CONOR McGOURTY has an All-Ireland hurling final to attend to on Saturday night in Croke Park before switching attentions back to the bigger ball a week later when his beloved St Gall’s face Galway champions Corofin in the senior club All-Ireland semi-finals.
Saturday night at GAA HQ is the intermediate final but an All-Ireland medal jangles just the same in a 21-year-old’s back pocket.
A player of immense talent, CJ, as he is known, focused on hurling in 2009 after falling foul of new football manager Liam Bradley’s disciplinary code last March. Despite missing a memorable run to the Ulster final, the path is clear for his return to inter-county football once the club runs its course.
“I’m totally focused on St Gall’s, but I will be looking forward to getting back, with Tyrone coming up in the first round of the championship.”
It is a repeat of the provincial decider he missed out on last summer. “I don’t regret that decision. The footballers went well, fair dues to them. Things didn’t work out (for me) last year and I went back playing with St Gall’s. That’s what the GAA is about – it’s about the club, not the county. You don’t look forward to your birthday or Christmas Day – you look forward to championship Sunday with your club. That’s what the GAA is about and that’s what’s special about the GAA.”
Any issues with Bradley have been shelved. “I was just speaking to him during the week and we have things sorted. I’ll be back with the county as soon as St Gall’s are finished, or a week or two after.”
McGourty is the most naturally talented, but another nine dual players are following his quest for All-Ireland medals, starting this weekend. Does he feel it is possible to balance both games at inter-county level?
Of course he does. He is 21.
“I haven’t been approached by (Antrim hurling manager) Dinny Cahill yet. I don’t think he’s talked to any of the St Gall’s players yet. I’ll take it as it comes.
A young man with a west Belfast accent who is clearly passionate about his sports requires further investigation.
“Aye, west Belfast, just down the road from Casement Park. It’s a mile or so away from the pitch. I grew up with St Gall’s. My father (Seán) won an Ulster club in 1982, but unfortunately they didn’t make it to an All-Ireland final. I have been brought up with teams like that and I was at training every night of the week and the same with my brothers.
“There are three or four boys whose fathers would have played in ’82 and there’s big rivalry there over who is better. I think we’ve proven now we are better, with two Ulster championships.
“That’s the way the club work – we have great craic. Like most people at the club, I am St Gall’s since I was born, bar maybe the two Gallaghers (Rory and Raymie) from Fermanagh, but they were working in Belfast.
“I remember staying overnight in Mark Kelly’s home when I was nine or ten, going to Seán Burke’s ninth birthday party – they are playing alongside me now, right half back and midfield, and we’re in an All-Ireland semi-final and a final.”
What happens to the football preparations if St Gall’s win this weekend? “I’m sure there will be a lock-in in the club but I’m sure I’ll be leaving the club on Sunday morning and going straight to football training. That’s just the way our club works.”
