A Saturday evening in Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, seated in a packed stand after travelling to South Africa with Trevor Brennan Tours. The deciding fixture in a three-Test series. Your son’s first start for Ireland. A fitting reward after years of striving.
This was not the result of parental pressure, but it was, nevertheless, a privilege. Aidan O’Halloran never saw any of his three children as future Irish internationals. He just wanted them to be involved in sport. Needed them to be involved.
What were they to do when he had a rugby match, his wife Máire had a hockey match and his eldest, Cian and Evanne, needed minding? They’d come along by necessity, hanging out in the kitchen where the catering crew could keep an eye on them.
Tiernan was an ever-willing companion. Any excuse to avoid homework. Return from school and race out the door. The Clifden native played anything and everything: rugby, soccer, Gaelic football, athletics with his mum at the local GAA field. She was a founding member of Tullamore Hockey Club and the first female chairperson of Tullamore Harriers. His father won an All-Ireland with Offaly in 1982. He hails from good sporting stock.
As a nine-year-old, Tiernan chased his dad to Connemara RFC where he was coaching. He boarded buses to away games and mingled freely in the dressing room before and after. Those embers stoked his love for the sport. It has raged ever since.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
And his father was there every step of the way, from a pipsqueak he could lift to head height, to a full-back who could jump it. Culminating in a perfectly weighted Fak de Klerk kick. It climbed from the back of the ruck and started to fall a few feet in from the touchline, just outside the 22.
The box kick hung for an age. Eventually up his son soared. Then he was sent spinning 360 degrees and came crashing down on his head. A competing Willie Le Roux cascaded into him at the height of the jump. The South African saw yellow; Tiernan saw stars.
“They said I landed the top of my shoulder, but it was my head,” he recalls with a grimace.
“Would I change anything? Absolutely not. Do I wish it turned out differently? 100%. Where I was at that stage… I mean I had a good year with Connacht and to finish the season in that way was very disappointing.
“To be honest, it definitely shook me. I took a big hit mentally and confidence-wise from that. Look, I think I got Player of the Season for Connacht the next year and I was still involved internationally but in camp I didn’t feel… I was low in confidence. For four or five months after that going for a high ball, it was always in the back of my head. I didn’t want to commit 110% to a catch. I used to fling myself at the ball. I got pretty high for that catch.”
His father repeats now what he thought back then: “You should not have gone back on.”
“No,” Tiernan admits. “Definitely not. I didn’t know where I was. But you want to play and it just… I remember thinking obviously of Dad in the crowd and Mum back at home, she had no communication. She did not know was I going back on or where I was? I knew she was obviously very worried.”
Richard Huggard / INPHO
Richard Huggard / INPHO / INPHO
Four years later, O’Halloran returned to that stadium as Connacht took on the Southern Kings. The flashbacks confronted him as soon as the bus pulled up outside. They were assigned the same dressing room where he got treatment. During the warm-up he paced the ground, gradually working his way towards the spot where he fell. His ribs and head had thankfully long recovered, but some scars linger.
It is no surprise that his parents were amongst his first thoughts. It has always been so.
“It is the same when you get a significant injury,” he says with a sideways glance.
“I’ve torn things and broken my leg. When I get injured, the hardest phone call is always to Dad to tell him what happened. ‘I tore my hamstring or quad. I’m out for five or six weeks.’
“Because I know he will probably get more upset than me. I know how much they care about me and my career. I just know how disappointed they will be.”
O’Halloran returned from that tour and was able to rely on friends and family. The comforts of Connacht. He sits now alongside his father near the Sportsground and together they are a picture of contentment. This is their club. In January, Tiernan earned his 200th cap; Aidan previously served as president of the province’s rugby branch after being elected in 2013.
O’Halloran’s childhood in Clifden served him well for a career with Connacht. Their makeup springs from the same soil. The outcast. It defines them. Binds them.
“When I went into the set-up, I didn’t make the connection until I learned about how Connacht was looked at. The perception and mentality of it.
