Davy Fitzgerald in the Glens: 'A man with a big heart. He cares for the underdog.'
One of the men who know the Clare legend best says he'll bring more to Antrim than just coaching a hurling team.
'Davy in 'the Glens.' It has a ring to it.
It's almost inevitable that Antrim hurling is about to be shaken to its core over the coming months.
There will be shock results - carefully planned and executed ambushes. Players will be heavily challenged along the way and there will be fallers as he goes.
Expectations will be high from a man with an unrivalled record with underdog sides, but there's going to fun along the way - and a hell of a watch for hurling fans.
Read More: Patrick Horgan gives strongest indication yet on his Cork future
“Sure he is full of surprises,” says Fr. Harry Bohan, who lives near Fitzgerald (53), the new Antrim boss, and is a long time confidant of hurling’s most colourful character.
Fr. Bohan famously managed Clare to a brace of League titles (1977/78), at a time when the Banner had won no Munster titles since 1932, and only one league crown in their entire history.
He knows a thing or two about helping an underdog up off their knees. A few weeks ago Davy popped in for a cup of tea. It was shortly after he finished up his second stint with Waterford, and they discussed various potential inter-county jobs.
“We talked about if Brian (Lohan) stood down, Clare, and the possibility of Galway with Henry Shefflin stepping down,” says Father Bohan (86). “He might have been interested in Dublin too.
“Antrim wasn’t a huge surprise to me. He has been going up helping them for years. He has some fairly good friends up there. He is that kind of fella. He makes friends everywhere he goes.
“Davy is all the time looking for new challenges, in life and in sport. Some of the television programmes he does, which included travelling to Iceland with some teenagers who weren’t doing well in life.
“He’s always at that, helping out. He’s all the time responding to new challenges. A man with a big heart. He is a carer as well. He cares for the underdog. He is a man with vision.”
The Feakle native says Fitzgerald is not into religion in the institutional sense, but he is “spiritual” and “there is a soul in him.”
Fr. Bohan - who was parish priest in Fitzgerald’s native Sixmilebridge for 16 years - believes the former Clare All-Ireland winning player (2) and manager (1), will bolster Antrim hurling in general - and not just the county side.
“I think he might bring a bit more than just training a county hurling team,” he continued. “He might help leaders at club level. He is very much his own man and he will be doing it his own way. He has had a lot of success.
“I read where a retired Antrim hurler said during the week that Antrim need more than Davy now. They need to get back to the grassroots. I think Davy will help them do that. That enthusiasm at club level as well as at county level.
“I was talking to Alan Cunningham, who was with the Limerick team for their five All-Irelands. He is not a bit surprised that Davy took this one (Antrim).
“Last Sunday I was talking to Ger Loughnane and there is nobody surprised at Davy taking it (Antrim), and he will definitely bring change, and help them to bring change.
“That’s really what Davy is about, changing the places that need to be changed. I know him extremely well. He comes here to me for chats a lot. Not everyone likes him now and I remember I launched his second book and I said to him, ‘If I had read it before I launched it, I mightn’t have launched it (laughs).’
“He doesn’t pull punches. He says it for what it is. He doesn’t get on with everyone. He is very straight. He is very honest. That’s the kind of man he is.”
Father Bohan is immersed in Clare life. He’s written several books on social change and the impact of technology on everyday life.
He was heavily involved in setting up an organisation that helped to secure the building of 2500 houses in rural Ireland. He is on the ground and can read the pulse of his county.
Right now he senses a real feel-good factor in Clare related to the Olympics and more specifically to the county, the Banner landing just a fifth All-Ireland title in their entire history.
It’s a far cry from his days at the seminary in Maynooth. “The GAA, of all the organisations, has made a huge impact on Irish society, going back years and it has now gone so professional,” he says.
“When I took over Clare in 1973, I had them on my own for a year (1974). I would be stubborn enough. That year we got into the Munster final against Limerick. I was passionate at that time.
“When I was in college in Maynooth, I used to meet lads from Cork and Kilkenny. I was hurling captain, and I used to say, ‘Why couldn’t Clare win All-Irelands?’ We had Tipp, Cork and Kilkenny.
“When I took the Clare team I began to see it was a question of confidence. We played the game, but the strength of it in Clare when we grew up was the club and at county level we didn’t seem to believe we could win All-Irelands.
“Johnny Callinan and Ger Loughnane, they were my team. I used to talk to them about winning All-Irelands. Johnny is a good friend of mine and he often said to me, ‘Harry, we thought you were mad, talking about Clare winning All-Irelands.’
“But now that Limerick have done it so well…..and Clare…..
“Ger Loughnane and myself come from Feakle. They used to say that a lot of people who came from Feakle were half mad and they used to put myself and Ger into that bracket. It’s the old story, if you are passionate about something……
“I’d love to see it work for Davy in Antrim. I know the people who play the game up there love it and there is a very deep connection to hurling up there.
“If we could spread it a little bit more. If Clare came eventually to win All-Irelands and had the confidence to do it, anything is possible. The reason I am saying that is, the game is such a great game. Since the 70s they’ve (Clare) won four All-Irelands so that’s a huge movement within the county.
“This present Clare team, it was crucial they won it this year because if they didn’t there would be five or six of them mightn’t have continued playing. They would be a fine bunch of fellas now.
“I have huge respect and time for Limerick too, and what they achieved. That they could keep going for so long because they literally put their lives on hold during that time.
“I often feel that county players that give so much to training and trying to win the All-Ireland, that we don’t respect them enough.
“Too many people - they call themselves supporters - don’t realise this, these fellas, how much they give to the game.
“And our own lads even in the last few years, the likes of Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, a group of them that kind of came together. They put a lot into it.
“John is a teacher. He’s setting up his own business now. John was described to me by his own brother as nearly a professional hurler.
“John and fellas like him would have put a huge amount into the game and perfected himself in a whole lot of ways, looked after his diet and so on.”
It’s a game with a social impact too, according to Fr. Bohan: “I think there is a lot of positive thinking around Clare this summer and probably a lot of it is coming from two sporting events, the Olympics and for us down here, Clare winning the All-Ireland,” he says.
“Feakle had their festival last week and it was packed. For a small village, it was great. It was never as good. Somebody said to me a lot of the festivals are doing very well this year because of the All-Ireland. People are in better form and they are coming out.
“It’s done a lot socially for Clare. I know it’s still only a game, but it’s a game that means a lot, and when I’m at it, there is no game better than hurling. We grew up saying it’s the fastest field game in the world. It’s a highly skilled game.
“Now, I know they (sports) are not for everyone, but they are for a lot of people. Those kinds of things are hugely needed. People need cheering up as well as the bad news.”
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