From 35-year gap to Croke Park: How Easkey's hurlers took Sligo by storm

Michael Bolton

A small village in Sligo, Easkey has shown through their hurling what a committed group of players can do when a community is behind them.

After defeat in 2023, they are in another All-Ireland junior hurling final when they face Kilbrittain of Cork in Croke Park on Saturday.

In a season full of late comebacks and dramatic victories, a key part of the team is Finnian Cawley.

The Easkey forward has paid tribute to the support they have been given over the years from the community.

"It's a real kind of family, community feel, and we're so, we're so lucky in a small community to have those people because they're not, you know, they're not coming down on trees all the time.

"We are very resilient people. There are some amazing people in our communities that we've probably learned from; they've been through a lot now. Everybody kind of has their own crosses to carry; we are probably just a resilient bunch, and we enjoy playing together.

"There's not a lot of them around. So we're just very lucky to have them all involved with us. Every training, there's food made afterwards, and they're looking after us. Anything you ask, there's nothing too big or too small to do whatever they can for you."

With hurling discontinued from the club for 35 years, it returned to the small Sligo village in 2018.

Within three years, they were county champions, and have never looked back since.

To find the origins of the club's success, it can be found in the school, Coláiste Iascaigh, where, as friends, Finnian and his teammates realised they could be on to something special.

"We're very, very good friends, kind of like a brotherhood, in a way. They were like, well, if you're playing together in school, why can't you do the same for hurling?

"The likes of Tooreen, like what they've done as well over the last few years, they're an unbelievable inspiration to us as well. The template for us, in a way, to do, or to try to implement what they've done."

No matter what happens on Saturday, it has been quite the journey for Easkey, who have firmly put hurling on the map in Sligo, a county better known for its football.

Should they win, it would be silverware heading back to the county, an aspect that should not be forgotten.

"I think in any code in Sligo, at the national level we probably haven't really won too much in terms of national titles, and whether it be football or hurling, I think it's the same feeling, it would be a massive achievement for a club to win an All-Ireland in Sligo.

"It would be celebrated in hurling the same way it would be in football.  For a county like Sligo, it will be incredible when you think of it.

"When you win a hurling All-Ireland title, it's obviously going to showcase the game and showcase talents and get more people interested in actually playing the game."

It may not have been the intention in 2018, but a club like Easkey, which has now reached two All-Ireland finals in a short space of time, have shown what can be done despite a small population and resources.

For other clubs, where hurling may not be popular, they have provided a template, which makes Finnian hopeful for the future of the sport.

" I suppose we knew that we had good players, like you've got good characters and good players in the dressing room. But have you ever seen yourself getting to an All-Ireland? It's not really something you sit down at the start of the year and go, right, we're going to go about this. You may be looking at teams and say geez, we can do what they did.

"When we started off this journey, we wouldn't be looking at Croke Park, but that's just a bonus to be able to get back there.

"If other teams want to have a look at us and use us, what we've done as a template, that's amazing.

"It grows the game. It grows the community. It probably helps the community out. if that's a byproduct of what we're doing, that's a fantastic thing."