IN PORTARLINGTON, WHERE you live in relation to the River Barrow determines which county you come from.
On one side of the bridge are the Laois folk, while the other side of the water belongs to Offaly. The catchment areas for the GAA clubs are determined by that interesting geographical split. Chief among them are Gracefield of Offaly and the reigning three-in-row Laois champions Portarlington.
And there are the other clubs in the surrounding areas, including O’Dempsey’s who contested last year’s Laois SFC final with Portarlington. Bracknagh GAA are around that neck of the woods too, as are Raheen. They’re all unique stitches in the fabric across the Offaly/Laois line.
Martin Murphy is the current Offaly manager, stepping in to the role following the sudden death of Liam Kearns. A native of Gracefield, he was in charge of that Portarlington team who won the trio of county titles.
Feeling confused yet? Well it’s about to get more challenging as Offaly and Laois prepare to square off in the Tailteann Cup this weekend. Murphy, who has grown up in this environment, can help with the tricky navigation.
“It’s always been traditionally a great bit of banter,” he explains to The 42 about the buzz that takes over Portarlington when these two neighbouring counties collide on the pitch.
“It’s good, healthy slagging around Portarlington, with Gracefield one side and Portarlington. And then you have Bracknagh out the road. Raheen is just up the road from Gracefield, so over the years, there has been a healthy rivalry between both sides of the bridge.
“The River Barrow splits the town and three quarters of the town is on the Laois side, and the rest on the Offaly side. Gracefield is drawn from the Barrow bridge, the confines of the town area and the surrounding areas around of Garryhynch, Cloneyhurke and Cushina. It’s a small enough catchment area.”
”The fact that I live close to the town and people know me from my football involvement in Laois, I would be getting a bit of slagging and banter. It’s brilliant and it’s going back to the ’50s and ’60s when Portarlington and Gracefield would play each other three or four times a year when it was hard to travel.
“The boys from our end would go to the Laois pubs and they’d have a bit of banter and slagging, especially when Offaly would win. There’s nothing untoward, and long may it continue.”
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The Portarlington team after the 2022 Leinster semi-final. Evan Treacy / INPHO
Evan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Murphy is a long time on the coaching treadmill. In the 1990s, he was in charge of Timahoe in Laois. He came back to Offaly after that to guide Daingean to an intermediate crown, before crossing over to Laois and where he helped Stradbally capture the 2005 senior championship. He had stints with O’Dempsey’s in Laois, Carlow side Tinryland, and his home club Gracefield back in the Faithful County.
Portarlington called on him to do a service in 2019, which ultimately resulted in that superb Laois three-in-a-row. They also reached a Leinster semi-final twice in that period, losing out to Dublin giants Kilmacud Crokes on both of those occasions.
“We had a good run in Leinster in 2021 and got to a Leinster semi-final against Kilmacud,” Murphy recalls. “We ran out of legs against them in Croke Park, and they got the better of us. But playing in Croke Park twice with that team has been a great achievement.
“Winning three-in-a-row was the icing on the cake.”
Murphy lives just one mile from that Barrow bridge, meaning he came quite close to being born into Laois territory. People often mistake him as a Laois man too. But it’s more about his regular movement between clubs around the midlands counties that seems to be the root of that confusion.
“Some people do and in fairness to them, I’m not that far away. My mother is a Laois woman so she flew the Portarlington flag when I was involved with them and always puts out the blue and white flag for Laois. But she says this weekend she’ll put up the Offaly flag. I have her converted!”
Liam Kearns was the reason why Murphy linked up with the Offaly footballers for the 2023 season. Originally, he came on board as a selector/coach before Kearns’ sudden passing in March. Under Murphy, the team has honoured the memory of their Kerry-born manager with a stunning win over Meath in Leinster to send them through to their first provincial semi-final since 2007.