“Even now, I know things have gotten better in the Sportsground with facilities and the Clan Terrace, but there is still that hatred of going to the Sportsground. The weather. Growing up in the west of Ireland and playing in Connemara, it was the exact same thing.
“You knew teams didn’t want to go out to Clifden. They did not want to be playing in Monastery Field, driving that far on a Saturday or Sunday. It was not a nice thing to do. As a home team, you embrace that. We embrace that with Connacht as well.
“Our home form over the last year or so hasn’t been as good as we want it to be, especially since Covid. Crowds have an effect on that. But we always take pride in our home performances.
“We know teams don’t like coming down here. We like to put pressure on teams and let them know it will be a dog fight.”
They lacked facilities and population, but they harnessed what they could. As a bank manager, Aidan moved regularly and ended up representing various clubs including Athlone, Tullamore, Portlaoise and Creggs. Eventually the family settled out west where Aidan started to coach.
In 2001, the club were promoted to the All-Ireland League. It came after a tense play-off win over Highfield in Ennis. The road home from Galway to Clifden was littered with bonfires. Black flags adorned the town. Pride was palpable.
“I remember teams coming down to play us years ago, getting to the outskirts of Galway and thinking Connemara was only 10 miles down the road,” laughs Aidan.
“They didn’t realise they had another hour and a half to get there! There was a certain intimidation. Invariably there was a gale blowing down beside the lake there. That sideways rain. It is very similar to what we get here,” he says, nodding towards Connacht’s home ground.
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James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“Especially, you need to remember what Connacht was like when I first came,” says Tiernan.
“There was this loyal fanbase always there no matter the weather or results. Back in the day, we were perceived as whipping boys and results weren’t going our way, but you always had that group supporting us no matter what.
“It has grown massively since with the success we had. It was the same in Connemara. The same heads, the same faces always supporting the team. No matter what, they were there.
“Going from a junior team to an AIL team, going up and back down. The same people were there throughout.
“My first few games with Connacht, we were lucky to have over 1,000 there. Loyal supporters have joined on since. It has grown massively with the season ticket holders. That core group was ever-present. It started in 2002 with the march on Lansdowne Road and built from there.”
From acorn to mighty oak. Not so long ago, a 12-year-old Tiernan got the chance to be a mascot for Connacht for a game at Corinthians. It just so happened that current team manager Tim Allnutt was captain that day: “It was supposed to be Eric (Elwood), but he pulled out before the game. I still tell Tim how gutted I was by that!”
That was then, this is now. Allnutt’s current office is housed in a small shed at the back of the ground. Next door is head coach Andy Friend. When O’Halloran first joined the club, that was the gym. The squad would take it in turns to use the single squat rack or bench.
Tiernan left Clifden to attend secondary school in Garbally. It was a deliberate choice, a college that facilitated his two primary loves: Gaelic football and rugby. He played in the Ted Webb competition with the Galway U16s and then spent two years with the county minors. Meanwhile, Garbally’s boarding was coming to a close, so he made the move to Roscrea. Great for the rugby, tough on the football.
Try as he might, kicking a ball with a few friends was not the same as team training. Skills waned, Leinster schools came calling, and shortly after, Connacht followed. Just before he sat his mocks, Nigel Carolan paid him a visit and presented the offer of an academy spot.
By the time he sat his Leaving Cert, then head coach Michael Bradley was on the phone offering a senior deal instead. The province was in a typical state of transition. An injection of fresh blood could help revitalise the group.
His debut was a dream. The 18-year-old played against Olympus Madrid in the Challenge Cup and scored a try. For his parents initially, there was relief. They’d become accustomed to some uncomfortable parent-teacher meetings: ‘Great at sport. Does not apply himself fully in the classroom…’
That relief quickly became more concern. The duality of sideline parenting. His body quickly broke down. It got to the stage where he had to take six months off.
“Every time he went into a ruck, I was wondering would he come out the other side of it,” recalls Aidan.
