It’s hard to believe it but Ard Scoil Rís were once underdogs.
They were once the St Joseph’s Tulla of the Harty Cup. That all changed in 2010 when, with Niall Moran the manager, a golden generation of Limerick players that included Declan Hannon, Shane Dowling and Kevin Downes won the schools’ first ever Munster championship.
Limerick hurling was in turmoil back then but with their seismic win over Thurles CBS, the city school provided a ray of light to the whole county.
That ray of light turned into an Indian summer as, with Hannon and Dowling graduating only to be replaced Cian Lynch, Aaron Gillane, Michael Casey among other future stars, they went onto win five of the next eight provincial schools championships. It wasn’t long before Limerick hurling started to dominate the country.
The shoe is on the other foot now. It would be an exaggeration to say that Clare hurling is in turmoil at the moment but in these lean times, St Joseph’s Tulla’s Harty Cup final win over Ard Scoil Rís has given the whole county a life.
More than anyone else, Niall Moran knows how important it could be so his speech in the opposition dressing room after the game came from the heart. It is one that the St Joseph’s Tulla boys will surely never forget.
“I’m coming in here since I was five-years-of-age, and I walked the pitch as a small lad, and I walked the pitch as a big lad. It’s the longest walk I’ve ever made in my life,” said Moran.
“Ye’re amazing. Ye’re gathered from clubs in east Clare, clubs that are on their knees. Some of the clubs that have been on their knees over the last few years.
“For us, we started on a journey back in 2010, when Limerick was on its knees. From that little acorn the tree that’s there now grew.
“There are clubs in east Clare – Tulla, Feakle, the Mills, Broadford, Whitegate, Inagh – clubs that need ye boys. Ye are the oxygen for the rest of ye’re days.
“This competition means the world to us. You might think, ‘Jesus, the Ardscoil boys would think they’d have won’, but we never thought we’d win anything.
“The way ye played all the way through it, that didn’t come as a surprise what happened today. We are broken-hearted. There are very few things that anyone cares about in life that break your heart.
“There are lads here who’ve had broken-hearted times all the days. For the two boys from Feakle, and your managers, things were never easy there. They never had it easy.
“Honestly, just embrace every moment over the next two or three days. Ye actually didn’t need to win a Harty medal to be what ye are. Ye were that all the way through. The only thing now is, it bonds ye for the rest of yere days.
“We’re not gone yet. Ye’re not gone yet either unfortunately! Enjoy every moment.
“I’m so thrilled from the bottom of my heart. I love hurling, I love schools hurling. I am so thrilled that somebody else got to experience what we got to experience.
“So mind yerselves, but remember one thing: Ye are needed lads. You’re 17, 18, 19 – all those clubs need ye in time to come. You’re forever enshrined, along with the three boys, in this competition’s history, not along your schools history. The underdog story.”
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