HIS NAME POPPED up immediately after Michéal Donoghue decided to vacate his position as manager of the Dublin hurlers.
The Galway man was stepping down after two years in charge, paving the way for a new voice in the dressing room. And that new voice will be coming from one of their own. With the exception of Pat Gilroy’s one-year term in 2018, Dublin have tended to outsource the position of hurling manager.
Anthony Daly (Clare: 2008-2014), Ger Cunningham (Cork: 2014-2018) and Mattie Kenny (Galway: 2018-2022) complete the list of coaches who have directed the show in the capital over the past 16 years.
Daly’s reign was certainly the most successful, delivering a Division 1 title in 2011 as well as Leinster glory in 2013, their first provincial crown in 52 years.
Dublin contested the 2018 Leinster final during the Kenny administration and were also provincial finalists this year with Donoghue, albeit on the receiving end of a 16-point pummelling against Kilkenny.
The 2025 campaign will see Na Fianna’s Niall Ó Ceallacháin take over with the hope of giving Dublin hurling back to itself.
“He was the first name that came into my head,” says Ó Ceallacháin’s Na Fianna clubmate Declan Feeney about the appointment.
“I would have said it to the ex Dublin hurlers over the years that I thought he was in with a great shout. He’s very confident and if he sets his mind to it, it can be achieved.
“It’s huge that it’s somebody from Dublin. It just gives them a different power in the dressing room, that when they’re talking about Dublin, they’re talking about their own county as well.”
And Ó Ceallacháin is not the only Na Fianna representative on the management ticket. He will be joined by his friend and former teammate, Nigel O’Hara.
“Niall and Nigel played adult hurling for Na Fianna together going a long time back. They’ve been friends a long time, they got to a county final together and Nigel would have worked with me with the senior team for a while. They’re a good mix and they’re good buddies.”
Ó Ceallacháin played both football and hurling through the grades for the dual club. But as another Na Fianna member Niall Cooper explains, his “heart was always on the hurling side”.
He played at minor level in 2000 and retired young to get started on his coaching career. In 2011, he brought an U16 team to county championship glory and is currently in charge of the senior team who clinched a first-ever Dublin SHC title last year.
That dominant win over Ballyboden in the decider remedied the back-to-back final defeats they suffered in 2021 and 2022. And it kickstarted an impressive run through the provincial championship.
Ó Ceallacháin’s Na Fianna clocked up wins against Westmeath champions Raharney and Naas before eventually succumbing to Kilkenny’s O’Loughlin Gaels by just one point in the Leinster final. That they did all that in the absence of Dublin star forward Donal Burke through injury underlines the scale of their progress all the more.
From county finalists to Leinster challengers, with a passionate son of the club at the wheel.
“He [Ó Ceallacháin] would be the hardest working person in the room pretty much all the time,” says Cooper, who is a brother for former Dublin football defender Jonny.
“He would have people’s respect for a number of different reasons.
“He played to a very high level himself. He has a huge amount of credibility in the club because he got involved with the hurlers in Na Fianna when they weren’t a force to be reckoned with. That respect has carried through all the way.”
Speaking more specifically about how Ó Ceallacháin operates to extract the best output from his players, Cooper continues: “He is a person who tries to empower the players but would place a real importance on the people who are involved with him in the team.
“Whether it’s selectors or lads involved in coaching a team, he would have a really strong focus on them having the power to do whatever their job is. He tries to quarterback that effectively.
“Everybody would have a really good understanding of their role; Niall would be brilliant at supporting people and making sure they have a strong sense about what their job is.”
As the current manager of a club in Dublin, Ó Ceallacháin already has an understanding of the talent that is out there, particularly in the senior championship. Feeney suspects there is a “much bigger team behind him” scouring and scouting to ensure nobody is overlooked in the intermediate and junior clubs. When the inter-county season eventually gets underway, Feeney knows the Na Fianna man will be aiming to bring some calm and consistency to Dublin.
“We have brilliant days and then we can have terrible days,” Feeney says, outlining the woes of the Dublin hurlers.
Take Dublin’s 2024 championship results: just one narrow defeat to Kilkenny in the Leinster round-robin series only to get buried by the Cats in the provincial final. They were nine points down in the second half of their All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork but made the final stages uncomfortable for the Rebels, to bow out by five points eventually.
In 2023, they emerged from the Leinster championship as All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finalists where Clare overwhelmed them by 18 points.
“If you want to win,” Feeney adds, “you have to be above middle of the road but if you get a base in the middle of the road, then it’ll be easier to step forward.
“Yes, we have players. But it’s finding exceptional players. And it’s whether we can get them through quick enough as opposed to putting them in young before they can grow into being adults. Niall knows what’s around the county.”
Before Ó Ceallacháin can start plotting for Dublin, he must complete his mission with Na Fianna. The defending champions are back in the county quarter-finals, facing last year’s finalists Ballyboden despite losing out to Lucan Sarsfields last weekend after conceding a late goal.
Feeney notes that Ó Ceallacháin has shown a willingness to change Na Fianna’s playing styles during his reign, and expects he will bring a similar bravery to his approach with Dublin.
“He could come with two systems and apply two of them in the one day. If the forwards are on song, and they’re scoring, they look great. If they’re not, then we’ll see if he changes the system.
“I don’t think it’ll be a traditional 15 on 15. I think he’ll come with something different. You can only judge on what he’s done with Na Fianna and they have changed the system each year.”
