THE NETWORK OF hurling relationships stretches across the Leinster landscape.
Jack O’Connor, freshly installed as Wexford captain, prepares to lead them into a new campaign.
First up is a trip to Newbridge on Saturday to play Kildare, the newcomers at this level. There’ll be a home game in round 3 against Dublin, a mid-May match that looks pivotal to their provincial aspirations.
And before that they will be on the road to Kilkenny, a pairing that can generate complexities for O’Connor, who got married in December to Grace, of the famed Tullaroan Walsh clan.
“Not a bother, it’s all good,” laughs O’Connor about the relationship with his in-laws in the build-up to such fixtures.
“Pádraig’s finished up now at this stage. There were a few icy days up there maybe back in the day when we were seeing each other on maybe a Wednesday and we’d go and play against each other on a Sunday!
“But no, it’s all good, healthy craic. It’s a GAA family so there’s a bit of GAA talk. But when you’re closer to it, you nearly talk about it less sometimes too.”
In early February they were in the spotlight when Grace was the focus on Laochra Gael, documenting her camogie exploits in Kilkenny colours.
“She loved it, yeah. She enjoyed it. It’s not really her thing, but I suppose when it came out and she got to see it, she was happy that it was just nice and humbling.
“But I had a laugh at that clip of them all going through the All-Irelands. Holy God! Shane forgot the club, yeah. But it’s just a testament to a real hurling family, a hurling parish.
"Grace was just the very same as the lads like. She was as good as any of them and gave as good as she got" ❤ @SportTG4
“The people, it’s just what they do. It’s just a way of life up there. Other parts of the country are the same, but up there it’s just they have hurling, hurling, hurling. You see that in the young lads as well, so it’s nice, it’s good to see.”
O’Connor’s own home patch was in the hurling spotlight over the winter. After St Martin’s retained their Wexford senior hurling crown for the first time, they toppled the reigning All-Ireland kingpins Na Fianna in their Leinster opener and carried that form to a December success under the lights at Croke Park against Ballyhale Shamrocks.
O’Connor was one of the chief architects of their Leinster breakthrough, weighing in with six points from play in a sparkling attacking showing, as the team chiselled out a one-point win.
His post-match TV interview graphically captured how the occasion was weighted with emotion.
Barry O'Connor and Jack O'Connor of St Martins celebrate after the Leinster senior club final. James Lawlor / INPHO
James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
“Commonly, if you’re not on a Kilkenny team, that’s how you probably come out on the other end of it so it was nice to come out a point up and win it.
“The first time for the club too so it was all very magical and new and everything you’d kind of dream of. It was great. It really was.
“We went a point up, we got a sideline, put it down into the corner, just held them there and the whistle went. It’s not like we were five points up with a few minutes to go, thinking we have it.
“So the blood was still boiling just as that interview kind of started off. I’m just happy I didn’t drop any F-bombs or anything, being honest with you. Literally it happened in the corner and I remember walking down and they just pulled me straight into the camera. But it’s all great memories.”
"Everybody in the stand. Everybody on the field. The people at home. I can't describe it..." St Martin's Man of the Match Jack O'Connor was a study in emotion after the Wexford champions' incredible Leinster triumph. | #RTEgaapic.twitter.com/anYe8m6cxf
They had to concede in the second half against a superior Ballygunner side as their All-Ireland ambitions ended, yet the whole winter hurling experience was enriching.
The family element was central to that. Jack hurling alongside his brother Rory and cousin Barry in attack.
Rory has since decamped to Australia, taking a year out from the Wexford ranks, and Barry has returned to Sydney where he is based.
“Rory, he’s just taking a year out. His girlfriend Amy, she’s from Offaly and she’s out playing with North Melbourne, this was always his plan. He’s playing a bit of Aussie Rules and a small bit of hurling and everything in between and just enjoying that side of life. Obviously we’d love to have him. He’s just after stepping away this year, which is fine.
