"It was like Christmas morning for us all"
Another Munster Club final beckons for Pauric Mahony and his teammates. Photos: INPHO
Pauric Mahony has been involved in all five of Ballygunner’s Munster club triumphs.
Back in 2001, at just nine years of age, he was a small part of their provincial breakthrough against Blackrock. His father Mick wore the number ten shirt that afternoon in Semple Stadium. Pauric and Philip accompanied him to the field throughout that campaign and they were in for a surprise when the team landed in the primary school the following day.
“We would have been hitting the balls back out and doing the water. We were somewhat involved with it. Gordon Ryan was the manager that year and we were in school the next day and he presented myself, Philip and Robert Cunningham with a sliotar for helping him out. It was like Christmas morning! All your heroes were there standing in front of you and then you were getting called up to the stage. A memory that you’ll never forget really. Ever since then, you’d be using that yourself when you see young lads up around the hurling pitch in Ballygunner. We try to be similar role models.”
Fergal Hartley and Paul Flynn were his heroes back then. “They were doing it at inter county level with Waterford at the time. They would have been the two lads I looked up to. I remember that year Andy Moloney came to Ballygunner. He went out of his way with us and made you feel part of something. Even though you were so young, you felt like you had something to do with it. Just being up there hitting balls back out to the lads or bringing in the water bottles. From then on, I would have been somewhat involved until I ended up playing myself.”
Mick trained Pauric’s underage teams in Ballygunner alongside Liam Murphy, Paschal Moore and Eugene Duggan. Pauric, Philip, Stephen O’Keeffe, Barry Coughlan, Conor Power, Harley Barnes and Brian O’Sullivan all ended up with Munster medals in 2018.
The free taking came about by accident. “It was by default really that I started to hit them. Stephen O’Keeffe would have played outfield and he would have been a natural free taker. He would have been hitting them at Under 11 and Under 12. By the time we got to Under 14, he was back between the sticks. If he stayed out the field, I might never have hit them!”
In 2009, he got the opportunity to hurl with his heroes at senior level under Ger Cunningham. “It’s everything that you aspire to do when you’re growing up. That year, I would have been playing minor with Waterford and we won the Munster. That helped getting into the senior set-up with Ballygunner. We won the minor, the Under 21 and the senior in the one year.
"There were four or five of us that we were part of all three. The year before, Peter Queally was manager of the team and I remember playing an internal game up in the pitch because they were short on numbers. At that stage, you’re almost ready to go into the dressing room with them. It was nice to get a taste of it that year.”
The 32 year old now boasts thirteen county medals, four Munsters and one All Ireland. In his sixteenth season, he is enjoying it as much as ever.
“Any time you’re going long into the winter with your club, it’s hugely enjoyable. Once you do step away from the inter county, you’re not as under as much pressure to be performing. Obviously, very fortunate that there’s a competitive group within Ballygunner and we’re still pushing each other. The split season helps a lot too. It’s the end of June, the start of July when you need to be hitting your peak in terms of fitness.
"The days of going back training January, February or March are gone. For someone like me, who was doing twelve months between the inter county and club for ten years or so, you want to break that completely. I definitely find that the break works well for me. You can keep going a little bit longer when there is the split season. I’m definitely enjoying at the moment anyways.”
Stepping away from the inter county scene in January 2023 gave him time to prioritise other things in life. “I have a little girl and she is ten months old. She is starting to move around and cause all sorts of trouble! I have to say it’s great. You don’t know how much you actually enjoy it until you’re in the situation. I definitely have a good balance at the moment.”
Mahony will come across a couple of familiar faces in Sunday’s Munster final against Sarsfields. He hurled with Daniel Kearney and Conor O’Sullivan on the UCC Fitzgibbon Cup team over a decade ago.
“Myself, Philip and Barry Coughlan would have been down there. We’re very familiar with each other. We’ve played each other in the last number of years in challenge games so we’re well aware of what’s in front of us on Sunday. If you want to get a top challenge match, you go down and play one of the Cork teams. I’d say it’s pretty much even in terms of wins and losses and that includes last year. We know the level we need to get to if we’re going to be successful on Sunday.”
