LIKE THE MAJORITY of hurlers from non-traditional counties, Danny Cullen’s love for the sport comes from his family, where hurling is simply a way of life.
On Saturday afternoon, Cullen will hope to lift more silverware with the Donegal hurlers when they take on Warwickshire in the Nicky Rackard Cup final.
He previously won the Lory Meagher Cup in 2011 and Nicky Rackard title in 2013, but Cullen believes this is the most talented Donegal team he’s been a part of.
Cullen deserves the veteran status at this stage, having made his senior inter-county debut as a 16-year-old over 14 years ago. And had his grandfather not set-up his local hurling club back in 1979, Cullen might never have held a hurley let along starred for his county for a decade and a half.
“Hurling would be in the family,” he explained in Croke Park this week. “My grandfather was a local primary school teacher and he was from the Ghaeltacht area (in Donegal). He had a notion that two of the most Irish things you do is play hurling and speak the language.
“So he took them to his teaching then too and it grew from that. The club kind of grew out of the school then and that’s about 1979. It’s been progressing ever since. Once you grow up in a family that’s into hurling you just get involved in it yourself since you’re a young age.
“That’s one thing with Donegal, the whole tradition is all family based. Your main hurlers – their parents played or else they’re from hurling counties. When you’re from a non-traditional county it is a lot of what your parents did and where they came from.
“We are what we are,” Cullen continued. “We’re playing hurling in a football dominated county but at the end of the day we’re very passionate people up there. It’s played in small pockets throughout the county and I wouldn’t change anything for the world.
“I grew up in this sport and I just love it. We get our day out here (Croke Park) now on Saturday and looking forward to that too.”
Donegal finished in fourth place in Division 2B in the league, despite playing against sides who compete in higher tiers of the championship. Saturday’s final opponents Warwickshire were 3A winners, so Donegal are wary of their threat. Their manager has even made a couple of trips over to England to watch them in action.
“We haven’t really came across them much because they were playing in a Division below us in the league. But our manager got to a couple of the games just to see them which was good for us.
“It’s very hard to know what they’ll bring because they’ve a different influx of players different years. We just know they’re all from strong counties and they’ve some very good hurlers who would have played inter-county.
“Their centre-back Paul Hogan played a few years ago for Galway, Niall McKenna from Antrim is a quality hurler too. We have a good enough insight into them.”
Cullen believes this is one of the strongest Donegal sides he’s ever played on and they’re determined to bookmark the season with a trophy.
“For me, it’s probably one of the best years Donegal hurling ever had. We beat Derry, Armagh and Down in the league. Down was probably one of the big games because we never beat them before. To take them to Letterkenny and get over the line was a very tough game and it boosted our confidence so much. We’ve kind of brought that forward now into all the games.
“We know this is a good time where our group of players are together. That’s one thing we know, we have to make the most of this while we have the opportunity. Down the line, in five years time, we could slip back down a bit. We know ourselves there is a good quality squad there at the right age so we really have to make the most of it.
“It would be something big (to lift the cup). Walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand no matter what competition it’s in is a privilege to do. It’s something you’d remember for the rest of your life. Hopefully, we can get over the line now on Saturday and get the opportunity to do that.”
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