LAST SUNDAY IN Kenny Park in Athenry, John Conlon stood back and absorbed the sense of joy radiating from the Loughrea hurling crew.
A first Galway title delivered in 18 years, a luckless streak of final defeats coming to a close.
For Clare’s defensive lynchpin, a role as part of the Loughrea management team afforded him a front-row view.
“To see the joy that were in their faces was a cool thing as an outsider, I’d never kind of experienced something like that with someone different, another club.
“They had gone through a lot of hurt. Lads like Johnny Coen and Jamie Ryan and Sean Sweeney and Neil Keary, lads that have plugged away for a long time. To get their medal, (I was) delighted for them.”
How does a 35-year-old that already has a hurling life consumed by county duties with Clare and club duties with Clonlara, end up falling in with a side in east Galway?
“In 2018, Tommy Kelly and Gavin Keary would have been involved with us with Clare. I built up a great relationship with the two of them. Tommy would be the (Loughrea) manager, and Gavin would be the trainer-coach.
“Tommy got on to me last year and said would I get involved, just being there on match days as much as I could.
“And last year, I couldn’t really give it much of a commitment because Clonlara went so far (to the Munster final) and they were just crossing over too much. This year with Clonlara when we lost, they said would you still stay involved, and I got full time involved, but it was an advisory role more than anything else.
“They have enough coaches and they have a very good, nearly inter-county setup with all the coaches and trainers that they have.
“It’s a great thing at club level that you don’t have a massive vested interest and I can make calls, I can say something.
“Giving advice to the lads before matches or leading up to matches, and it might just be a word. As I said to them, if it’s a percentage to get them over the line, it was important.”
The adventure continues with an All-Ireland semi-final date against the Leinster champions awaiting them in mid-December.
A golden hurling year continues for Conlon, one that has already generated precious moments with Clare’s All-Ireland and league double.
Life off the pitch threw curveballs at him as well.
April was a time full of concern. His mother Bridget was involved in an accident on the family farm, while his father Pat was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“We’ve a farm here at home, the cow was after calving, and they’ve the cameras in the house.
My brother and father, Patrick and Pat, would be the main farmers.
“She (John’s mother) was looking on. She saw the calf had rolled into the next pen and to get the beestings in before (you have to), get the calf to suck within a certain period.
“She was trying to (ring) the brother and she couldn’t get through to him.
“And she said, ‘Sure look, I’ll tip on up and try and see can I get the calf to go back inside and get it inside.’
“But sure the minute she opened up the gate, the cow bolted in around and obviously saw her then and ranmed her and jammed her to the gate and two or three laps around her with her head on top of her and hitting her.
“She had a collapsed lung, was in intensive care for two weeks, had damage on her ribs and all that kind of stuff and looked like she’d had 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, you know?
“Then my father he got diagnosed with the day before then she got hurt, with prostate cancer. So he’d to get an operation on that, so the two of them were laid up for a long time
“That was a hard period for two or three weeks.”
The worry and uncertainty passed. John and his brother Patrick, along with their wives Michelle and Elaine, came together to help Bridget and Pat recover.
By the time of Clare’s celebratory hurling days in July, the Conlons were together cheering on their son’s exploits on the pitch.
“Thankfully she’s (his mother) been super. She’s pretty open to trying everything, she’ll do all her exercises and everything that the doctors told her to do, she’s done it, and she looks fantastic now and she’s out the right side and, really recovered really quickly.
“So I was kind of slagging the father that, you know, I see now where I get my bit of strength. That will to fight on the field comes from her, that’s for sure.
“Our house was nearly like an injury bay there at one stage, so trying to mind them and look after them and bring them to appointments and different things like that.
“But sure you’d do anything for your parents, and they did it for me long enough.
“They’re on the right side and all recovered and flying around again. It was great to get them back to the semi-final and final, good moments and good pictures.”