“Máire was even worse, a basket case. She had to leave and start walking around outside. Just couldn’t take it. It was a worry in the early days. Now I am more concerned about how he performs.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Meanwhile, the world started to change all around him, the ground shifting beneath his very feet. Back then the Clan Terrace was five steps and brave souls holding umbrellas. Now it can host a tight 2,000 season-ticket holders. The high-performance gym is fully fitted. The province is planning a €30 million redevelopment of the stadium.
Even still, all that external change seems insignificant in comparison to what was underway internally. Tiernan felt the team transform.
“An evolution happened in sports generally. We got better at how to recover, getting stronger and faster. It is not a case of saying we weren’t a good team. But there were aspects we could do better.
“The biggest thing was probably just how we adapted a different culture. Going back to what I said about mindset, the self-belief that comes with something like the Clan Terrace, new changing rooms, a proper high-performance training environment. Staff changing, high profile players from abroad, all that snowballed. Some of the experienced guys from abroad might change one or two small things and it improved us gradually, year on year.
“It led up to 2016 when we won the Pro12, but it wasn’t one year where we changed everything. Trust me, that was a bank of solid work going way back.
“Even me, at first you are in your shell. You don’t want to be but that is the reality of professional sport. You come in and don’t want to speak up or speak your mind. If you see something wrong, you won’t pull someone up on it.
“Now we want a culture of that. It does not matter what your status is. If you are a first-year academy player or there for years, you can have your say.
“For me then as someone here a long time, I need to accept criticism from that person or whatever it is they think needs to be said. I think we’ve a good ethos around that. We have a leadership group, but we want the whole squad to be leaders.”
Music to his father’s ears. Rewind to 1976: Carmelite College have just won their maiden Hogan Cup; Aidan O’Halloran scored 0-6 as they overcame competition giants St Jarlath’s. The same year, he made his senior debut with Westmeath.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
After enduring frustration and exasperation, in 1979 he accepted an invitation to transfer to Offaly from Eugene McGee. Crossing the great divide.
“It is very hard to speak out and have any influence as someone in your mid-20s. Moreso now I think young people speak up. There is a different culture. They are in semi-professional set-ups.
“When I was growing up you did not speak up. You would not pull aside a senior player and say, ‘Listen, you went out last night. We’ve championship today. That is not good enough.’
“I wouldn’t have felt, even though I was a decent player, I didn’t have the right to pull a senior player on something like that. I think it is great to hear Tiernan talk about that kind of culture now.
“It was like chalk and cheese. The commitment, the numbers at training, never wishy-washy excuses for not training. They were there and there on time. Offaly was a culture shock in one sense. I’d played with successful teams in school, but it was a big change.”
In 1981, Aidan started and faced off against Páidí Ó Sé as Kerry won their fourth All-Ireland final in a row. On that famous day a year later, he was a substitute having broken his nose in the lead-up to the final.
“It was great times; we had a fair bit of success. We also won three Leinster titles in a row, ’80, ’81, ’82. I got a few All-Star nominations and a trip to New York. Even though I got a bit of stick for making that decision, I am glad I did it. It was tough at the time, but I don’t look back with any regret.
“Moate is right on the border. It was vitriolic at times. Definitely tough to take as a youngster.”
Forty years on and the Faithful are still waiting for a return to the summit. If their footballers lose on Sunday, it means their summer is more likely to end in the Tailteann Cup than it is in the Sam Maguire.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Was one All-Ireland the maximum for that team?
“Why didn’t we… There is no doubt about it, that Offaly team was good enough to win another All-Ireland. At least another.
“I don’t know. We were hot favourites again in the Leinster final but we were well beaten by Dublin. There might have been an element of over-confidence. I don’t think it was a physical thing, we were as well prepared and fit. Same coaching and physically as ready. Maybe a bit of weakness that we didn’t kick on, it was very disappointing.
“It was such a great team. Brendan Lowry and Matt Connor, they were incredible. Looking back at ’82 I think of Lowry and how good he was. Matt was the best of all time for me, I never saw anyone like that. Even playing with him, it was such an honour. A class apart.”
