HAVING WON AN All-Ireland senior football medal with Cork in 2010 as a 19-year-old, Ciarán Sheehan is back on the biggest stage aged 34.
It’s an All-Ireland junior club hurling final this time around, as the multi-sport star captains Russell Rovers against St Lachtain’s of Kilkenny on Sunday.
For Sheehan, who also played AFL for Carlton, this is the latest chapter in a remarkable sporting life — and a cherished Croke Park return, his last appearance at GAA HQ an International Rules game for Ireland in 2013.
“It’s been a great buzz,” he begins. “I certainly didn’t see myself ever getting back to Croke Park, to be totally honest with you. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year.
“It’s been quite a varied sporting career, but one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I’m 34 years of age now and I suppose you could say coming to the end, and it’s certainly a place that I’d never thought I’d be at this stage, but something I’m relishing at the moment.”
A talented hurler in his youth, Sheehan’s home club is across the county in Éire Óg. It was there he re-sparked his love of the game when he returned from Australia, leading them to a county intermediate title in 2021.
It ended a near six-year gap without hurling. “To say my hurling was rusty when I came back would be an understatement,” he laughs.
The rekindling continued at Russell Rovers the following year: he had moved to East Cork, where his wife Amy is from, and transferred to the local club.
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Sheehan in action for the Cork footballers in 2010. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
It’s a very different chapter away from the inter-county circuit, Aussie Rules, and the likes, but one he is thoroughly enjoying with Amy, his two young kids, Edan and Leni, and Russell Rovers.
“I’ve captured already some very special moments between winning the county and the Munster, having the kids there and being able to get some great snaps of them.
“Your priorities and motivations change over the years. It’s something that I’m really enjoying. It’s a slight change, the competitiveness and the motivation remains the same, that burning desire to win is always there, but to do it in a different environment, and a fresh environment for me, it’s really exciting.
“I’ve been lucky enough to get ingrained in the club, in the community. It’s a hurling stronghold down in East Cork, I got almost a revival of my love for the game.
“To be able to be involved with this group is very special for me. I’ve a brother-in-law (Brian Hartnett, former Cork minor and U21 hurler) playing as well so there’s very much a family connection to the club.”
Russell Rovers have had their share of success and heartbreak in recent years. They won their first Cork Junior A and Munster junior championships in 2019, but fell short in the All-Ireland final.
They are back in Croke Park after a “refresh,” which saw Sheehan take the captaincy and Dónal Óg Cusack arrive as a coach under manager Dave Dorgan.
The skipper is keen to stress the Cork great’s impact. “Dónal Óg has been brilliant. He was involved with a lot of these players with St Colman’s, who are an amalgamation club underage for Russell Rovers and Cloyne, he has worked closely with them.
“To have his experience, his knowledge of the game, he’s a legend of the game really in terms of what he’s achieved on the field and off the field at this stage. What the team needed was Dónal Óg, he was the exact person — very disciplined, very direct, very particular about his coaching, which is important for us, it gave us structure.
“It gave us inspiration. When Dónal Óg talks, you listen, and that’s it. It’s been a new kind of lease of life for the group, in terms of having him out there every night, out training in the middle of all of us, directing us and telling us what to do and what not to do, it’s inspiring for us.”
Dónal Óg Cusack. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
So too is Sheehan, you’d imagine. His vast experience across teams and environments is a boost in itself, without mentioning skill, ability, or success.
No doubt he’ll think of that teenager climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Sam Maguire when he takes to the Croke Park pitch on Sunday.
To be back there, 15 years on, after all the highs and lows, is special.
“Honestly, and I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but it is a dream come true,” Sheehan concludes. “It doesn’t really hit you until you cross the white line.
“As I said, I would never have envisaged it, so to get that opportunity, I’m really grateful myself personally for the group, for the coaching, management, for the club, the community, to afford me the opportunity to do it.
“It’s all to achieve success for the club ultimately, and to be able to do that now, at this stage of my career, it’s really exciting and it comes back to enjoying the game. I’ve approached things a little bit differently as I’ve gotten older in terms of being able to relax a small bit more and enjoy the game rather than being too uptight about everything.
“It’s been something that I’ve really loved and I’m really excited about the day on Sunday.”
