Gaelic Games: St Mary’s looks to its hurling future with confidence

SUCCESS on the hurling field is nothing new to St Mary’s CBGS. The West Belfast institution leads the roll of honour for Mageean Cup with 28 triumphs and although the top honour in Ulster Colleges’ hurling has not visited the school since 2016/17, there is renewed hope the wait won’t last too much longer.

That is because this term, St Mary’s have landed three Ulster Colleges titles with the McNamee Cup (mentor, Mr Paddy Cunningham; Leonard Cup (Mr Austin and Mr McVeigh) and most recently, Gallagher Cup (Mr Conor Hands) have been resting in the school’s trophy cabinet.

It has been a year to remember for all at the Glen Road school, which prides itself on its academic and sporting accomplishments.

But as one school year ends, there will be some significant changes with current school principal, Mrs Siobhan Kelly, set to retire at the end of the upcoming term along with vice-principal and head of extra-curricular activities, Mrs Fiona Crookes.

Stepping up to the role of school principal is Mr Brendan McComb, a man now stranger to sporting success as a member of the Lámh Dhearg senior football team that captured the county title in 2017.

“We are absolutely delighted,” said Mrs Kelly as the players from all three winning teams stood behind the silverware at the school’s ball wall for a photo that will adorn the walls of the school corridors that is bursting with mementos of past glories.

“Three ‘A’ competition wins in my last year at St Mary’s is just fantastic.

“Hurling, in particular, is one of our founding sports. We do very well in other sports as well and had some wins in Gaelic (football) as well, but this sets us up very well for the future. We’re hoping that under Brendan’s leadership, we will be moving forward and getting the Mageean again.

“St Mary’s will always be in the heart and soul of us, so we wish the school every success in the classroom and on the pitch.”

Mrs Crookes has been a teacher at the school since some members of the current staff were pupils, so has seen plenty of successful teams over the years.

The last Mageean Cup win saw the team, coached by Paddy Cunningham, go all the way to the All-Ireland ‘B’ final where they came up short against Limerick’s St John the Baptist Community School.

But returning to such prestigious occasions is high on the agenda and the investment in the school on sporting facilities is evidence of their ambition.

“Paddy is a stalwart of the school with the county and Lámh Dhearg – along with Brendan – and they bring in their traditions from their own clubs,” said Mrs Crookes.

“That helps the boys when they see their mentors and teachers playing for clubs outside and bringing that in.

“The facilities we have here now are also fantastic as it helps the boys I’m very proud to have run the extra-curricular. It’s been tough at times getting everyone to do what they are supposed to do, but it’s great to great to see three trophies come in during my final year.”

3

The winning captains with outgoing principal, Mrs Siobhan Kelly; outgoing vice-principal Mrs, Fiona Crookes; and incoming principal, Mr Brendan McComb

The incoming principal, Mr Brendan McComb, is determined to build on those solid foundations.

There are plans to develop a new sports complex that look set to become a reality and that is not for show, but to aid the hard work put in by team coaches and school pupils who consistently go the extra mile.

To aid their ambitions, every opportunity is provided and that has been matched by the dedication of those who pull on the famous green, gold and black jersey.

“Since Covid, there was a reset button hit with our extra-curricular mentors and the effort they put in is fantastic,” he said.

“They are getting the lads in at 7.45am several time a week. After trading in the morning, we are providing breakfast for them in the school canteen and the boys are buying into that as they get good nutrition during the day.

“At lunch time, we see hundreds of lads battering the ball off the ball wall so sharpen their skills. That’s fantastic and a testament to the coaches and mentors, but also to the level of commitment the pupils are showing.

“We want to build on this. As the incoming principal, I’m very excited to see where this is going to go over the next five-to-ten years. We have this excellent ball wall, but also plans for a new sport complex in the school.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to out outgoing principal (Mrs Kelly), and pastoral vice-principal (Mrs Crookes) who is in charge of the extra-curricular in the school for the support they have given to the mentors and pupils.

“It’s not easy to get pupils out to miss out on their academics, but we believe our pupils are first and foremost student-athletes. They are students first and we prioritise their academic attainment levels, with the reward of representing our school with distinction, the way we have done.”

3

Hurling is not the only sport in which St Mary’s has excelled, with the Year 12s landing soccer’s Belfast Cup in this school term, while there was also basketball glory for the Year 8s.

But it is Gaelic Games which have defined the school’s sporting prowess over the years and the ambition is to maintain that.

Of course, success is never taken for granted as like all schools, clubs or counties, it all comes in waves, but ensuring those players move forward in their sporting career to adulthood is success in its own right.

For those pupils of today, they don’t have to look too hard for inspiration as there are a host of former past pupils representing Antrim at senior level today, including Gerard Walsh, Stephen Rooney, Aodhán O’Brien, Daniel and Caolan McKernan, Michael Bradley and Aaron Bradley (hurling); plus Cormac McGettigan, Dominic McEnhill, Paddy McBride, Marc Jordan and Declan Lynch (football).

It’s said if you can see it, you can be it, and many of those young hurlers who lined up behind the MacNamee, Gallagher and Leonard Cups last week will be going to emulate those who have gone into forge county careers.

“We are proud of them and our lads are proud of them,” said Mr McComb of the past-pupil county stars.

“They are people the pupils can aspire to as representing the school, they know there is a pathway to the county too. But credit to the clubs as it’s only through them, we can achieve the success we have, but we want to go into bigger and better things.

“I’m coming into strong foundations and I’m looking forward to the future.”
 
“When they come in September, the are told about these championships and what they can achieve if they work hard, so a lot take advantage of that and it’s a big deal for them.”