They share that forceful push for a higher standard. At the same time, it was once a struggle to maintain that constant state of mind. Like everyone out west, Tiernan O’Halloran is continually grappling with a formidable challenge. Rise up while simultaneously keeping your feet on the ground.
He is frank about where he went wrong in his approach previously, and who helped him resolve it.
“It was basically Pat’s (Lam) first year here. I think I’d 50 caps by 21 and I got to a stage where I was over-confident. I thought I was a better player than I was. I took a step back. Didn’t train as hard as I used to. Relying on potential instead of hard work.
“I think Pat saw that when he came in. There were times in training when my attitude was wrong. He was trying to help. I’ve so much respect for Pat for doing that. It was a difficult time and I’d a few injuries, I ended up playing a lot of club rugby and AIL trying to get in form.
“Pat gave me small things to work on. On the field and off it really. I changed my mentality towards professional rugby. I did more extras. I changed my approach to preparation, gym sessions. They weren’t easy chats I had with him. We had harsh words both ways. Thankfully he gave me more opportunities and he backed me for it. I ended up having that Pro12 year and capped for Ireland.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
His father views this more as natural maturing. Take for example, his response to criticism. When Tiernan was younger he paid undue consideration to what was said about him. Tweeted at him. Sometimes people would even show it to him, Aidan recalls with irritation. He noticed and felt it all too. There is no alternative when it is your own flesh and blood.
Now the first piece of advice Tiernan offers to academy prospects is to know your circle and only listen to them. Coaches, friends, family. They know your role and all the facts. A lesson from a lifetime spent at the Sportsground.
Thirteen years and counting. Contract negotiations are underway to extend it.
“I still feel like I can play rugby,” Tiernan stresses. “My goals for the next while are to keep applying myself. It is ongoing. It will hopefully all be sorted quickly.”
“At the same time,” Aidan adds. “This is a professional game. There is no sentiment involved.”
His son nods vehemently.
“Absolutely. You have to be aware because you are from Connacht or played well a few years ago, you won’t just get a contract. you need to perform and apply yourself in training. Be a leader. That is all part of it as well.”
There have been opportunities to leave in the past, most notably in 2017 when Munster needed a full-back. At the time O’Halloran said it was the toughest decision he had to make in his career.
“That season was tough. Kieran Keane’s first year, Pat had left. There was a lot of changes in the club. A lot of uncertainty and a lot of players out of contract.
“There was chat everywhere with different lads. Just an uncertain year. I was in an ambitious place, in and around the Ireland squad but Connacht were struggling. Loyalty is a part of it, but there was once or twice I questioned was Connacht right for me? Any aspirational player probably has that.
“As the months progressed, I chatted to people around the organisation and family and friends, I became aware for me it was best to stay on. It is never as simple as because you are from here, you will stay.”
What was his father’s counsel?
“I think in retrospect it was the right decision for Tiernan’s career. It is easy to say in hindsight. The style wouldn’t have suited you?”
“That is always part of it,” Tiernan agrees. “Before you change clubs, you look at the environment. I had chats with Munster friends about how the environment was there. At the same time, their coach was changing. Rassie to Johann.
“It is hard to judge what that will all be. It is about what is best for you. This is my home province. I am proud to play here. That does mean something too.”
On Saturday, Connacht welcome Leinster to the Sportsground. That afternoon, the Offaly hurlers play Antrim in a relegation play-off. On Sunday, their footballers play Cork in what is also serving as a relegation decider.
A nerve-wracking weekend awaits for Aidan O’Halloran.
“I really hope they can stay up. There seems to be really good work happening in Offaly. Hurling and football. Michael Duignan as chairperson has done great work. The Shane Lowry influence is a factor as well. It is not just about the money, his enthusiasm for his county is brilliant. I think the future is bright. They might not win an All-Ireland for a while but on they are the right track.”
Connacht and Offaly to the core. Having played with their neighbours, was that always the case or something that came later?
