*Fionn Hickey gets to the ball ahead of Paddy Fitzgerald in the semi-final. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
“FANTASTIC PERFORMANCES” have been exhibited by St Joseph’s Tulla en route to the Dr Harty Cup final but a ten percent improvement is required if they are to surprise favourites Ard Scoil Rís in the provincial decider.
That’s the view of coach, Tomás Kelly who was adamant that despite their epic showings on the way, it won’t be sufficient to deter the Limerick outfit. “A lot of what we do is based on honesty and hard work, grit and determination, the never say die attitude, if we can bring a lot of those things to the game and we know Ard Scoil Rís will be massive favourites. They are an awesome team, their first fifteen minutes against Thurles was an awesome performance, we know we’ve had brilliant victories but we will need to up our performance level another ten percent to be in with a shout and to compete with a team like Ard Scoil Rís but it’s a fantastic position to be in”.
With sixteen years of experience as an Irish and PE teacher at St Joseph’s Tulla, Kelly is the longest serving of the trio heading up the Harty Cup management. “Strangely enough I’m actually here longer than Terence,” surprising himself with the declaration. “I was a pretty fresh faced young lad coming in here, the thing about teaching is it would put a few grey hairs and wrinkles on you, I started off in Coláiste Chríost Rí in Cork did a year there and ended up applying for a job here and I’m here ever since”.
During his time in the East Clare school, they have competed in the 2009 and 2010 Corn Mhic Ruairí (Munster senior C) finals, the 2009 Clare schools first year final, 2009 Corn Iognáid Ris (Munster U16 ½ C) decider, U15 Corn Solo final in 2011, 2012 U15A Clare schools final. More recently, they won the Kinane Cup in 2017 and 2019, the 2015 Munster Senior B title plus county honours at senior (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019), U15 (2018) and first year (2013 and 2017).
Progress was gradual, Tomás told The Clare Echo. “We would have been playing C, lads would have been asking can we go up to B and we always said we’re not going up to play in B until we win a C championship. We were beaten in a C final in 2010 by St Augustines, we managed to reverse it the following year and beat them by a point, we’ve been playing B ever since, we got to a B final in 2013, we were beaten by Dungarvan CBS after extra time, we eventually won the B title in 2015 against CBC who are now one of the kingpins of the Harty Cup with their scholarship programme. We only started playing Harty Cup in 2019, we’re pretty new to it, I know the school played for a year or two in the nineties. This year our aim was to win a game in the Harty Cup, it may sound very basic but the win against St Colman’s was our first ever win in the Harty Cup, we looked at anything from that as a bonus”.
Hard work is key to this rising tide with Tomás joining Terence Fahy, Aidan Harte, Kevin Harrington and Darragh McMahon with first year training on Monday while Tuesday and Thursday is for senior and U16 ½ training. “Lads here know if they are not going training then they won’t be brought on the bus to a match, we take a roll call for every training session, our ethos and ethic is hard work, if guys are willing to put that hard work in and time after training then they will be brought on the bus and involved. We don’t pick panels at the start of a year, if a guy is willing, dedicated and wants to put his time in, then he will be brought”.
Looking back on his arrival to Tulla, he admitted that he would be lying if he ever envisaged a day that they would be preparing for a Harty Cup final. “The school has grown, we have the facilities and the numbers, when I started in Tulla there was just over 400 kids both boys and girls, in the Harty Cup you’re up against all boys schools, De La Salle the last day have 1400 boys, I know you can only put fifteen on the field but at the end of the day it is a numbers game. We are very lucky to draw from strong clubs in East Clare, when you can pool the strength that they have together and get a right good crop from the clubs then you sometimes can have a really good schools team”. The school population is now over 700 with a staff of approximately 75.
Familiarity exists in the working styles and strengths of Kelly, Harte and Fahy. “Sometimes I think Terence doesn’t even sleep at night with the preparation he does for matches, the video analysis, the thought, there is no stone left unturned, he has been a massive boost to the school since he came from Castlecomer in creating that culture he has been central to that. Bringing Aidan in a couple of years ago brought something different, it brought a different dynamic, Aidan is coming from a high-performance set-up with the Galway senior team having won All-Irelands and Leinster championships, he walked up the steps in Croke Park, to get his expertise and how a high-performance system can work was invaluable to us,” Tomás noted.
With coaching roles to the Tulla Harty Cup side, Clare U20s and Inagh/Kilnamona’s seniors, it is accurate to say he is not idle. “It’s chaotic at the minute but a good chaotic, it’s the kind of busy you want to be involved in. It was an extremely busy November being involved with the club, the school and now in January with the school and the county U20 so it’s a great busy”.
Unlike Harte, his club involvement as both a coach and player sees him face off regularly with past and present pupils. “When the club season is going on there is a lot of slagging, toing and froing but that is good nature, I’m from the other side of the county, coming out here to East Clare is refreshing to see how things are done at a different level, it’s fantastic to be involved with the club but also fantastic to be involved with our own school, it’s happy and busy days but they are great days”.
There is something special about this season’s run, Tomás observed. “It means the world to us, your club will always be number one, when you’re invested in something and you have the lads all day long, all week long it makes the school environment different to the club environment, you have these guys from when they come in at 9am Monday morning to when they leave Friday, you have them from when they come in at first year and you can see them develop, the school is different and special, it is something we’re relishing and cherishing being involved in”.