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“It could be Barry’s last year in Australia, I don’t really know – I haven’t been onto him in a few weeks. But it would be super if he was back later this year and stayed for Wexford. He’s a super athlete and he kind of went after that himself from his experience with Sydney Swans.
“He brought that back into the club and I can tell you, it’s very easy to have him in front of you when you’re defending, a back’s coming out and you just say, ‘Barry, go!’ and he’ll literally make up 50 yards in a few seconds. Look, he’s a super athlete and I think he could offer something to Wexford if he was back in the country. You never know next year – hopefully. It would be great to have both him and Rory back.”
O’Connor is inching towards a return himself. He managed his gametime across the club campaign before undergoing a minor knee operation in late January – ‘just a clean-up on cartilage, meniscus, bits and pieces’.
Wexford's Jack O'Connor. David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE
David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
The desire to play for Wexford hasn’t dulled, he lives in Ringsend and work with MSD Animal Health sees him clock up the miles, but the requirements to be an elite hurler are maintained.
“I’d be on the road a good bit. We sell all the medicines to vets, we sell Fitbits for cows, to farmers as well. I’d be in the office one or two days a week and on the road meeting vets anywhere in the country with the guys on the team.
“So it’s nice meeting people, it’s a good mix. I don’t mind being on the road. You’re up and you’re out. It’s kind of an hour, hour and a half drive here or there. For training midweek too, I plan it around that as well. It’s a great job, it’s a nice mix.
“Noel McGrath is working with us as well, so it’s a good environment and it’s fine for training and playing. We’re very busy kind of from October right around to April. It eases a little bit when cattle and sheep all go out to the land.”
After watching on through the league, he is enthused by the prospect of captaining Wexford in championship, maintaining the rich tradition in their family with his father John and uncle George part of the county’s golden hurling summer of 1996.
“It’s a nice thing to have. I’ve kind of just taken it in my stride. Lee (Chin) has been a super captain for Wexford for the last number of years. If I can live up to half of what he’s been doing in terms of his leadership and the way he’s played, I’ll be doing alright.
“It’s probably something I’ll look back on and reflect and say it was nice to have. But currently it’s great for the family and friends at home and for the club and for myself. But just taking it all in my stride.”
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Wexford captaincy, Kilkenny inlaws, club glory, and family hurling in Australia
THE NETWORK OF hurling relationships stretches across the Leinster landscape.
Jack O’Connor, freshly installed as Wexford captain, prepares to lead them into a new campaign.
First up is a trip to Newbridge on Saturday to play Kildare, the newcomers at this level. There’ll be a home game in round 3 against Dublin, a mid-May match that looks pivotal to their provincial aspirations.
And before that they will be on the road to Kilkenny, a pairing that can generate complexities for O’Connor, who got married in December to Grace, of the famed Tullaroan Walsh clan.
“Not a bother, it’s all good,” laughs O’Connor about the relationship with his in-laws in the build-up to such fixtures.
“Pádraig’s finished up now at this stage. There were a few icy days up there maybe back in the day when we were seeing each other on maybe a Wednesday and we’d go and play against each other on a Sunday!
“But no, it’s all good, healthy craic. It’s a GAA family so there’s a bit of GAA talk. But when you’re closer to it, you nearly talk about it less sometimes too.”
Laochra Gael
In early February they were in the spotlight when Grace was the focus on Laochra Gael, documenting her camogie exploits in Kilkenny colours.
“She loved it, yeah. She enjoyed it. It’s not really her thing, but I suppose when it came out and she got to see it, she was happy that it was just nice and humbling.
“But I had a laugh at that clip of them all going through the All-Irelands. Holy God! Shane forgot the club, yeah. But it’s just a testament to a real hurling family, a hurling parish.
“The people, it’s just what they do. It’s just a way of life up there. Other parts of the country are the same, but up there it’s just they have hurling, hurling, hurling. You see that in the young lads as well, so it’s nice, it’s good to see.”