Liam Kearns. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Their final four clash with Louth was a thrilling encounter which went to extra-time before Mickey Harte’s side eventually emerged as winners. That result then diverted Offaly from the Sam Maguire competition into the Tailteann Cup.
After making it to the semi-final of that second-tier championship last year, Murphy says that his side wants to match that feat and perhaps even surpass it in 2023.
“I think every one of them to a man are delighted to be playing in an All-Ireland competition. They got a nice taste and experience from it last year. It was one of the goals set by Liam early on in the year, to do well in the Tailteann Cup and maybe go one step further than they did last year.
“There have been incremental improvements in the way Offaly are playing. We just want to keep building on that and the Tailteann Cup is ideal for that.
“It could have been detrimental for us to be in a [Sam Maguire] group as strong as Mayo, Kerry and Cork, and get a few wallopings.”
This has already been an exciting week in Offaly following the success of the U20 hurlers in the Leinster final. Cormac Egan, who won an U20 All-Ireland with Offaly in 2021, lined out for his county in that hurling triumph over Wexford. Murphy explains that the talented Tullamore dual star was invited in to the Offaly senior squad this year, but the U20s was his preference.
“He told us upfront that he had opted to stay with the U20s and (it) being his own age group, we had no objection to that. Congratulations to him and the lads on a super win; it raises the spirits throughout the county, be it the football side or hurling side.”
And now it’s over to the Offaly senior footballers to keep the good results coming. They opened their 2023 Tailteann Cup with a win over London, while Laois were defeated by Cavan last weekend. The sides will meet in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise on Saturday, and those from the border area of Portarlington will find somewhere to break bread after, regardless of the result.
“Depending on the result, it’ll either be to the Hawthorn on their own, or down celebrating and rubbing salt into the wounds down at the Anvil Inn, O’Dea’s or Burbage’s.
“We set a target and goal to do well in it this year and refocused the minds again. Hopefully we can do well in it. The lads got to the semi-final last year and want to get back to Croke Park again.”
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'Boys from our end would go to Laois pubs and have a bit of banter when Offaly win'
IN PORTARLINGTON, WHERE you live in relation to the River Barrow determines which county you come from.
On one side of the bridge are the Laois folk, while the other side of the water belongs to Offaly. The catchment areas for the GAA clubs are determined by that interesting geographical split. Chief among them are Gracefield of Offaly and the reigning three-in-row Laois champions Portarlington.
And there are the other clubs in the surrounding areas, including O’Dempsey’s who contested last year’s Laois SFC final with Portarlington. Bracknagh GAA are around that neck of the woods too, as are Raheen. They’re all unique stitches in the fabric across the Offaly/Laois line.
Martin Murphy is the current Offaly manager, stepping in to the role following the sudden death of Liam Kearns. A native of Gracefield, he was in charge of that Portarlington team who won the trio of county titles.
Feeling confused yet? Well it’s about to get more challenging as Offaly and Laois prepare to square off in the Tailteann Cup this weekend. Murphy, who has grown up in this environment, can help with the tricky navigation.
“It’s always been traditionally a great bit of banter,” he explains to The 42 about the buzz that takes over Portarlington when these two neighbouring counties collide on the pitch.
“It’s good, healthy slagging around Portarlington, with Gracefield one side and Portarlington. And then you have Bracknagh out the road. Raheen is just up the road from Gracefield, so over the years, there has been a healthy rivalry between both sides of the bridge.
“The River Barrow splits the town and three quarters of the town is on the Laois side, and the rest on the Offaly side. Gracefield is drawn from the Barrow bridge, the confines of the town area and the surrounding areas around of Garryhynch, Cloneyhurke and Cushina. It’s a small enough catchment area.”
”The fact that I live close to the town and people know me from my football involvement in Laois, I would be getting a bit of slagging and banter. It’s brilliant and it’s going back to the ’50s and ’60s when Portarlington and Gracefield would play each other three or four times a year when it was hard to travel.
