John McGrath will put his hurl away for a bit now, later in the season than might have been imagined at the outset but nonetheless still earlier than he would have hoped. Either way, it has been a year of revival for the Tipperary forward.
He ends 2025 as an All-Ireland senior hurling championship winner with Tipp and a county winner with Loughmore-Castleiney. He was also named hurler of the year. As seasons go, McGrath has certainly had more barren ones than this.
Yet there is still a degree of frustration at Loughmore-Castleiney’s Munster club campaign ending after an extra-time semi-final defeat to Clare champions Éire Óg just over a week ago.
Loughmore-Castleiney have won six Tipp senior titles but they only have one provincial crown to show for that – in 2007.
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McGrath – along with his brothers Noel and Brian – missed the Tipperary team holiday to Cape Town to stick around and play in the Munster club championship. It wasn’t a hard decision, just a hard result to take at the end of it all.
“It was a disappointing finish to the year but that’s the joys of it, I suppose,” he says. “I know people would be saying you’d be glad of the break but you don’t want it to be over when you’re stuck in the middle of it.
“It was just disappointing, we’ve had a few attempts at the Munster championship in the last five years and we just probably haven’t progressed as we would have liked but you’re coming up against strong teams, so that’s the way it goes.”
The Tipp squad returned from South Africa last week and preparations for 2026 will soon start cranking up a few gears, but McGrath intends to stay in neutral for a little while.
However, having spent several seasons on the fringes of the team, the 31-year-old doesn’t intend sitting out all of next year’s National League.
“We’ll have a chat with Liam in the next couple of days, see what the plans are and figure out a timeline,” he adds.
“You certainly need a couple of weeks to even mentally refresh as much as physically. I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks [off] but I think most fellas, once you have a few weeks put down, you’re nearly looking forward to getting back then as well.
“I’d hope to play a decent part of it [the National League]. Ideally, you’d like to have a couple of games played at that time of the year to get your bit of match sharpness, to make sure you get your place as much as anything.
“I can still very freshly remember the previous couple of years when I played very little, so whether it’s league or championship, I just want to be playing.”
McGrath started only one game in the 2025 league and entered the summer having started just a single championship match in two years, after struggling for form following an Achilles rupture suffered in 2022.
He admits there were stretches during that period when his confidence took a knock, but his 2-1 against Limerick in the first round of this year’s Munster SHC changed everything – both for him and Tipp.
“The second half of that game probably just catapulted my year a little bit,” he recalls.
“The two goals in the second half, it’s hard to even say what it done for me because a lot of it was nearly relief at the time for myself because like you were mentioning about doubting yourself, you certainly do.
“I think in that half of the game it just kind of took a couple of years of frustration out of me in that moment.”
He finished the year with a personal tally of 7-16 from play in the championship.
McGrath was in Croke Park on Tuesday to help launch the Irish Blood Transfusion Service’s Every Drop Counts campaign to encourage more younger people to donate blood.
The appeal is inspired by the legacy of Oisín Kelly, the former Carlow hurler who died aged 21 from bone cancer in 2023. Throughout his illness Oisín received many blood and platelet transfusions. During this time, he worked to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation.
Younger people are significantly underrepresented among blood donors. The average donor age is 46, and only 17 per cent of current donors are aged 18–30.
“I’m proud to support Oisín’s campaign,” adds McGrath. “The GAA is built on community, and giving blood is one of the most meaningful ways to help others. I am asking players, supporters and clubs to roll up their sleeves, your donation could be someone’s lifeline.”
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service’s Every Drop Counts campaign urges young people to begin giving blood. GAA clubs are encouraged to register as a club donor partner and help champion regular blood donation in their communities. Younger donors and clubs can sign up at: giveblood.ie/campaigns/oisin-kelly