O’Connor’s own home patch was in the hurling spotlight over the winter. After St Martin’s retained their Wexford senior hurling crown for the first time, they toppled the reigning All-Ireland kingpins Na Fianna in their Leinster opener and carried that form to a December success under the lights at Croke Park against Ballyhale Shamrocks.
O’Connor was one of the chief architects of their Leinster breakthrough, weighing in with six points from play in a sparkling attacking showing, as the team chiselled out a one-point win.
His post-match TV interview graphically captured how the occasion was weighted with emotion.
“Commonly, if you’re not on a Kilkenny team, that’s how you probably come out on the other end of it so it was nice to come out a point up and win it.
“The first time for the club too so it was all very magical and new and everything you’d kind of dream of. It was great. It really was.
“We went a point up, we got a sideline, put it down into the corner, just held them there and the whistle went. It’s not like we were five points up with a few minutes to go, thinking we have it.
“So the blood was still boiling just as that interview kind of started off. I’m just happy I didn’t drop any F-bombs or anything, being honest with you. Literally it happened in the corner and I remember walking down and they just pulled me straight into the camera. But it’s all great memories.”
They had to concede in the second half against a superior Ballygunner side as their All-Ireland ambitions ended, yet the whole winter hurling experience was enriching.
The family element was central to that. Jack hurling alongside his brother Rory and cousin Barry in attack.
Rory has since decamped to Australia, taking a year out from the Wexford ranks, and Barry has returned to Sydney where he is based.
“Rory, he’s just taking a year out. His girlfriend Amy, she’s from Offaly and she’s out playing with North Melbourne, this was always his plan. He’s playing a bit of Aussie Rules and a small bit of hurling and everything in between and just enjoying that side of life. Obviously we’d love to have him. He’s just after stepping away this year, which is fine.
“It could be Barry’s last year in Australia, I don’t really know – I haven’t been onto him in a few weeks. But it would be super if he was back later this year and stayed for Wexford. He’s a super athlete and he kind of went after that himself from his experience with Sydney Swans.
“He brought that back into the club and I can tell you, it’s very easy to have him in front of you when you’re defending, a back’s coming out and you just say, ‘Barry, go!’ and he’ll literally make up 50 yards in a few seconds. Look, he’s a super athlete and I think he could offer something to Wexford if he was back in the country. You never know next year – hopefully. It would be great to have both him and Rory back.”
O’Connor is inching towards a return himself. He managed his gametime across the club campaign before undergoing a minor knee operation in late January – ‘just a clean-up on cartilage, meniscus, bits and pieces’.
The desire to play for Wexford hasn’t dulled, he lives in Ringsend and work with MSD Animal Health sees him clock up the miles, but the requirements to be an elite hurler are maintained.
“I’d be on the road a good bit. We sell all the medicines to vets, we sell Fitbits for cows, to farmers as well. I’d be in the office one or two days a week and on the road meeting vets anywhere in the country with the guys on the team.
“So it’s nice meeting people, it’s a good mix. I don’t mind being on the road. You’re up and you’re out. It’s kind of an hour, hour and a half drive here or there. For training midweek too, I plan it around that as well. It’s a great job, it’s a nice mix.
“Noel McGrath is working with us as well, so it’s a good environment and it’s fine for training and playing. We’re very busy kind of from October right around to April. It eases a little bit when cattle and sheep all go out to the land.”
After watching on through the league, he is enthused by the prospect of captaining Wexford in championship, maintaining the rich tradition in their family with his father John and uncle George part of the county’s golden hurling summer of 1996.
“It’s a nice thing to have. I’ve kind of just taken it in my stride. Lee (Chin) has been a super captain for Wexford for the last number of years. If I can live up to half of what he’s been doing in terms of his leadership and the way he’s played, I’ll be doing alright.
“It’s probably something I’ll look back on and reflect and say it was nice to have. But currently it’s great for the family and friends at home and for the club and for myself. But just taking it all in my stride.”
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Championship GAA Hurling Jack O'Connor Leinster Wexford