OUT OF AFRICA
Growing up, Dubs star O’donnell was more concerned with Robert Mugabe than John Mullane
EOGHAN O’DONNELL has lifted the lid on his remarkable childhood in Botswana and Zimbabwe – neither a hurling stronghold.
The Dublin full-back was born in southern Africa where he lived until he was six.
It was only when his Irish parents, from Roscommon and Wexford, moved back to Ireland along with his three brothers that he first picked up a hurley.
Full-back O’donnell is arguably Dublin’s most important player now but was more interested in Mugabe than Mullane when growing up.
The O’donnells lived in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, and Eoghan was blown away by the opulence of President Mugabe’s home.
The long serving and controversial head of state once claimed that ‘The only white man you can trust is a dead white man’.
O’donnell said: “I do remember driving by his estate. There was no grass as such in the area, it was mostly brown areas, and then you’d drive by his estate and it would be high walls and you could see the lovely green grass behind it.
“So even from my understanding as a kid, you could see something was wrong here.” O’donnell’s parents, both schoolteachers attached to a charity, returned to Ireland with their children after 10 years away.
It was a culture shock for Eoghan who found himself in alien land, playing games he’d never even heard of on cold, muddy pitches.
Cathal Ruane, a schoolteacher at St Fiachar’s, Beaumont with a passion for hurling, got him started in the game. Ruane would love to see his former prodigy pull off a famous win today though few are giving Dublin much hope.
They beat Galway when the sides last met, in the 2016 league, though were hammered 5-19 to 1-18 when they last met in Leinster, in 2015. Galway are also the reigning League champions while Dublin were relegated and are without many key players who don’t fancy playing for boss Ger Cunningham.
O’donnell said: “We feel very much that the League results didn’t reflect exactly where we are as a team.
“Galway are never going away, they are always going to be there. There is an element of rivalry between us. We know each other well by now.”