The Tipperary Duo hoping to lead Canada to hurling glory
Cathal O’Connell and Rodger “Rocky” Ryan pictured before the a training sessions with the native Canadian hurling team at Vankleek Hill in Canada.
By Éanna Mackey
In the near postcard-perfect village of Vankleek Hill, you could easily convince yourself you’ve wandered onto the set of a coming-of-age film. Nestled just south of the Ottawa River, halfway between the nation’s capital and Montreal’s restless sprawl, the town feels comfortably tucked away from the world’s noise.
But every Sunday morning, the serenity fractures as a steady convoy of cars rolls into the local high school’s parking lot. Early-rising dog walkers pause mid-stride as dozens of men spill out, laughing and clattering their gear.
They pull hurleys from their trunks, bounce sliotars along the asphalt, and transform the quiet school football pitch into a lively arena. For hours they chase, shout, and swing, breaking the calm with a ritual that feels both mysterious and magnetic to anyone passing by.
The Team Canada hurlers pose for a photo before training in Vankleek Hill.
Led by two lifelong friends from Borrisoleigh now living on opposite ends of the Ottawa River, Canada’s hurling hopefuls are deep into preparations for next summer’s World Games in Waterford.
Rodger 'Rocky' Ryan and Cathal O’Connell grew up side by side, wearing the maroon and white of Borris across Tipperary. Then life scattered them — new careers, new countries, different paths.
Yet here they are again, reunited on a frosty October morning in Vankleek Hill, coaching a group of Canadians who never knew the sport existed until someone pressed a hurley into their chests.
Rodger “Rocky” Ryan and Cathal O’Connell put the Team Canada hurlers through their paces at training.
O’Connell now works in Montreal, while Ryan runs St Bridget’s Well — a pub in the basement of a de-sanctified Irish church in the nation’s capital.
“Me and Rocky have always known each other,” said O’Connell. “When I landed in Montreal, he actually came up on my first day to show me around. And when my parents came over, I brought them up to Ottawa to see his pub.”
“Being able to coach over here is brilliant. These lads are as enthusiastic as 12-year-olds at home. They just want to hurl. We have a lad here named Nacho, and he’s 47; he only started hurling last year. Now he’s out playing every day and has his young lad playing with him; he’s only four.”
“It’s great to see these lads learning and improving. I would’ve done a bit of coaching at home, and always really enjoyed it. It’s great to be able to mix with the Ottawa and Kingston lads as well. A lot of them played baseball and hockey and have transferred those skills to hurling, so it’s great.”
Across every parish in Ireland, the GAA is a rallying point, a place where community gathers and identity grows. That doesn’t change abroad. From Sydney to San Francisco, from Dubai to Vancouver, the GAA becomes the anchor that keeps Irish expats connected to home.
For both O’Connell and Ryan, it has remained central to their lives in Canada, a lifeline back to Tipperary while helping them build a new network on the west coast of the Atlantic. For Ryan, it’s the cornerstone of his weekly routine in Ottawa.
“Having the GAA is everything, really,” he said. “When you go abroad, you either have your family, religion, or the GAA, and for me it’s the GAA. I watch every single Borrisoleigh match if it’s streamed. I find that it’s the best way to stay connected to home.”
“Through the GAA you can tell how the town is doing by watching a match and seeing who’s at it and who’s laughing on the sideline. It’s a great sense of comfort. If there’s a Borris match on at 8 a.m. on the weekend, I’ll go to a coffee shop, set up the laptop, and shout and scream and scare everyone else in the place for an hour, and it’s an absolute treat.”
Team Canada hurler, Mikael St-Pierre.
Looking ahead, excitement is building among Team Canada’s recruits at the prospect of playing in Waterford next summer. For many, it will be their third outing at the World Games, held every three years. Last time out, they gave a strong showing in Derry and will be hoping to go one step further this time.
Training in Vankleek Hill has drawn homegrown players from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Kingston and even as far away as Vancouver. Among those hoping to earn a place on the plane to Ireland next summer is Quebec-born Mikael St-Pierre, from just outside Montreal.
“Like all Canadians, I started playing hockey when I was young, around five or six, and I played for about 20 years. I also played baseball in the summer, so that’s the typical Canadian way: baseball in the summer, ice-hockey in the winter.”
“I came across hurling on the internet, and I saw that it combined playing on the field with a stick with a ball, and the way you swing is like baseball, and I felt like those skills would be good for me. The skills are so transferable, and it’s such a fun game; there are so many fun things about it, whether it’s a nice pass, scoring a point or winning a free”
“Last time, in 2023, it was a pretty good year for Canada. We won the Shield, but we want to go an extra step and try to qualify for the Cup. If we’re lucky, we might be able to catch a game and see what the standard is like compared to here; that would be awesome.”
