My Club: Ciaran Lyng - St Martin's

By Brian Murphy

In this week's 'My Club' feature, we speak to Wexford senior footballer Ciarán Lyng about his club St Martin's GAA.

St Martin's GAA is located in the parish of Piercestown in south Co. Wexford and takes in the small villages of Piercestown and Murrintown.

Deep in the heart of the picturesque sunny south-east, Piercestown is just four miles south of Wexford Town and 10 miles north-west of Rosslare Harbour.

Founded in 1932, St Martin's is one of only a handful of clubs in Wexford who compete regularly at senior level in hurling in football.

Although 12 St Martin's men have won All-Ireland SHC medals with Wexford, the club won its first Wexford SHC title in 1999 before adding a second in 2008, by which time Ciarán Lyng was a member of the team. Lyng also played a prominent role when St Martin's won their first-ever Wexford SFC title in 2013.

St Martin's is the home of 1968 All-Ireland winners and legendary clubmen Séamus Whelan and Vincent Staples, while Rory McCarthy and George O'Connor played key roles in the county's last All-Ireland success in 1996.

More recently, Ciarán's older brother Diarmuid and Eoin Quigley have played hurling for the county, though both men have now retired.

For more information, log on to the St Martin's GAA Club website .

(Piercestown's location within South Co. Wexford)

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GAA.ie: Tell us a little bit about where St Martin's GAA Club is located in Wexford?

Ciarán Lyng: There's two villages that make up St Martin's - Murrintown and Piercestown. I live in Piercestown. Johnstown Castle would probably be the most central point of the parish. We're about five miles outside of Wexford Town and it wouldn't be massive, but we have a good, young population. Although we are on the outskirts of Wexford and it is starting to feed out our way, it hasn't reached us just yet.

GAA.ie: How did you first get involved in the club?

CL: We transferred out from Wexford Town when I was nine years old. I have played with St Martin's for nearly all of my career though. I just started going up playing football and hurling there from nine or 10 years of age and never looked back.

GAA.ie: Obviously your older brother, Diarmuid, has represented the club, but do you have any other siblings involved?

CL: Yes, my three other brothers have all played for the club too. My younger brother still plays and my two older brothers aren't playing any more.

GAA.ie: Is Diarmuid ('Gizzy') still playing?

CL: He's sort of on a hiatus at the moment but we are hoping to have him back later in the summer.

GAA.ie: What are the facilities like at St Martin's?

CL: When I first came, it was just the one pitch and a clubhouse but now we have a fantastic set-up that would rival any in the country. There's a new hurling wall which is floodlit with everyone who contributed to making it included on it. We have three top-class pitches and one junior pitch. They're very good facilities.

(St Martin's GAA Complex. Photo: Wexford GAA)

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GAA.ie: Did you enjoy much underage success with the club?

CL: Yes, we did very well when we were coming up along. For a traditional hurling club, we actually probably won more football medals and championships. We managed to win the Rackard League (Wexford Cumann na mBunscol Football Roinn 'A') with the school, Piercestown-Murrintown, and then U14 and U16 Wexford titles. Actually, the school won their first Rackard League in 16 years , since our group won it in 1998, and I was in presenting them with their medals on Friday night and they were all delighted with themselves.

GAA.ie: St Martin's is known traditionally as a hurling club, but has that changed in recent times?

CL: It's kind of 50-50. We would traditionally be a hurling club and if you walk around the place most people would have a hurl in their hands but we won our first Wexford SFC title two years ago and won our last Wexford SHC title in 2008, so we would be very strong in both and would have ambitions of competing at the highest level in both. It depends on who you ask - some people would say it's a hurling club and some would say it's 50-50. But the kids play both, it's equally strong and we have a current crop of minors who are excellent and could play both just as easily.

GAA.ie: Have many of that minor crop made it on to Wexford inter-county sides?

CL: We have six on the minor hurling team at the moment and maybe eight or nine on the overall panel. There aren't as many with the minor footballers and they seem to have leaned towards the hurling with the county because they are very strong. My uncle, Larry Coleman, is the manager of the county minors and I also have a cousin on it. Larry is a traditional St Martin's man - the best kind!