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Power of the outcast mentality: 'We always take pride in our home performances'
DOES IT GET any sweeter?
A Saturday evening in Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, seated in a packed stand after travelling to South Africa with Trevor Brennan Tours. The deciding fixture in a three-Test series. Your son’s first start for Ireland. A fitting reward after years of striving.
This was not the result of parental pressure, but it was, nevertheless, a privilege. Aidan O’Halloran never saw any of his three children as future Irish internationals. He just wanted them to be involved in sport. Needed them to be involved.
What were they to do when he had a rugby match, his wife Máire had a hockey match and his eldest, Cian and Evanne, needed minding? They’d come along by necessity, hanging out in the kitchen where the catering crew could keep an eye on them.
Tiernan was an ever-willing companion. Any excuse to avoid homework. Return from school and race out the door. The Clifden native played anything and everything: rugby, soccer, Gaelic football, athletics with his mum at the local GAA field. She was a founding member of Tullamore Hockey Club and the first female chairperson of Tullamore Harriers. His father won an All-Ireland with Offaly in 1982. He hails from good sporting stock.
As a nine-year-old, Tiernan chased his dad to Connemara RFC where he was coaching. He boarded buses to away games and mingled freely in the dressing room before and after. Those embers stoked his love for the sport. It has raged ever since.
And his father was there every step of the way, from a pipsqueak he could lift to head height, to a full-back who could jump it. Culminating in a perfectly weighted Fak de Klerk kick. It climbed from the back of the ruck and started to fall a few feet in from the touchline, just outside the 22.
The box kick hung for an age. Eventually up his son soared. Then he was sent spinning 360 degrees and came crashing down on his head. A competing Willie Le Roux cascaded into him at the height of the jump. The South African saw yellow; Tiernan saw stars.
“They said I landed the top of my shoulder, but it was my head,” he recalls with a grimace.
“Would I change anything? Absolutely not. Do I wish it turned out differently? 100%. Where I was at that stage… I mean I had a good year with Connacht and to finish the season in that way was very disappointing.
“To be honest, it definitely shook me. I took a big hit mentally and confidence-wise from that. Look, I think I got Player of the Season for Connacht the next year and I was still involved internationally but in camp I didn’t feel… I was low in confidence. For four or five months after that going for a high ball, it was always in the back of my head. I didn’t want to commit 110% to a catch. I used to fling myself at the ball. I got pretty high for that catch.”
His father repeats now what he thought back then: “You should not have gone back on.”
“No,” Tiernan admits. “Definitely not. I didn’t know where I was. But you want to play and it just… I remember thinking obviously of Dad in the crowd and Mum back at home, she had no communication. She did not know was I going back on or where I was? I knew she was obviously very worried.”
Four years later, O’Halloran returned to that stadium as Connacht took on the Southern Kings. The flashbacks confronted him as soon as the bus pulled up outside. They were assigned the same dressing room where he got treatment. During the warm-up he paced the ground, gradually working his way towards the spot where he fell. His ribs and head had thankfully long recovered, but some scars linger.
It is no surprise that his parents were amongst his first thoughts. It has always been so.
“It is the same when you get a significant injury,” he says with a sideways glance.
“I’ve torn things and broken my leg. When I get injured, the hardest phone call is always to Dad to tell him what happened. ‘I tore my hamstring or quad. I’m out for five or six weeks.’
“Because I know he will probably get more upset than me. I know how much they care about me and my career. I just know how disappointed they will be.”
O’Halloran returned from that tour and was able to rely on friends and family. The comforts of Connacht. He sits now alongside his father near the Sportsground and together they are a picture of contentment. This is their club. In January, Tiernan earned his 200th cap; Aidan previously served as president of the province’s rugby branch after being elected in 2013.
O’Halloran’s childhood in Clifden served him well for a career with Connacht. Their makeup springs from the same soil. The outcast. It defines them. Binds them.
“When I went into the set-up, I didn’t make the connection until I learned about how Connacht was looked at. The perception and mentality of it.
