly were great. Johnny Dooley most certainly played his part in reaching that standard.