The challenge to reach that joyous outcome was considerable. Conlon needed to brace himself for the challenge of facing Shane Barrett, given the Cork forward’s electric run of form in the build-up to the final.
“The players are so good now, a Shane Barrett type had a massive breakout year this year and was outstanding for Cork, one of the main reasons why they got to an All-Ireland in my opinion.
“The level of detail that had gone in to try and stop him because I remember below in Pairc Ui Chaoimh first day that we played, he got once or twice on runs, and I was like, ‘Jesus I can’t let that happen in the All-Ireland final, the pace he has is blistering.’
“He’s going to be a super Cork hurler going forward for years to come and it was a massive challenge. It was one that I’d probably say I’m not one to get nervous, but yeah I was anxious going into that final.
“It was just all week you were hearing that you were going to be taken to the cleaners and you were too slow and you weren’t going to be fast enough for him. I suppose it was a challenge that you had to take on.
“And thankfully, just on the day things ran for me at times and that happened for the whole team. We were just delighted to come out on the right side because, we’d have had many near misses for the last number of years.”
Success secured a second All-Ireland medal for Conlon, capping his transformation from incisive forward to defensive pillar.
“I’m just happy that I get to wear the Clare jersey. Whatever Brian Lohan wants me to do, I’ll do it for him.
“It was a shock at the time, but the way the game has gone even, a half-back line, you’re nearly setting up scores, scoring scores, like it’s kind of changed a lot maybe to what it was ten years ago.
“It’s a different role, just use of ball. One thing looking forward from a coach’s perspective is, I would always say nearly if you could play in the backs for a while or in the forwards, just to get and see different aspects of the game.
“I was lucky enough to play in the forwards and then understand things that I’d hate to happen to me or be able to read the game, well, this is where I’d move now if if I thought it (the ball) was coming.
“I got a total different perspective since going back in the backs of how to move in the forwards.
The ball is going moving so quick and everyone’s so slick now. If you’re giving away possession or the balls hitting the ground, people are giving out. If you’re striking the ball away without looking, those days of hurling are probably gone.
“There was a running joke even this year, I’d say from Brian Lohan – ‘Don’t let John shoot because he can’t shoot at all. I need to put number 11 up on his back’.
“It’s interesting and a cool thing to kind of observe and understand, brought something a new lease of life to me at 31. Rarely you see a guy going back the field at that age.
“It brought a lot more enjoyment to my hurling down the latter stages and forever grateful for Brian for thinking or the management for having the faith and putting me back there and trusting me because there was a lot of people at the start kind of giving out about it and and saying it was a mad move.
“It turned out to be great thing for both of us.”
*****
John Conlon was speaking after winning the Gaelic Writers’ Association’s Hurling Personality of the Year for 2024. The awards are supported by Dalata Hotel Group.
Well i answered 4 questions and got them all wrong, no need for me answer anymore.
Longford has a 100% record in All Ireland final too – they never lost a final..
I like the question about which team has a 100% record in All Ireland Football finals, I knew it but I’m from Limerick. It was the very 1st one as well.
2 stats that are great have associated with your county in their own right but probably not together.
0/12!!
I know you don’t want to appear controversial, but Michelle Smith still has her Olympic gold medals, knocking Pat and his hammer into second place?
4/12 and one was a guess… I didn’t study history for the LC, that’s my excuse!
Genuinly got 0 out of 12 bad instinct this week.
It’s Dr Pat O’Callaghan!
Oldest rugby player methinks is incorrect. Tony O Reilly played for Ireland in the 50′s/ 60′s/70′s
I have a feeling that there were more guys older than 36 !
Tony O’Reilly made his debut aged 18 in 1955 and his final appearance in 1970 aged 34. Younger than Paul O’Connell is now. Irelands oldest player was John Hayes who (god help him) played on until the age of 36.
7 out of 12 happy with that, some interesting questions there.
2 out of 12
how many counties have never had an all ireland final chance
how many counties have never had an opportunity to play in an all ireland final