“Even now, I know things have gotten better in the Sportsground with facilities and the Clan Terrace, but there is still that hatred of going to the Sportsground. The weather. Growing up in the west of Ireland and playing in Connemara, it was the exact same thing.
“You knew teams didn’t want to go out to Clifden. They did not want to be playing in Monastery Field, driving that far on a Saturday or Sunday. It was not a nice thing to do. As a home team, you embrace that. We embrace that with Connacht as well.
“Our home form over the last year or so hasn’t been as good as we want it to be, especially since Covid. Crowds have an effect on that. But we always take pride in our home performances.
“We know teams don’t like coming down here. We like to put pressure on teams and let them know it will be a dog fight.”
They lacked facilities and population, but they harnessed what they could. As a bank manager, Aidan moved regularly and ended up representing various clubs including Athlone, Tullamore, Portlaoise and Creggs. Eventually the family settled out west where Aidan started to coach.
In 2001, the club were promoted to the All-Ireland League. It came after a tense play-off win over Highfield in Ennis. The road home from Galway to Clifden was littered with bonfires. Black flags adorned the town. Pride was palpable.
“I remember teams coming down to play us years ago, getting to the outskirts of Galway and thinking Connemara was only 10 miles down the road,” laughs Aidan.
“They didn’t realise they had another hour and a half to get there! There was a certain intimidation. Invariably there was a gale blowing down beside the lake there. That sideways rain. It is very similar to what we get here,” he says, nodding towards Connacht’s home ground.
“Especially, you need to remember what Connacht was like when I first came,” says Tiernan.
“There was this loyal fanbase always there no matter the weather or results. Back in the day, we were perceived as whipping boys and results weren’t going our way, but you always had that group supporting us no matter what.
“It has grown massively since with the success we had. It was the same in Connemara. The same heads, the same faces always supporting the team. No matter what, they were there.
“Going from a junior team to an AIL team, going up and back down. The same people were there throughout.
“My first few games with Connacht, we were lucky to have over 1,000 there. Loyal supporters have joined on since. It has grown massively with the season ticket holders. That core group was ever-present. It started in 2002 with the march on Lansdowne Road and built from there.”
From acorn to mighty oak. Not so long ago, a 12-year-old Tiernan got the chance to be a mascot for Connacht for a game at Corinthians. It just so happened that current team manager Tim Allnutt was captain that day: “It was supposed to be Eric (Elwood), but he pulled out before the game. I still tell Tim how gutted I was by that!”
That was then, this is now. Allnutt’s current office is housed in a small shed at the back of the ground. Next door is head coach Andy Friend. When O’Halloran first joined the club, that was the gym. The squad would take it in turns to use the single squat rack or bench.
Tiernan left Clifden to attend secondary school in Garbally. It was a deliberate choice, a college that facilitated his two primary loves: Gaelic football and rugby. He played in the Ted Webb competition with the Galway U16s and then spent two years with the county minors. Meanwhile, Garbally’s boarding was coming to a close, so he made the move to Roscrea. Great for the rugby, tough on the football.
Try as he might, kicking a ball with a few friends was not the same as team training. Skills waned, Leinster schools came calling, and shortly after, Connacht followed. Just before he sat his mocks, Nigel Carolan paid him a visit and presented the offer of an academy spot.
By the time he sat his Leaving Cert, then head coach Michael Bradley was on the phone offering a senior deal instead. The province was in a typical state of transition. An injection of fresh blood could help revitalise the group.
His debut was a dream. The 18-year-old played against Olympus Madrid in the Challenge Cup and scored a try. For his parents initially, there was relief. They’d become accustomed to some uncomfortable parent-teacher meetings: ‘Great at sport. Does not apply himself fully in the classroom…’
That relief quickly became more concern. The duality of sideline parenting. His body quickly broke down. It got to the stage where he had to take six months off.
“Every time he went into a ruck, I was wondering would he come out the other side of it,” recalls Aidan.
“Máire was even worse, a basket case. She had to leave and start walking around outside. Just couldn’t take it. It was a worry in the early days. Now I am more concerned about how he performs.”