“The boys from our end would go to the Laois pubs and they’d have a bit of banter and slagging, especially when Offaly would win. There’s nothing untoward, and long may it continue.”
Murphy is a long time on the coaching treadmill. In the 1990s, he was in charge of Timahoe in Laois. He came back to Offaly after that to guide Daingean to an intermediate crown, before crossing over to Laois and where he helped Stradbally capture the 2005 senior championship. He had stints with O’Dempsey’s in Laois, Carlow side Tinryland, and his home club Gracefield back in the Faithful County.
Portarlington called on him to do a service in 2019, which ultimately resulted in that superb Laois three-in-a-row. They also reached a Leinster semi-final twice in that period, losing out to Dublin giants Kilmacud Crokes on both of those occasions.
“We had a good run in Leinster in 2021 and got to a Leinster semi-final against Kilmacud,” Murphy recalls. “We ran out of legs against them in Croke Park, and they got the better of us. But playing in Croke Park twice with that team has been a great achievement.
“Winning three-in-a-row was the icing on the cake.”
Murphy lives just one mile from that Barrow bridge, meaning he came quite close to being born into Laois territory. People often mistake him as a Laois man too. But it’s more about his regular movement between clubs around the midlands counties that seems to be the root of that confusion.
“Some people do and in fairness to them, I’m not that far away. My mother is a Laois woman so she flew the Portarlington flag when I was involved with them and always puts out the blue and white flag for Laois. But she says this weekend she’ll put up the Offaly flag. I have her converted!”
Liam Kearns was the reason why Murphy linked up with the Offaly footballers for the 2023 season. Originally, he came on board as a selector/coach before Kearns’ sudden passing in March. Under Murphy, the team has honoured the memory of their Kerry-born manager with a stunning win over Meath in Leinster to send them through to their first provincial semi-final since 2007.
Their final four clash with Louth was a thrilling encounter which went to extra-time before Mickey Harte’s side eventually emerged as winners. That result then diverted Offaly from the Sam Maguire competition into the Tailteann Cup.
After making it to the semi-final of that second-tier championship last year, Murphy says that his side wants to match that feat and perhaps even surpass it in 2023.
“I think every one of them to a man are delighted to be playing in an All-Ireland competition. They got a nice taste and experience from it last year. It was one of the goals set by Liam early on in the year, to do well in the Tailteann Cup and maybe go one step further than they did last year.
“There have been incremental improvements in the way Offaly are playing. We just want to keep building on that and the Tailteann Cup is ideal for that.
“It could have been detrimental for us to be in a [Sam Maguire] group as strong as Mayo, Kerry and Cork, and get a few wallopings.”
This has already been an exciting week in Offaly following the success of the U20 hurlers in the Leinster final. Cormac Egan, who won an U20 All-Ireland with Offaly in 2021, lined out for his county in that hurling triumph over Wexford. Murphy explains that the talented Tullamore dual star was invited in to the Offaly senior squad this year, but the U20s was his preference.
“He told us upfront that he had opted to stay with the U20s and (it) being his own age group, we had no objection to that. Congratulations to him and the lads on a super win; it raises the spirits throughout the county, be it the football side or hurling side.”
And now it’s over to the Offaly senior footballers to keep the good results coming. They opened their 2023 Tailteann Cup with a win over London, while Laois were defeated by Cavan last weekend. The sides will meet in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise on Saturday, and those from the border area of Portarlington will find somewhere to break bread after, regardless of the result.
“Depending on the result, it’ll either be to the Hawthorn on their own, or down celebrating and rubbing salt into the wounds down at the Anvil Inn, O’Dea’s or Burbage’s.
“We set a target and goal to do well in it this year and refocused the minds again. Hopefully we can do well in it. The lads got to the semi-final last year and want to get back to Croke Park again.”
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Laois GAA Leinster SFC Local Ties Martin Murphy Offaly GAA Portarlington