‘We were very lucky' – Cork GAA star reveals ‘role model' Patrick Horgan's touching gesture when he was starting hurling
On the grounds of a club that can boast Christy Ring as one of its heroes of the past, Downey spent countless hours honing his craft as a teenager.
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Robert Downey is one of three Glen players in the Cork team
Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
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And he praised Patrick Horgan for making him feel welcome at the club
Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
It has left him with fond memories of being invited to test himself against one of the Glen's senior stars — a man who is now a team-mate for both club and county.
And on Sunday at
Along with his younger brother Eoin, 22, and legendary forward Patrick Horgan, 37, captain Downey is one of three Glen players in the
Cork
team that will start against Munster rivals Tipperary.
And he said: 'When I was growing up, Hoggie was around with a hurley in his hand 24-7, so he was our role model.
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'We'd have always played in the ball alley as well in the Glen. We played squash with our hurleys and sliotars, just one touch.
'I can remember when I was very young, Hoggie would ask us to come in and play with him.
'The alley in the Glen would be bigger than a squash
court
— it's designed for that game specifically.
'We were lucky we had such close access to Hoggie. I can remember him an awful lot.'
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Being taken under the wing of a man destined for greatness helped Downey develop into a player deemed worthy of being entrusted with the honour of captaining his county.
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Downey, who bagged a sensational goal in the 2024 final loss to Clare, ended last season as an All-Star.
The ball-alley battles with the Rebels' elder statesman have paid dividends.
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He reflected: 'I just remember as young fellas he'd be in there with the senior team. We might have been 13 or 14 in the viewing area, watching him for hours and hours and he'd call us in. At that stage, the sliotar was worn out.
'We'd play with him for the last two or three games. But it gave us the bug to want to get to the levels he was at and to practise as hard as he did.
'And it's
funny
now, even in the off-season I could ring him or he could ring me and there'd be a few of us going to the alley again. We always find ourselves back there.'
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Horgan, hurling's all-time leading scorer, will hope his status as one of the greatest players never to win an All-Ireland medal expires this weekend.
Downey added: 'The nights we're not training with Cork, we're always up in the club watching Glen training. He's always there, still down pucking around.
'But even outside of that, he's always trying to get better at different aspects of his game. He's still as competitive as ever. It's great to have had him as a role model and still have him as a role model.'
In terms of their ongoing duels for supremacy on the Glen's de facto squash
court
, has Horgan always been the man to beat?
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Downey laughed: 'I remember beating him when I was quite young actually. In fairness to him, he's probably the best of us but I think I could give him a good run for it!'
As for the prospect of adding a coveted
Celtic
Cross to Horgan's haul of four All-Star awards, the captain said: 'Look, it would be lovely for him obviously.
'But at the end of the day, it's about the group and it's a group effort.
'It's a massive effort from everybody, not just players. But look, it would be lovely.'
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