IN MANY WAYS, Mick Galwey was always going to be pulled into the world of the wee ball, having conquered the big ball and the oval ball.
In the ‘90s, he and his wife Joan settled in Kilkenny. Temporarily, so they thought.
They had three girls who all played camogie for O’Loughlin Gaels. And now their youngest child, Ruairí, is taking his place on the Gaels panel for the All-Ireland hurling final this Sunday against St Thomas’.
Joan went on to wear many hats. For several years she was the camogie chair of the club. Nowadays she is club secretary. It’s a connection that even roped the former Kerry footballer and Munster and Ireland rugby player into a spell as selector with their Junior side.
Joan was from Cork, but teaching in Gaelscoil Osraí in Kilkenny. Galwey was working a job in Kerry. The rugby went pro. In 1995 they said they would give it a few years in Kilkenny and then head back the road.
And then Neasa, the little girl who would become famous for being papped in so many post-match shots buried in her father’s arms after yet another miracle match, was born in 1999.
The question was asked. What club will Neasa play for?
“I grew up in Currow and that was our parish, so we were closest to O’Loughlin Gaels, that was our parish,” says Galwey.
“You know in life you make some great decisions, and that was one of the best decisions we ever made.
“I never thought I’d leave Kerry. But Kilkenny is my home now and I love it. It’s great.”
He still needs his fix of Kerry. The savage loves their native shore. Christmas, summer holidays, golf outings and GAA reunions looks after that side of it.
“But Kilkenny is my home and I have great friends there. My kids have grown up there. I love the place.
“Even though when I came here first, I would have mixed around with the rugby lads, and I still do. The rugby club in Kilkenny is great.
“But I have really found a special place around O’Loughlin Gaels,” he says.
Growing up, there was less a smattering, more a light dusting of hurling where he was in Currow. Slap-bang in the middle of the county, they were only three miles away from Castleisland, where Galwey attended school and tapped into the rugby traditions of that town.
Some years ago, Jimmy Deenihan had the splendid idea of unveiling a plaque to one of Castleisland’s most-loved sons, Con Houlihan.
Galwey, along with Moss Keane and Donal Lenihan, were on hand to do the duties.
“Would you believe Con Houlihan was in my mother’s class at school so he always had great time for me. He described me as ‘a neighbour’s child.’ Which is a lovely term; ‘a neighbour’s child,’” Galwey says.
But hurling in that corner? A fraction.
“It was not pretty, let me tell you. And we had no helmets. We didn’t know the rules, but it was a bit of fun. North Kerry is fantastic. It’s something I am proud of is that Kerry as a county put a huge effort into both codes.
“Obviously, you have Gaelic football, but they make a huge effort with hurling too, which is great.
“The longer I live in Kilkenny, the more I have become a massive fan of hurling. Not just because of my involvement in O’Loughlin Gaels. But I follow the county because all of my kids have been born in Kilkenny and I just love the game.”
There’s an excitement now that Ruairí is making his way in the game.
He’s only 18 but found himself playing the first round of the league against Tullaroan last August.
In the other corner was Mikey Butler. In between them was Huw Lawlor. Ahead of him on the wing was Paddy Deegan.
“He is trying to get onto a team and it would be easier to get onto a lot of county teams before it. I mean that respectfully,” Galwey says.
“But I am delighted to see his progress. When you are among that calibre of players, other players have to improve and bring themselves up.
“Ruairí is mixing in great company, he is learning like there is no tomorrow. As a young man, I couldn’t wish for more for him.
“The part though that I really love is that nobody can say that he got the hurling from his father, you know what I mean?
“Gaelic football, rugby, of course they can say that. But this, he is doing it on his own. Which makes me more prouder than anything else. He’s forging his own identity.”
That’s not just a father’s pride talking. Ruairí Galwey is on the cusp of the O’Loughlin’s team, the youngest on the panel and he’s also tearing it up for Kilkenny CBS.
“Obviously, he is Mick Galwey’s son so that pedigree is there. He has an unbelievable workrate,” says Mark Bergin, the club and former Kilkenny stalwart.
“He is exceptional; a good young fella. He’s going to have a long, long career with O’Loughlins. The benefit of playing adult hurling for the last seven or eight months has been a benefit for him and we will reap that in the years to come.”
Galwey himself helped out as a selector for the club’s junior team a few years back. He modestly admits that he found himself out of his lane.
“To be honest, I would be comfortable on the sideline of a Gaelic football or a rugby pitch. But I dunno. I enjoyed it and I would like to think I made a positive contribution. But I would be very much thinking that if I get involved in a team, it’s 100% and because of everything going on in my life, I don’t have the time to get involved,” he says.
“I’m not saying I am not going again! Because O’Loughlin Gaels is an amazing club and it’s a great club for blow-ins, put it that way. It’s a lovely welcoming club, a lovely social club and I can tell you, win, lose or draw on Sunday, we will all be back in the club and that’s what I love about it.
“We lost the county final to Ballyhale the previous season. But everybody stuck together and we all went back. At one stage of the night, I said to someone, ‘You wouldn’t know if we won or lost.’”
They will know the difference this Sunday night though. For certain.