Meanwhile, the world started to change all around him, the ground shifting beneath his very feet. Back then the Clan Terrace was five steps and brave souls holding umbrellas. Now it can host a tight 2,000 season-ticket holders. The high-performance gym is fully fitted. The province is planning a €30 million redevelopment of the stadium.
Even still, all that external change seems insignificant in comparison to what was underway internally. Tiernan felt the team transform.
“An evolution happened in sports generally. We got better at how to recover, getting stronger and faster. It is not a case of saying we weren’t a good team. But there were aspects we could do better.
“The biggest thing was probably just how we adapted a different culture. Going back to what I said about mindset, the self-belief that comes with something like the Clan Terrace, new changing rooms, a proper high-performance training environment. Staff changing, high profile players from abroad, all that snowballed. Some of the experienced guys from abroad might change one or two small things and it improved us gradually, year on year.
“It led up to 2016 when we won the Pro12, but it wasn’t one year where we changed everything. Trust me, that was a bank of solid work going way back.
“Even me, at first you are in your shell. You don’t want to be but that is the reality of professional sport. You come in and don’t want to speak up or speak your mind. If you see something wrong, you won’t pull someone up on it.
“Now we want a culture of that. It does not matter what your status is. If you are a first-year academy player or there for years, you can have your say.
“For me then as someone here a long time, I need to accept criticism from that person or whatever it is they think needs to be said. I think we’ve a good ethos around that. We have a leadership group, but we want the whole squad to be leaders.”
Music to his father’s ears. Rewind to 1976: Carmelite College have just won their maiden Hogan Cup; Aidan O’Halloran scored 0-6 as they overcame competition giants St Jarlath’s. The same year, he made his senior debut with Westmeath.
After enduring frustration and exasperation, in 1979 he accepted an invitation to transfer to Offaly from Eugene McGee. Crossing the great divide.
“It is very hard to speak out and have any influence as someone in your mid-20s. Moreso now I think young people speak up. There is a different culture. They are in semi-professional set-ups.
“When I was growing up you did not speak up. You would not pull aside a senior player and say, ‘Listen, you went out last night. We’ve championship today. That is not good enough.’
“I wouldn’t have felt, even though I was a decent player, I didn’t have the right to pull a senior player on something like that. I think it is great to hear Tiernan talk about that kind of culture now.
“It was like chalk and cheese. The commitment, the numbers at training, never wishy-washy excuses for not training. They were there and there on time. Offaly was a culture shock in one sense. I’d played with successful teams in school, but it was a big change.”
In 1981, Aidan started and faced off against Páidí Ó Sé as Kerry won their fourth All-Ireland final in a row. On that famous day a year later, he was a substitute having broken his nose in the lead-up to the final.
“It was great times; we had a fair bit of success. We also won three Leinster titles in a row, ’80, ’81, ’82. I got a few All-Star nominations and a trip to New York. Even though I got a bit of stick for making that decision, I am glad I did it. It was tough at the time, but I don’t look back with any regret.
“Moate is right on the border. It was vitriolic at times. Definitely tough to take as a youngster.”
Forty years on and the Faithful are still waiting for a return to the summit. If their footballers lose on Sunday, it means their summer is more likely to end in the Tailteann Cup than it is in the Sam Maguire.
Was one All-Ireland the maximum for that team?
“Why didn’t we… There is no doubt about it, that Offaly team was good enough to win another All-Ireland. At least another.
“I don’t know. We were hot favourites again in the Leinster final but we were well beaten by Dublin. There might have been an element of over-confidence. I don’t think it was a physical thing, we were as well prepared and fit. Same coaching and physically as ready. Maybe a bit of weakness that we didn’t kick on, it was very disappointing.
“It was such a great team. Brendan Lowry and Matt Connor, they were incredible. Looking back at ’82 I think of Lowry and how good he was. Matt was the best of all time for me, I never saw anyone like that. Even playing with him, it was such an honour. A class apart.”
