Cousins revel in hurling craic
In-depth discussions will appeal to Wexford followers
FOR ANY Wexford hurling fans wishing to while away a few hours during the lockdown, a north county duo may have the answer for those craving a connection to the ancient game while pitches lie dormant the length and breadth of the country.
Cousins Garry Doran and Ben Bernie, from Askamore and Ferns respectively, have recently launched The Hurling Podcast, focusing on the small ball game in the Model county.
To date they have released eight episodes, in-depth discussions with well-known personalities in Wexford hurling, namely Tom Dempsey, Diarmuid ‘Gizzy’ Lyng, David Redmond, Colm Bonnar, Jack Guiney, Adrian Fenlon, Andrew Shore and Eoin Conroy.
While chatting to the co-hosts, who both live and work in Dublin, it’s immediately evident that purple and gold blood runs through their veins as they speak about Wexford hurling with real passion.
And it’s clear that the podcast is a labour of love for the duo, although they do admit they spotted a gap in the market for it.
‘We felt there was an opening for it. There’s millions of podcasts. There’s a couple of G.A.A. podcasts, but there’s not many just hurling podcasts and definitely not just for Wexford hurling,’ Doran said.
‘I love hurling, but I love Wexford hurling more. Last summer was just so fantastic that it really spiked everybody’s interest in it. We’re just looking forward to when they get back out on the field and being able to analyse some of the matches and talk about them and get excited about them,’ he enthused.
Bernie dipped his toes in the podcasting water by helping out the All-Rounder Podcast, and he soon got Garry on board, with their efforts eventually blossoming into their current project.
‘All-Rounder do everything and a bit more live sport. They came to me last year, looking for someone to do a G.A.A. one. I said, “yeah I’ll do that, but my interest is hurling”.
‘I started off and did a few, then got Garry on board and we did a couple, one before the Leinster final and then we did one after the Leinster final. We did previews then, we did about three our four last summer.
‘We really enjoyed it and thought why not just do one that was dedicated to Wexford hurling, because the All-Rounder lads are great, but in reality their interest is a whole global thing, we can’t be taking over their podcast just to talk about hurling.
‘I said it to Garry before Christmas and Garry was enthusiastic enough. A lot of the time we’re just talking hurling, so it’s nothing too different than what we’d be talking about anyway,’ Bernie said.
Both Doran and Bernie have rich backgrounds in hurling themselves, with the former winning a Leinster Intermediate title with Wexford, and briefly being a member of Liam Dunne’s Senior hurling panel, while the latter was part of the Minor squad that lost the provincial decider to Dublin in 2005.
Ben’s uncle, Dave, was a member of the Wexford team which captured the All-Ireland crown in 1968, while his father, also Ben, has managed Minor and Under-21 county sides, so there’s no doubting their strong hurling pedigree, with the game being a rich part of their lives from an early age.
They began their podcast journey with a bang in early February, an entertaining and informative chat with everybody’s favourite hurling storyteller, Tom Dempsey, and the All-Ireland winner was the perfect opening guest.
‘We were just after losing to Clare when we did the first podcast, before the Kilkenny game. We got Tom Dempsey for the first one. With Tom you know you’re going to have the bit of craic. He’s an entertaining man,’ Bernie said.
Doran wholeheartedly agreed with that view, saying ‘We were delighted to get Tom in for the first episode. There’s nobody in Wexford that could have a bad word to say about him.
‘Everybody loves hearing from him so that was a good start for us. We had Diarmuid Lyng on next, again a character that a lot of people know and a lot of people would be interested in listening to.
‘We’ve been lucky with everyone we’ve had so far, so hopefully our luck keeps going,’ he said.
The road map for the podcast looked entirely different before Covid-19 took hold of the country, with previews and analysis going out the window to be replaced by trips down memory lane, but like in every aspect of life at present, they’ve had to cut their cloth to fit.
‘We just had to switch our focus a little bit. At the start we were able to analyse games, now we’re talking to past players a bit more, focusing more on their experiences as players,’ Bernie said.
The changed world we find ourselves living in at present has thrown up its own challenges though, with face-to-face chats replaced by technology, and the lads agree that it makes the conversation flow a touch more difficult.
‘There’s a lot of learning to be done, but hopefully we’re improving the quality of output. We met up with Tom Dempsey and with Diarmuid Lyng in the first two and we were there with them and talking with them, but the recent interviews have all been done over Zoom. Different editing techiniques had to go into them as well. We’re getting there,’ Doran said.
‘It’s just so much more personable when you’re with the guest. It’s a common occurence on Skype or Zoom for people to talk over each other, whereas in person it just doesn’t really happen,’ Bernie added.
The cousins agree on what it takes to produce good material, favouring a laid-back approach to put their guests at ease, allowing them to open up and tell their tales.
‘Listen more than you talk, but just try to get the interviewee to feel relaxed so they come out of their shell.
‘A relaxed conversation rather than a scrutinising interview,’ Doran explained.
‘We very much try to have the craic and make it a very light-hearted conversation,’ Bernie agreed.
That mantra has certainly been working so far, providing hours of entertainment for listeners, although the lads admit that, at times, the guests can be a little bit too loose with their tongues.
‘We generally aim for about an hour, but if the conversation is interesting we just keep going. ‘Gizzy’ was just so interesting that we had two hours of quality stuff, and Adrian Fenlon’s, and Jack’s was an hour and a half of interesting stuff.
‘There’s a few that could have been longer, but some of the lads would be telling us a few stories that we can’t be putting out to the public.
‘There’s definitely no set time, we don’t want to be cutting anyone off, just let the conversation flow, that’s the best way to get to know the real person,’ Bernie said.
The pair are unsure whether the restrictions currently in place have adversely affected them or, in fact, added to their listenership, and it’s something they’ll only truly know in time.
‘We may possibly be getting more listeners [because of the lockdown], but often people listen to podcasts when they’re going to work or they’re on the move, so it’s hard to know,’ Bernie said.
‘I’d say we might be getting some different listeners. Myself, I’m probably not listening to as many podcasts.
‘My main time for listening to podcasts was on the way to and from work or maybe going for a walk.
‘I’m still getting to listen to them but I’m not travelling to work because I’m stuck in the house working. It is a bit different and there’s less games and stuff to talk about, but there are people looking for content to listen to, so it’s a double-edged sword,’ Doran said.
Those who have tuned in to the The Hurling Podcast to date have been impressed with what they’ve heard and the feedback has been good, although Bernie says he wouldn’t be entirely averse to a bit of constructive criticism.
‘It’s been all positive. I don’t think we’ve had any negative feedback. Again we’ve been lucky with the guests we’ve had, people the listeners want to hear from, and they’re happy with what they heard,’ Doran said.
‘I’m looking forward to the first bit of abuse,’ Bernie laughed. ‘We’re just enjoying it at the minute. We hope to expand, get more listeners, get the word out there more.
‘Ideally we’ll have a few trophy wins to analyse at the end of the summer.’
That indeed would be an ideal scenario, getting their teeth stuck into previews and analysis if, and when, action resumes, but for now we’ll have to be content with lively chats on all things hurling as the boys chew the fat with stars of the past and present every fortnight.
The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Soundcloud and Podbean, and Garry and Ben are open to people getting in contact with them with suggestions of prospective guests.
You can follow The Hurling Podcast on Facebook and on Twitter (@hurlingpodcast).