Pictured is former Kilkenny Minor hurler, Richie Hogan, at the launch of the 2024 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships. This summer, Electric Ireland will use their social channels to spotlight players from across the Championships, in recognition of the major impact that playing Minor can have on young people’s future successes, on and off the field. You can follow the campaign on social media @ElectricIreland and via the hashtag #ThisIsMajor. Photo by Dan Sheridan/Inpho
By Cian O’Connell
“I'd love to be playing, but when I think about playing, I'm actually looking back, I'm not looking at what is going on now, I had a couple of years where I was doing absolutely everything to play, everything I possibly could,” Richie Hogan reflects on a decorated inter-county career that came to an end in 2023.
It was another campaign when Hogan strained every sinew to feature for Kilkenny in the latter stages of the Championship. “I ran out of juice a couple of years ago, but still tried to get as much as I possibly could out of it,” Hogan adds
“In that sense, I think if I had packed it in at 32 when the body was breaking down, I'd have missed it a lot more. For now, I'm fairly content, I couldn't play inter-county hurling now.
“Even at club level, I train, it is enough for club level. The thoughts of getting to inter-county level, the level these guys are currently at is a million miles from where I am.
“That is what I look at. We'd all love to be out playing on the pitch, everybody would. I'm mature enough to know what it takes, and I don't have what it takes, that is for sure.”
During those campaigns when Hogan simply had to mind his body to prepare for Championship, the challenge must have been significant? “Yeah, yes it was, definitely, towards the end of my career, I didn't even think about leagues,” Hogan answers.
“I'd like to have played a little bit more in the Leinster Championship, but I was really focusing from the Leinster final, those four games - Leinster final, potential quarter-final, semi-final, and final - that area. I was just trying to get myself as right as I possibly could.
“If I had played a part in some of the leagues in 2021 and 2022 and 2023 I probably wouldn't have lasted the full year. Everybody says it takes great resilience, maybe it does, but you just keep turning up, to be honest.”
The most demanding part was remaining patient. “You keep doing what you've done day in, day out; train as hard as you possibly can,” Hogan says.
“What I found the biggest challenge was the patience. I wanted to play. I did know when I was fully right that I would be playing, that kept me going. I knew when I was fully right, I could play to at least a really high standard.
“Maybe, I wasn't able to reach the levels I was able to reach in the mid 2010s, but I was certainly able to contribute. That was enough for me, it was better than sitting and watching.”
Hogan enjoyed a stellar career with the striped team accumulating seven All-Ireland titles, 11 Leinster championships, five Allianz Hurling League medals, and four All-Stars.
Richie Hogan following Kilkenny's 2023 All-Ireland SHC Final defeat against Limerick. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
In his young adult years, though, the Danesfort clubman acknowledges that plenty of valuable lessons were learned in St Patrick’s Drumcondra. “It was huge, it was absolutely huge,” Hogan responds.
“I was there from 2006 to 2009, I went there essentially because my brother went. I didn't really know what to do, so I said I'd follow him. Myself, Cha Fitzpatrick, Richie Power, my brother Paddy was there, we had a few others - Mark Bergin, who is a brilliant O'Loughlin Gaels hurler, this year too. We had a great group.”
The manner in which Pat’s operated brought responsibility, it was all about maximising resources available. “It was so completely different to all other types of Fitzgibbon hurling,” he adds.
“The captain of the team was the manager, the vice captain of the team was the assistant manager or whatever. So, you are training the team yourselves, you're organising the team around lectures, organising matches and buses. It was just incredible.”
Hogan is adamant that the students, who subsequently taught in primary schools in the capital, occupied a central role in the Dublin hurling story. “It does so much for the GAA, especially within Dublin because most of them go to Dublin schools,” Hogan says.
“The love that most people develop for the GAA as a whole, not just being a player, within St Pat's, it was incredible. The effect that has on primary school kids, all of these guys go in, the first thing they do is take over the camogie team or hurling team or footballers or ladies footballers.
“It gave me a far greater appreciation for the importance of volunteerism at that level, which I never really would have thought about until I got there.”
The kind words of encouragement from Tom Fitzpatrick, who sadly passed away in September 2023, provided valuable assistance. “Tom Fitz, Lord rest him, was incredible, at keeping the whole thing going, filling the whole place with enthusiasm,” Hogan remarks.
“He will be sadly missed. I don't know what the effects are like now that it is just part of DCU, but certainly I think it was a huge reason, in particular, why Dublin hurling was so strong at juvenile level over a period of time.
“All of these guys, who got their training in St Pat's were going immediately into Dublin schools. I went into Clontarf, the first year I was there we had three hurling teams, we just wanted everyone to play.
“By the time I left, we had five hurling teams. It wouldn't have been a strong hurling area before that, I think Pat's was a magical place, it had a great effect on the GAA, that people just don't see.”
The hard work carried out in the capital is being reflected in the senior inter-county arena. Dublin face Kilkenny in the Leinster decider on Sunday June 8 at Croke Park. Hogan flourished on that stage for more than a decade.
