Aghabullogue's golden generation keeps on giving

By John Harrington

Another weekend, another spin to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for Aghabullogue GAA club who face Limerick champions Askeaton/Ballysteen/Kilcornan in the AIB Munster Club Intermediate Football Championship semi-final .

The children of the parish must regard Cork GAA’s HQ as a home from home at this stage such is the frequency with which they get to visit it.

It’s been a remarkable few years of high achievement for the Mid-Cork club who won the Intermediate hurling and football championship double in 2023 and have now done another double this year of Intermediate hurling and Premier Intermediate football.

“It's an incredible achievement,” says long-serving Aghabullogue club secretary, Michael Healy.

“You know, a lot of people would have said at the time in 2023, we'll never see this day again. And then two years later we do it again.

“But they're an extraordinary bunch of players. Very dedicated, very self-driven and self-motivated. There's great leaders within the teams.

“For example, we built a gym and the players did all the fundraising for the equipment in the gym. They've improved their equipment year on year and they do their own fundraising every year.

“That's fantastic to see because they're taking responsibility for their own development. They don't come to the club with their hand out, they go and get it done themselves.

“The success we’ve had is a vindication as well of the structures and the spirit in the club.

“We're there to facilitate these lads to be the best they can be. And if we're doing that, and if they're successful, then we know that we're doing something right.

“And it's a huge honour for the people in the parish and the people in the club to be part of this journey.”

Aghabullogue GAA club is located slap bang in the middle of Cork in the Muskerry division and draws its players from the villages of Coachford, Aghabullogue, and Rylane.

They have a special place in Cork hurling history because they were the first team from the county to win the All-Ireland Hurling Championship in 1890.

This is their most successful era since those formative years two centuries ago, and it’s built on a generation of young players who are clearly gifted sportsmen and sportswomen.

Not only do the vast majority of the men play both football and hurling, a good chunk of them also play soccer for Coachford FC who themselves have been a silverware winning machine in recent years.

It's been a great year for camogie in the club too, with Aghabullogue's Lily Grant camogie team crowned county champions.

“The underage has always been very, very strong in the club, but sometimes you just get an exceptional bunch of players pumping through,” says Healy.

“Obviously, there was also a huge effort put into them from the club's side to have the proper coaching structures in both hurling and football. And we have been very lucky in the coaches that we've had over the past five or six years.

“We have really great management teams in charge of the current Intermediate teams, Ray Keane is our football team manager and Michael McGrath is our hurling team manager and they’re both top class.

“It’s incredible really that that these lads play hurling, football, soccer and there's a great understanding and communication between all sides. It fosters good relations. It fosters good spirit within the club and within the community especially because we have incredible supporters.

“They're fantastic to support. Everybody in the parish is involved, everybody gets stuck in. There's just an incredible buzz in the community. There's a great tradition when we win a county that they come back and they gather in the hall at home in Coachford, down in the complex.

“Last Sunday night after the hurling, and the same after the football, there were at least 500 people below in the hall to greet the players when they came back. A fantastic buzz. All the youth of the parish.

“It was incredible. We went up to play Thurles Sarsfields in the first round of the Munster football championship above in Moyne Templetuohy last Sunday week and they have a ball wall area there. Somebody in the club has a picture of about 100 of our kids inside the ball wall area before the match. All pucking balls against the wall.

“It bodes really well for the future. The current players are an inspiring bunch to all the youth of the parish. As a result, there's a great, great buzz there. A great buzz.”

The support that Aghabullogue receive locally is very visible when you visit Coachford because the club’s facilities, which have been self-funded through community donations, are top class.

They include two fine pitches, an astro-turf pitch facility, and a community walk-way. Planning permission has just been granted for a new sand-based pitch with flood-lights, and while that work takes place the club will lease seven acres of a local farmer to ensure their training and games programme can continue as it always does.

All of that wouldn’t be possible were it not for the enthusiastic backing of their local community.

“Absolutely, and the success just keeps driving it,” says Healy.

“There's a lot of houses going to be built in the parish in the next 10 years and that's sort of formulating our thinking ahead as well. As a club we have to prepare and we have to be ready for that surge in numbers so that's what a lot of our planning is based on.

“We get fantastic financial support from within the community. We have had a scheme where people give us a loan of €1,000 and we pay all of those back over a 10-year period.

“We've raised big money through that scheme and we've paid every penny back. We'll be coming and asking the community to support us again for the next venture and I know they won’t be found wanting.”

They’ve had an incredible year already but such is the confidence in the Aghabullogue team and wider community at the moment that they're daring to dream they could achieve even more by winning some provincial silverware.

“It would be the stuff of dreams really, wouldn't it,” says Healy. “It would be the icing on the cake. If we could get to a provincial final and win it, it would be just unbelievable.

“But we’re not looking past this semi-final on Sunday against Askeaton. We’re expecting a very tough challenge because they have serious players, a couple of Limerick county lads, so we know it won’t be easy.

"But we’re hopeful and we’ll give it a good crack in Páirc Uí Chaoimh like we always do."