CORK HURLING CHAMPIONS Sarsfields have been inundated with generosity in the 24 hours since their complex was flooded during Storm Babet, but nothing short of a total rebuild will rescue their pitch.
The Glanmire-based GAA club toasted their greatest night in years on Sunday when reclaiming the Cork premier senior hurling title after a nine-year wait, but were in crisis mode by Wednesday as floods surged through the town.
The club’s decision to open two large gates into their premises on Wednesday morning turned the pitch into a flood plain but saved surrounding homes and businesses from further damage.
“We celebrated on Sunday night, we had a homecoming on Monday night for the team, we were celebrating again on Tuesday, and then for this to happen yesterday, it’s nightmare stuff really,” said chairman Keith Mulcahy.
“Words can’t describe how I feel at the minute because we don’t even know where to start.
“That’s the sad part because there’s been loads of generosity, people have been on to us, we’ll come down with shovels and we’ll give you a hand to get the pitch back.
“It’s gone beyond that, unfortunately. This is a case where a total rebuild and the field need to be done because our surrounding walls and fencing were washed away with the pressure of the water. There’s glass and sewage on the fields. It’s just massive.
“Our gym, our spinning room, our office, our bar cellar, all under water yesterday and they’re all destroyed as well. It’s horrific.”
The field has been cratered by the floods, with their pitch drainage system bursting up through the ground.
2 days ago , place was packed with supporters after their county final success – now how can this happen ?? pic.twitter.com/mBnoY1s202
— Tomas Mulcahy (@tomas_mulcahy)
One gate burst open due to the build-up of pressure, the surge breaking the pin locking it shut. A second gate was blocked up with debris which prevented the flow of water from breaking through. But the decision was taken to open that and a third gate in order to spare the surrounding area.
“There’s no one killed, thankfully. There are some homes that got damaged but I think we alleviated a lot of the pressure yesterday,” said Mulcahy.
“The place is ruined but do you know what, a pitch is a pitch and that can be replaced. People’s homes are people’s homes.
“There are local businesses next to us. Marc and Joanne in Balance, the coffee shop, Siobhán in the clothing shop, Diffusion Wear, the doctor’s surgery. We felt they would have been destroyed if we didn’t do it.
“I know Ronan next door in the Castle Bar got a bit of damage but not as much, thankfully. Hopefully, we saved those businesses at least.”
Sars have been hit by flooding before but never to this extent. Within 45 minutes of water first entering the complex, they were advised to evacuate by council officials.
“The only thing I’m kind of annoyed about is we didn’t get a red warning on it,” added Mulcahy. “It was yellow and then it went to orange but the amount of rain that fell in the space of 24 hours was off the charts.
“Glanmire wasn’t able to cope, unfortunately. We just got the brunt of it. People attached to the club that live close enough to the pitch, their homes are destroyed and I feel for them now this morning.”
With a Munster Club Championship quarter-final against champions Ballygunner to prepare for in less than three weeks, the club have been robbed of their training facilities.
Offers of pitches have come in from neighbouring clubs including Erin’s Own and Sars’ sister-club Glanmire, who also experienced flooding but on a smaller scale.
“People in these situations are very good. Cork people are great anyway,” said Mulcahy.
It’s not just the senior team who will be affected.
“Our complex is out of action and it will be out of action for a long time. Our juveniles are still training. That’s going to have to be put back because they’ve nowhere to go.
“We still have teams in championship. Our camogie team are in championship on Sunday. They have nowhere to train now either.
“It’s a huge task ahead, a mountain to climb, but we’ll get there. We’ve faced these things before, maybe not to the extent of what we saw yesterday, but we’ll get there somehow.
“We’re just thankful that no one has got hurt.”
They are waiting on advice from the GAA and Cork County Board to help point them in the right direction as they consider how to formulate a rescue plan. Mulcahy says they will examine “every avenue to see what’s the best way forward”.
It has extinguished the feelgood nature of their county title triumph but the tribute paid to club legend and committee member Teddy McCarthy, who died last summer, will never be forgotten.
His nephew, Donnacha, kept a clean sheet in goal and the first stop on the way back from Páirc Uí Chaoimh with the Seán Óg Murphy Cup was to Teddy’s graveside.
“We buried Teddy in June and it was a shocker for us. Sunday was just an incredible feeling for the year that we’ve had because of losing Teddy. We felt he was like our 16th man on Sunday. The players were fantastic, obviously, but Teddy, we felt, was with us.”