O’DONNELL’S SIGHTS ARE ON BIG PRIZE
Reared in Africa, Dublin’s young full-back was slow to take to the game but that hasn’t tempered his ambitions
EOGHAN O’DONNELL has the sort of hurling background that, if Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh were behind the mic this afternoon at O’Connor Park in Tullamore, might be tempted to put a fresh spin on his famous line about Seán Óg Ó hAilpín’s far flung roots. ‘Born in Botswana, and with an early childhood spent in Zimbabwe…’
Neither a hurling stronghold, safe to say.
In every respect, Whitehall Colmcille’s accomplished defender has come a long way from the young child who relocated to Dublin’s northside and whose first reaction to hurling was one of bewilderment. ‘It just seemed completely mad to me,’ he says smiling.
His journey has taken him from there to making a strong case for being the best number three in the country right now, deserving inclusion on any team of the spring, which is saying something as Dubdidn’t lin slipped through the Allianz League Division 1A relegation trapdoor. In the first round against Tipperary, All-Star full-forward Séamus Callanan didn’t shake him down for even a single point from play.
‘I was actually born in Botswana and we moved straight up to Zimbabwe and I lived there for about six years,’ he explains. ‘My parents were both teachers who worked with a charity called APSO [Agency for Personal Service Overseas]. So they moved over there. They were there for about 10 years. Working in the school. And me and my two other brothers were born there. And we came back to Ireland in late 2000.’
If Cork’s iconic hurling captain hAilpín had Fermanagh and Fiji as an unlikely background, O’Donnell has more traditional country roots, his father hailing from Roscommon where he played a bit of football with the St Faithleachs club and his mother hailing from Wexford.
‘I took up hurling late enough I suppose. I was six, maybe nearly seven. A leaflet came in through the door of our home in Whitehall and my dad was new to the area, he know any of the clubs around and brought us up to the local park. I remember I didn’t really take to it at the start. I can remember standing on the sideline beside my dad, not really interested or involved. The weather was always cold.
‘I remember I had a good primary teacher, his name was Cathal Ruane, he used to get us out pucking on the wall every lunch. So he was a huge influence on my sporting career. I think that’s when the love took off for it. Because you tip up to your club two or three times a week but he had you out every day hurling.
‘And I suppose once I started getting a small bit handy at it I started getting more and more interested in it.’
Attending St Fiachra’s national school in Beaumont was a world removed from living in Harare at a time of political instability and uncertainty, the country in sharp economic decline under the rule of long-time Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe.
Living in the capital city, O’Donnell has a vivid memory of the social dichotomy even then. ‘I don’t remember much about the political situation but I do remember driving by his estate. There was no grass as such there, it was brown areas and you’d drive by his estate and it’d be high walls and you could see lovely green grass behind it. So, from my understanding as a kid, you could see something was wrong here.’ This afternoon, Dublin come into a Leinster quarter-final against a turbulent backdrop, the decision by Cuala’s All-Ireland club title winning brothers Paul and Mark Schutte to opt of the panel has added to the high turnover of players since Ger Cunningham took over from Anthony Daly as county boss for the 2015 season. Only five players from the 20 that lined out in the 2014 All-Ireland quarter-final remain. The last sighting of Dublin came in Ennis back in April when Clare cruised to a 3-18 to 0-19 relegation play-off victory. The last sighting of Galway came in a thunderous destruction of Tipperary in a 16point League final rout. O’Donnell doesn’t dispute Galway’s credentials as warm favourites. ‘They were very impressive, beating Tipperary who are probably the best team in the country. It just shows you that Galway are never going away really; they are always going to be there. It was a huge achievement for Galway. Full credit to them.’ Two years ago at Tullamore, Dublin came into a Leinster quarter-final replay with high hopes and left utterly deflated, ‘a nightmare day’ as O’Donnell describes it seeing the team ship 5-19. Yet the ambassador for Dublin sponsors Skins is part of the modern generation of Dublin hurlers who don’t feel the need to tip the knee to anyone having been part of the county’s blossoming at all levels over the past decade.
From being a light-limbed forward, a stretch in his second year of minor and a redeployment in the backs helped him blossom. Now touching 6’2”, he is that modern breed of rangy, pacy, ball-playing defenders.
‘It definitely is an on-edge position,’ he admits of wearing the number three shirt. ‘There is no pressure like it bar maybe the goalkeeper.’
Especially when faced with the prospect of marking the likes of Callanan, his own performance not enough as Dublin were swamped by Tipperary in the opening League game at Croke Park, hammered by 16 points.
‘We took it that that was a nightmare situation and we were never going to let that happen to us again,’ he says of Dublin’s response. ‘And we parked it. Forgot about it. You know, All-Ireland champions, in Croke Park, first game of the League with a lot of young lads – it’s going to be a tough one no matter who you are. We knew going into it it was going to be a tough one, except maybe we didn’t expect it was going be as gruesome as it was. But we rallied and had one of our best performances against Cork.’
And just look how Cork’s form has held.
A talented footballer, he has seen former team-mate Mark Schutte’s head being swayed by a call-up to Jim Gavin’s football squad chasing a third All-Ireland in a row. If the same call was made to him? ‘I am very happy where I am for the time being anyway. Obviously I can’t rule out what might happen down the line. I am happy playing hurling.’
And he is not afraid to outline his ambitions in bold and in capitals.
‘When you sit down at the start of the year you put down winning the All-Ireland as your goal. We are not there to make up numbers. We want to walk the steps of the Hogan. So winning an All-Ireland is on our minds.’
Can Dublin get there? ‘Yeah, definitely. It is just a matter of getting consistency and when it clicks we will be up there with the rest of them. It will click eventually.’
‘WINNING AN ALL-IRELAND TITLE IS DEFINITELY ON OUR MINDS’