TREATY REGRET

Carey on Limerick

THERE was a time when he would have been in the midst of the madness. At the heart of the celebrations. The post-match party, the sing-song, the traditional Monday Club follow up – the whole shooting match. Ciarán Carey though, is a different man now. He still looks the same, mind you. Perhaps there is a painting in a Patrickswell attic that is showing the ravages of time but on the sideline at the LIT Gaelic Grounds last Sunday for the Limerick county hurling final, he cut an unmistakable figure – as lean and lithe as ever, carrying that same athlete’s frame. Someone who you just know would be as much a star in the modern game as when he dominated the field like a giant in the 1990s. He was such a poster boy for the game that his famous solo point in the 1996 Munster Championship against Clare became part of a tagline for Guinness’ sponsorship and billboard campaign.

That the familiar tight-crop haircut shows flecks of grey is about the only concession to time.

Last Sunday afternoon, TG4 screened the Laochra Gael episode dedicated in his honour, neatly coinciding with him running the line for Patrickswell as they sought to dethrone Na Piarsaigh. And when they did just that, bucking odds that stretched as far as 3-1, they went back to the clubhouse and properly celebrated the moment. By the time the players decided to move on and make the night young, Carey laughs when he tells you how his evening finished.

‘Sunday evening, I was at home getting ready for Match of the Day – I’m a big Liverpool fan! I was at home, panned out on the couch with a cup of tea, watching City and Wolves and happy out! I watched the game, did a bit of reflection, just chilling out. The first time we played Na Piarsaigh was nearly seven months ago so the lads had a very, very long year.’

A bit like Manchester City, Na Piarsaigh represent a new dynasty that sprung up almost overnight. Becoming the first Limerick senior hurling team to bag an All-Ireland since the county team of 1973 with a milestone 2016 victory. Winning four provincial titles this decade and going on a remarkable 12-match unbeaten streak in Munster competition until it was halted by Ballygunner in last year’s final.

The weekend just gone, Patrickswell reminded everyone that they top the roll of honour in Limerick, hitting the magic mark of 20 county titles. Not that Carey was overly concerned about such a statistic. ‘I didn’t give it much thought. Beating Na Piarsaigh in itself is a big scalp. They’re a club and a team who have been in the top three clubs in Ireland by a country mile. They’re not going away; they’re not going on holidays. They still have all that personnel. To beat them in a final meant that we must have done something right. ‘They won the All-Ireland a few years ago. Have been representing Limerick with style the last number of years. So it was always going to be tough. There was a lot of talk about their three-in-a-row, talk about Patrickswell’s 20th, this kind of craic. You just parked all that and hoped the guys would go out and put in a performance which they did.’ Carey’s life story has been bound up with that of Limerick hurling and nephew Cian Lynch, the 2018 Hurler of the Year.

“Absolutely beautiful, spiritually and emotionally,” is how Carey described the moment when Limerick won the 2018 All-Ireland, and Lynch won the precious medal that eluded Carey himself during his own career.

For all the accolades Lynch has earned this past 12 months and more, Carey describes his tour-deforce last Sunday as his finest hour – a highlights reel of leadership, vision, not to mention the flicks and tricks to go with three points from play in a power-packed performance around the middle third.

So how good is Lynch in his eyes and how much more is there still to come?

‘I made a prediction about two years ago that he was still only scratching the surface. When the county final is over you can be a bit more honest than coming into it. Watching the game live, and then getting confirmation watching it back again that night, I think I probably witnessed his finest hour last Sunday. From start to finish. Without a doubt,’ Carey said.

‘He set the tone early when he went down the wing, Aaron [Gillane] was about to catch the ball and he just grabbed it, jinked in, four or five fellas around him, and over the bar. Everything he touched that day was right. He finished up with three or four points on top of creating. I thought he was in the zone of hurling for the full hour. It was lovely to see.’

The bloodlines are well trumpeted, mapping the Carey hurling gene would be a scientific project worth taking up by the relevant department in UL or LIT. He can’t claim ownership though for the chop pickup that is a Cian Lynch calling card – the one where he chops down on the sliotar so that it springs up off the ground into his hand, just as he did in the thick of the action last weekend. That wasn’t one of Carey’s signature moves.

‘It wasn’t! That comes from years and years of practice. It is his trademark. When they come off they’re fine; when they don’t you’d be saying get rid of it!

‘Everybody has their own unique ability, their own unique skill. Bottom line: it’s part of his package as an individual, as a performer. When it comes off it’s outstanding. And it came off on a good number of occasions last Sunday.’

That All-Star Aaron Gillane lined out after breaking his jaw in the group stages said everything about what playing for Patrickswell