GAA.ie: Is there much of a crossover between the players on the senior football and hurling panels?

CL: Yes, and it's something we are very proud of. It's almost 10 to 13 of the 15 would be available for both. There are some lads who only play hurling and some who only play football who would make up the rest. By and large it's the same for both. There may have been a conflict between both codes at one stage for a generation ahead of us, but for us it's not an issue. It makes no difference to us. We want to win playing both sports and that's the way we were raised playing GAA, and I feel it's something that should be embraced.

GAA.ie: Can you tell us a little about the big figures in the history of St Martin's GAA club?

CL: George O'Connor and Rory McCarthy were on the Wexford team that won the All-Ireland with Wexford in 1996 and then Eoin Quigley and my brother Diarmuid would have been in the next generation. Before that, you have Séamus 'Shanks' Whelan from the 1968 All-Ireland winning team, who was one of the early legends of Wexford hurling. Vinny Staples was another legend. Legends are one thing we are not short of in the hallways of the club!

GAA.ie: St Martin's has huge links to Wexford's All-Ireland winning sides of 1968 and 1996. Is that something that is celebrated within the club?

CL: It's huge. My favourite picture in the club is Rory McCarthy's goal against Cork with the last puck of the game when we drew with them in the 2003 All-Ireland semi-final.

(Rory McCarthy scores a goal for Wexford in the drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Cork in 2003)

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From the 1996 victory, the famous picture of George O'Connor is very important. Although you wouldn't know by them, they are absolute legends within the club and we all look up to them.

Legends: George O'Connor

We trained last night and Rory was training us - he's involved with both the senior hurling team and the senior football team. George then is a massive influence on coaching in the club, especially with the underage lads. We're actually starting to see the fruits of that, with the minors I have already mentioned coming through. There are loads of them on the way and they will make up a very strong team for us in the next few years.

(George O'Connor coaching school children in Wexford)

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GAA.ie: How important was it for you to have your older brother, Diarmuid, leading the way for you - first on to St Martin's and then Wexford teams?

CL: It was hugely important, especially when I first came back from playing soccer in England because I was a bit lost. I knew I wanted to play a bit of hurling and football but I didn't know how quickly I would get back into it. Going back into the club and having Diarmuid and my other brothers there was massive. With the county, it was less so because I focused on football and he had hurling.

GAA.ie: What have been the highlights of your career with the club so far?

CL: We won the Wexford SHC in 2008 and the Wexford SFC in 2013. I came back from playing soccer in England in 2007 and we won the county title in hurling the following year, when we also had a great year with the Wexford footballers. It was a big year. It's hard to believe, given all the legends we have had, but the club's first-ever SHC title was in 1999. 2008 was unbelievable and is something I will never forget.

Winning the football in 2013 was even bigger because it was our first-ever Wexford SFC title. It was huge for all the lads who play football and would have followed football traditionally in the club.

GAA.ie: Who are your big rivals on the club scene in Wexford?

CL: Ourselves, St Anne's and Shelmaliers are the three clubs that are senior in both codes and would play one another regularly enough. St Anne's and Shelmaliers played against each other in the Wexford SHC final last year and it went to a replay. The rivalry there is strong and St Anne's are our neighbours so that gives it some additional spice. We are playing them in the hurling championship this weekend so that will be a huge one.

(Ciarán Lyng in action for St Martin's in the Wexford SHC final win over Oulart-The Ballagh)

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GAA.ie: Given your commitments with the Wexford footballers, is it hard to get the time to play hurling with the club?

CL: It's hard to balance. This year I am the captain of the hurling team so I have had to make an additional effort to get down and train with the team as much as possible. I live in Dublin so it's not always manageable, but this year I have given a commitment to make it as much as possible.

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Wexford Senior Hurling Championship 2015 Group A, St Anne's v St Martin's, Killurin, Sunday, 4.30pm.