NA PIARSAIGH READY FOR PADDY’S DAY PROCLAMATION
Limerick club takes long, hard road to top
WHEN Na Piarsaigh contested their first Limerick senior championship final in 2009, the team suffered stage-fright. It was an annihilation. Adare blitzed them on a scoreline of 1-17 to 0-3. The team only managed one score in the entire first half. ‘It was a nightmare,’ recalls long-time club official Derek Giltenan. ‘We were just wiped from the field.’
It was the sort of body-blow that could destroy any team. Not Na Piarsaigh, though. They have learnt in their short history as a club, 47 years and counting, that blows should be absorbed and experience gained. Within two years, they had claimed their first Limerick title and went on to win Munster. Only for Loughgiel’s Liam Watson to deny them in the All-Ireland semi-final. They went home, absorbed the blow and came again. Stronger.
It’s why that this coming Thursday, a club named after Patrick Pearse will contest their first All-Ireland club final in the year that the Centenary of the Rising is celebrated. Fate must be at work somewhere in the background.
Giltenan is not so sure. As he points out, Cushendall, their opponents, are named after Ruairí Og, one of the protagonists of the 1641 rebellion. However, it is pretty unusual that both Na Piarsaigh and Ballyboden St Enda’s (named after Pearse’s famous school) are contesting All-Ireland finals given the year that’s in it. But that is hardly the most unusual aspect in the story of this young club from rugby heartland.
The story begins in the mid-1960s. Work had taken Noel Drumgoole, who had captained Dublin hurlers in the 1961 All-Ireland final, to the Treaty City. Limerick was expanding and a number of new housing estates had sprung up on the northside, full of ‘people from the country’, as Giltenan explains.
In 1968, Drumgoole, who would later have two stints as Limerick manager, helped found the club. He would pass away in 1995, a year after the club had won its first Intermediate title and reached the senior ranks.
‘We were probably set up in the heartland of Limerick rugby, alright,’ Giltenan admits. ‘Shannon is not too far and Thomond is down the road, but there was never a conflict. The club was kept going by people who came in from the country, who would naturally gravitate towards GAA, anyway.’
For years, Na Piarsaigh suffered. They didn’t have the tradition in Limerick. They were upstarts and there was a perception that they were ‘soft.’ Before last November’s Munster final, star forward Shane Dowling tackled this perception. ‘As a city team, the words “townies” and “softies” are thrown at us a lot,’ Dowling said. ‘But I think over the past couple of years, we have shown that although we can hurl, we have a bit of heart as well.’
The ‘ soft’ tag came from the number of semi-finals and finals they lost down the years. And from the fact that despite having the most fluid conveyor belt of under-age talent in Limerick during the 1990s, that never translated into senior success until recently. But that’s all changed now.
Na Piarsaigh, one of the youngest clubs in Limerick, have turned into a powerhouse. And in a city that is teeming with different sporting options for youngsters, success is important.
Two years ago, they had an awards night in their clubhouse and there were 21 different pieces of silver- ware on display. But there is no sense that they are resting on their laurels. On Saturday mornings, they run camps in their grounds for kids between the ages of six and 10. Normally, there are 150 kids there. Then, the academy kids come along and are coached by senior stars like Dowling and Kevin Downes.
‘The coaching structure is good within the club but we have worked very hard on that. All our coaches with the team are qualified, which is important. We are anxious to keep this going,’ Giltenan said. ‘Success brings challenges, though. When you are catering for hundreds of people, you need facilities.’
The club are hoping to expand in the coming years. Another training pitch. Hurling walls. The type of things that will keep kids interested and keep them playing hurling, rather than rugby or soccer. The success of Ard Scoil Rís has also helped Na Piarsaigh grow. The Limerick school is now an acknowledged powerhouse in schools hurling and that has fed into the club.
‘We have a good relationship with all the local schools around, both primary and secondary, and we are helping out with the coaching there.’
Back in November, Shane Dowling explained why he was helping out with the under-age coaching. He wanted Na Piarsaigh to develop from the current success.
Through his family, he had seen what had happened in St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield when they failed to build on their success in the 1990s.
There has been plenty of heartbreak and disappointment for Na Piarsaigh on their journey to Croke Park but having finally reached their destination, they don’t want this All-Ireland final to be a one-off.
Thursday will be an emotional day, and Noel Drumgoole will be remembered by many, but the young GAA club from rugby’s heartland want to make sure that it’s just the start of something special, rather than the completion of a journey.
‘WE WERE SET UP IN THE HEARTLAND OF RUGBY IN LIMERICK’