AIB GAA All-Ireland Hurling Junior Club Championship Final: Russell Rovers (Cork) v St Lachtain’s (Kilkenny), Sunday, 12 January, 12.30pm, Croke Park — TG4
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'I didn't see myself ever getting back to Croke Park. It's a dream come true'
HAVING WON AN All-Ireland senior football medal with Cork in 2010 as a 19-year-old, Ciarán Sheehan is back on the biggest stage aged 34.
It’s an All-Ireland junior club hurling final this time around, as the multi-sport star captains Russell Rovers against St Lachtain’s of Kilkenny on Sunday.
For Sheehan, who also played AFL for Carlton, this is the latest chapter in a remarkable sporting life — and a cherished Croke Park return, his last appearance at GAA HQ an International Rules game for Ireland in 2013.
“It’s been a great buzz,” he begins. “I certainly didn’t see myself ever getting back to Croke Park, to be totally honest with you. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year.
“It’s been quite a varied sporting career, but one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I’m 34 years of age now and I suppose you could say coming to the end, and it’s certainly a place that I’d never thought I’d be at this stage, but something I’m relishing at the moment.”
A talented hurler in his youth, Sheehan’s home club is across the county in Éire Óg. It was there he re-sparked his love of the game when he returned from Australia, leading them to a county intermediate title in 2021.
It ended a near six-year gap without hurling. “To say my hurling was rusty when I came back would be an understatement,” he laughs.
The rekindling continued at Russell Rovers the following year: he had moved to East Cork, where his wife Amy is from, and transferred to the local club.
It’s a very different chapter away from the inter-county circuit, Aussie Rules, and the likes, but one he is thoroughly enjoying with Amy, his two young kids, Edan and Leni, and Russell Rovers.
“I’ve captured already some very special moments between winning the county and the Munster, having the kids there and being able to get some great snaps of them.
“Your priorities and motivations change over the years. It’s something that I’m really enjoying. It’s a slight change, the competitiveness and the motivation remains the same, that burning desire to win is always there, but to do it in a different environment, and a fresh environment for me, it’s really exciting.
“I’ve been lucky enough to get ingrained in the club, in the community. It’s a hurling stronghold down in East Cork, I got almost a revival of my love for the game.
“To be able to be involved with this group is very special for me. I’ve a brother-in-law (Brian Hartnett, former Cork minor and U21 hurler) playing as well so there’s very much a family connection to the club.”
Russell Rovers have had their share of success and heartbreak in recent years. They won their first Cork Junior A and Munster junior championships in 2019, but fell short in the All-Ireland final.
They are back in Croke Park after a “refresh,” which saw Sheehan take the captaincy and Dónal Óg Cusack arrive as a coach under manager Dave Dorgan.
The skipper is keen to stress the Cork great’s impact. “Dónal Óg has been brilliant. He was involved with a lot of these players with St Colman’s, who are an amalgamation club underage for Russell Rovers and Cloyne, he has worked closely with them.
“To have his experience, his knowledge of the game, he’s a legend of the game really in terms of what he’s achieved on the field and off the field at this stage. What the team needed was Dónal Óg, he was the exact person — very disciplined, very direct, very particular about his coaching, which is important for us, it gave us structure.
“It gave us inspiration. When Dónal Óg talks, you listen, and that’s it. It’s been a new kind of lease of life for the group, in terms of having him out there every night, out training in the middle of all of us, directing us and telling us what to do and what not to do, it’s inspiring for us.”
So too is Sheehan, you’d imagine. His vast experience across teams and environments is a boost in itself, without mentioning skill, ability, or success.
No doubt he’ll think of that teenager climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Sam Maguire when he takes to the Croke Park pitch on Sunday.
To be back there, 15 years on, after all the highs and lows, is special.
“Honestly, and I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but it is a dream come true,” Sheehan concludes. “It doesn’t really hit you until you cross the white line.
“As I said, I would never have envisaged it, so to get that opportunity, I’m really grateful myself personally for the group, for the coaching, management, for the club, the community, to afford me the opportunity to do it.
“It’s all to achieve success for the club ultimately, and to be able to do that now, at this stage of my career, it’s really exciting and it comes back to enjoying the game. I’ve approached things a little bit differently as I’ve gotten older in terms of being able to relax a small bit more and enjoy the game rather than being too uptight about everything.
“It’s been something that I’ve really loved and I’m really excited about the day on Sunday.”
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Ciarán Sheehan Cork GAA Hurling Russell Rovers