They share that forceful push for a higher standard. At the same time, it was once a struggle to maintain that constant state of mind. Like everyone out west, Tiernan O’Halloran is continually grappling with a formidable challenge. Rise up while simultaneously keeping your feet on the ground.
He is frank about where he went wrong in his approach previously, and who helped him resolve it.
“It was basically Pat’s (Lam) first year here. I think I’d 50 caps by 21 and I got to a stage where I was over-confident. I thought I was a better player than I was. I took a step back. Didn’t train as hard as I used to. Relying on potential instead of hard work.
“I think Pat saw that when he came in. There were times in training when my attitude was wrong. He was trying to help. I’ve so much respect for Pat for doing that. It was a difficult time and I’d a few injuries, I ended up playing a lot of club rugby and AIL trying to get in form.
“Pat gave me small things to work on. On the field and off it really. I changed my mentality towards professional rugby. I did more extras. I changed my approach to preparation, gym sessions. They weren’t easy chats I had with him. We had harsh words both ways. Thankfully he gave me more opportunities and he backed me for it. I ended up having that Pro12 year and capped for Ireland.”
His father views this more as natural maturing. Take for example, his response to criticism. When Tiernan was younger he paid undue consideration to what was said about him. Tweeted at him. Sometimes people would even show it to him, Aidan recalls with irritation. He noticed and felt it all too. There is no alternative when it is your own flesh and blood.
Now the first piece of advice Tiernan offers to academy prospects is to know your circle and only listen to them. Coaches, friends, family. They know your role and all the facts. A lesson from a lifetime spent at the Sportsground.
Thirteen years and counting. Contract negotiations are underway to extend it.
“I still feel like I can play rugby,” Tiernan stresses. “My goals for the next while are to keep applying myself. It is ongoing. It will hopefully all be sorted quickly.”
“At the same time,” Aidan adds. “This is a professional game. There is no sentiment involved.”
His son nods vehemently.
“Absolutely. You have to be aware because you are from Connacht or played well a few years ago, you won’t just get a contract. you need to perform and apply yourself in training. Be a leader. That is all part of it as well.”
There have been opportunities to leave in the past, most notably in 2017 when Munster needed a full-back. At the time O’Halloran said it was the toughest decision he had to make in his career.
“That season was tough. Kieran Keane’s first year, Pat had left. There was a lot of changes in the club. A lot of uncertainty and a lot of players out of contract.
“There was chat everywhere with different lads. Just an uncertain year. I was in an ambitious place, in and around the Ireland squad but Connacht were struggling. Loyalty is a part of it, but there was once or twice I questioned was Connacht right for me? Any aspirational player probably has that.
“As the months progressed, I chatted to people around the organisation and family and friends, I became aware for me it was best to stay on. It is never as simple as because you are from here, you will stay.”
What was his father’s counsel?
“I think in retrospect it was the right decision for Tiernan’s career. It is easy to say in hindsight. The style wouldn’t have suited you?”
“That is always part of it,” Tiernan agrees. “Before you change clubs, you look at the environment. I had chats with Munster friends about how the environment was there. At the same time, their coach was changing. Rassie to Johann.
“It is hard to judge what that will all be. It is about what is best for you. This is my home province. I am proud to play here. That does mean something too.”
On Saturday, Connacht welcome Leinster to the Sportsground. That afternoon, the Offaly hurlers play Antrim in a relegation play-off. On Sunday, their footballers play Cork in what is also serving as a relegation decider.
A nerve-wracking weekend awaits for Aidan O’Halloran.
“I really hope they can stay up. There seems to be really good work happening in Offaly. Hurling and football. Michael Duignan as chairperson has done great work. The Shane Lowry influence is a factor as well. It is not just about the money, his enthusiasm for his county is brilliant. I think the future is bright. They might not win an All-Ireland for a while but on they are the right track.”
Connacht and Offaly to the core. Having played with their neighbours, was that always the case or something that came later?
“Always,” comes the immediate response.
“As the fella says, I know where I am from.”
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