Offaly football hero urges emerging stars to make room for training in hectic lifestyle

THERE was a great, feel-good atmosphere in the Tullamore Court Hotel on Sunday last when the Offaly team that won the Leinster Minor Football Championship in such sensational style in 2025 were presented with their medals.

A young footballing hero just a few short years older than them, Cormac Egan was a very appropriate choice as the guest of honour to present the medals. A clear case of a young man who has made GAA a big priority in his life while fitting in high level study and everything else into a packed lifestyle, the brilliant Tullamore footballer is a glowing example of a player doing what needs to be done to fulfil his potential at the highest level.

The afternoon function was primarily an event of celebration and reflection as they looked back on a fantastic roller coaster of a year. Struggling woefully in the group, Offaly scraped into the knockout stages where they had a series of heart-stopping, against the odds wins to capture Leinster honours. They displayed terrific character, playing some excellent attacking football as they captured the imagination of Offaly GAA supporters with the way they won games and kept going.

Thousands of Offaly supporters made the journey to Newbridge for the Leinster final where they denied Louth of an unprecedented Leinster treble of senior, U20 and minor finals, wrestling victory from the jaws of defeat with a magnificent late rally.

The team improved dramatically over the course of the year and were unlucky to lose to Mayo in the All-Ireland quarter-final. They showed what can be achieved through hard work and momentum, taking a title that looked very unlikely when they sustained heavy group defeats at the hands of Dublin and Louth.

All of those attributes were lauded at Sunday's function but the opportunity was also taken to deliver a clear message to the young players as they move into the next phase of their GAA lives, U20 and adult football. All of these players have been in the Offaly development squads from a young age and there will be a vacuum for anyone who opts out at this stage and doesn't accept an invitation to join the Offaly U20 panel, or the back up squad for 2026.

Many of those players are doing the Leaving Certificate this year but guided by former Offaly GAA chairman, the MC, Michael Duignan, Cormac Egan spoke passionately about how he combined playing for Offaly minor footballers and hurlers with doing his Leaving Certificate and later starring for Offaly U20 footballers and hurlers and then Offaly senior footballers while studying for a degree in UCD – Egan became nationally famous for his breathtaking performances during Offaly's All-Ireland U20 football win in 2021. He played for Offaly minor footballers and hurlers in losing Leinster finals the same year, delayed from 2020 while he was very good for Offaly U20 hurlers as they lost to Cork in the 2023 All-Ireland U20 final.

Through all of these hectic playing commitments, he still managed to hit all his targets in the Leaving Certificate and college and he delivered a powerful message to players about the need to continue with the county and not to lose a year of the strength and conditioning and all the ancillary work.

Michael Duignan touched on all this in his opening remarks when he talked about how they tried to change the culture when he became chairman in 2019 and get players to buy into giving full commitment to county squads. He used Cormac Egan as an example, referring to the commitment he has given, the way he lives his life and the respect he has for himself and people around him. “The way he represents the Offaly jersey is unbelievable,” he remarked.

Offaly GAA chairman Tom Parlon said it was great to have their own home-grown heroes like Cormac Egan and that they don't have to go to Kerry or Dublin to get someone to present their medals. He also referred to the joy that Sean Cooney, an All-Ireland senior football medal winner in 1971 and 1972 and Seamus Darby, a hero in 1972 and 1982, showed at the Leinster final in Newbridge.

Egan was asked how he balanced his educational and GAA commitments from 2018 onwards. “It was an interesting time. We had Covid in 2020 and I was training with the minor hurlers and footballers. That year fell apart and the year of my Leaving Certificate we were just getting back on the field in 2021. We lost two Leinster minor finals in a week but we won the U20 football. I am honoured to be here but I am seriously in awe of ye lads. Ye have a Leinster minor football medal, we got beat by Meath by a point or two in Mullingar. It still hurts me.

“It was a crazy time with the Leaving as well but you just get on with it. You have so much support around you, the supporters, the managers, parents. I wasn't driving at the time, my parents had to bring me out to Faithful Fields four or five evenings a week. I am 22 now and when you get there, you realise the effort they went through and appreciate it a bit more. They cared about it just as much as I did, they were at every game and training session.”

He talked about the importance of staying doing the work while combining it with exams and other commitments with Michael Duignan saying: “Missing a year or two is not really an option”.

Egan agreed: “It becomes your life and that is the way you want it. You have to live for it and fully commit yourself. If you do take a year or two out, it probably takes you two years to get back and that is the reality of it. So much goes into it and you plan your whole week around it.

“There might be three games in a week, driving down to Cork for a challenge and guys getting pulled out of school but these boys know the commitment. At underage, the foundation is the commitment you put in. It probably goes up a level then in terms of the gym, nutrition and stuff like that but these boys are well aware of the commitment and I am sure they will step up to that mark in most cases.”

At the outset, Michael Duignan spoke about the fighting spirit of the Offaly squad and how this saw them score eight late points in the Leinster final win, including three two pointers.

Offaly captain Cian McNamee has joined the Offaly U20 football panel and he said he was enjoying the training here while stating that 2025 was a great year for the minors.

Offaly GAA chairman Tom Parlon recalled the calmness and determination of team in the closing stages of the Leinster final. “It was a great boost and we love winning. There has been a lot of talk lately about demographics and if we were to go by that, we wouldn't win anything but we have the spirit in Offaly and we have the talent.”

Team manager Roger Ryan spoke with great enthusiasm about the journey it took to win the Leinster title. “It was an accumulation of a number of years,” he said, referring to the low of a defeat by Waterford in a tier 3 competition last year.

The Shannonbridge man knew twelve of that team were still underage and there was still potential there. “There is something special about these lads. There were moments throughout the year, not just in Newbridge, that showed this.”

Ryan recalled the way players accepted it when they were cut from the panel earlier in the year. “I felt from that night on, there was something there,” he said, referring to other moments such as a player chasing a Laois defender the whole way down the field in the league final when Offaly had the game won. He talked about parents going to games and the importance of this support for players, referring to the volume that travelled to a challenge game win over Cork.

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The Offaly panel was:

Jack Ryan (Doon); Caden O'Beirne (Tullamore), Tomas Carroll (Erin Rovers), Cormac Farrell (Edenderry); Patrick Duffy (Tullamore), Tadgh Kelly (Kilclonfert), Eoin Rouse (Tullamore); Eamon Maher (Ferbane), Charlie Duffy (Edenderry); Cathal Weldon (Bracknagh), Dylan Dunne (Clara), Aaron Daly (Clonbullogue); Tony Furey (Edenderry), Cian McNamee (Rhode), Ruari Woods (Belmont); Max Kruger (Gracefield), Isaac Ryan (Copara), Stephen Byrne (Raheen), Cian Duffy (Doon), Darragh Stewart (Tullamore), Paddy Burns (Daingean), Daniel Syoyanov (Clara), Dermot Crombie (Rhode), Ruari Carroll (Edenderry).

Presentations were made to the following back room team members:

Roger Ryan (Shannonbridge), Manager;

Darren Quinn (Clonbullogue), Selector/coach;

Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks), Selector/coach;

Keith McGuinness (Edenderry), Selector/coach;

Eoin Carberry, Goalkeeping coach;

Oisin Gibney, Strength and conditioning;

Niamh Slevin, Team secretary;

Jack Ryan, Statistics;

Michael Spain, Kitman;

Maeve Kavanagh, Physio.