Dublin hurling thriving and one club encapsulates what is building in the GAA

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

'And we're all off to Dublin in the green, in the green,
"Where the helmets glisten in the sun,
'Where the camans flash, and the hurleys clash,
'To the rattle of the game hard won...' - The Dubliners (sort of) 1969
There are 30 senior hurling clubs spread across three senior divisions in Dublin and Thomas Davis — founded in 1888 — can hold their heads up with any.
They have been county champions, one of only 27, but remain a village/community club - indeed their nickname is 'The Little Village'
Tallaght may be the largest 'village' in Ireland but don't doubt its sporting acumen. Thomas Davis are a dual-code senior outfit while Shamrock Rovers reside nearby and Tallaght AC has been Rhasidat Adeleke's springboard.
But as club chairman Paul Nugent, Games Development Officer Stephen Stewart, club stalwart Terry Carthy and senior hurler Jack O'Connor can attest, Dublin's 2025 inter-county hurling side is in 'The Ready Position' - just one win away from a first All-Ireland SHC final in 64 years.
That was before The Dubliners — with local hero Ciaran Bourke (tin whistle, flute, guitar) one of their three founding members — released their iconic version of The Merry Ploughboy, in 1969.
Nugent played all the way through the club's age-grades, senior for 20-odd years, has been involved at intercounty level (1988-91), managed the senior team, been involved in the committees, been football chairman and occupied a few different roles too.
But in his first year as chairman he knows there is something very special going on – the surge of excitement about the hurling team can almost be touched.
'Last week and this week has just been phenomenal. I suppose over the last 20 years, it was all about football, and obviously, with the six-in-a-row team, everyone was interested in that but it probably died down a little bit.
'You know, we used to get 82,000 into Croke Park all the time for the footballers but I suppose winning too much can breed a little bit of neglect, let's say.
'When Dublin won that match against Limerick, the surge in anticipation was plain to see, straight away we had hundreds of applications for tickets for the next match — I suppose people are longing to see them doing well.
'It's been creeping up over the last 10 years of effort put into Dublin hurling. I suppose it takes time to compete with the Kilkennys and Corks, who are hurlers all their lives and by nature go to school with a hurley, but we're getting there!'
These weeks are camp weeks across the GAA; here on Kiltipper Road they alternate between football and hurling week on week and Thomas Davis is awash with kids, a reflection of a burgeoning underage section.
'We cater for 300 four-to-seven year old kids in our Saturday morning Academy and another 600 at CCC1 and CCC2 levels at weekends,' says Games Development Officer Stephen Stewart, who combines his work at club level with responsibility for 10 primary schools.
His is an interesting combination, blowing his whistle, keeping the volunteers busy, handling logistics for different groups/different ages – he's a watchman, full of encouragement and perhaps helped by his primary schools' role, he seems to know every kid's name!
Club dual star and 2022-24 Dublin minor football panelist Jack O'Connor is working skills with 11 year-old Ruairí Ó Murchú, part of a wider group on Thomas Davis's astro-pitch.
'Watching the last game and the lads pulling through with the red card. I was in more shock than anything,' says O'Connor. 'I think they kind of just bonded, came together as one team instead of trying to play as 14 individuals unlike the Limerick team on the day.
'They held together, stuck to their tasks, did the basics better. I really like their mix within the team, sure, some are more disciplined than others, some would be more skillful than others, but they've worked these things together and that's been a thing.
'Overall, style-wise I really like the way they work off the ball, try to play easy transfers, and they have been getting into acres of space for free shots, I think that's a great part of their skill.
'Sean Currie has been an unbelievable player for them, highest scorer for Dublin and the highest scorer in the Championship, also Conor Burke, Conor Donohoe.'
This semi-final could be a game specifically about goals...
'Especially with the way the Limerick game unfolded. Cian O'Sullivan and John Hetherton's two goals in space a minute proved vital because the Dubs only won by two points.
'I think they will need to think clinically about goals against Cork but they have shown they definitely have goals in them, especially from those long, driven frees.'
And yet Dublin hurling is not just about attaining a first All-Ireland final for seven decades, even if it is on the back of All-Ireland titles for Na Fianna (2025) and Cuala (2018 & 2017).
They are the first Dublin clubs to have won that but this it was on the shoulders of a hell of a lot of club building - there have been 124 Dublin senior hurling Championships, dating back to 1887.
Thomas Davis were on board for the county Championship within a year, a little-known entity from a tiny village against the backdrop of the Dublin mountains, its future as one of the city's thriving sprawls a long way off.
Says Nugent of then and now: 'Our current facility was only bought in 1982, before that we were down near the village. We used to have a pitch there that we rented from Kevin Molloy, the local publican.
'Kevin was a barrister by trade, a very professional guy and on the committee here, and was instrumental in us buying this land in the late 1970/80s and starting us off here which was fantastic.
'We have an all-weather facility here albeit it's down 20 years and for which we are hoping to raise a lot of money, maybe ¤500k, to get it recovered alongside two main pitches, one we purchased from An Post probably six or seven years ago and we've recently developed.
'So we have great facilities but we also have over 100 teams so you never have enough facilities. It's always a battle with the county council to try and get enough pitches to cater for maybe 50 home games every weekend or during the week.'
Dublin-Cork match will be the focus of this weekend for those who go to Croker, but there will also be those in a heaving and excited clubhouse catching the action.
'Yeah, we have our travel organised, one of the lads here has coaches and buses (Gerry Moore's Ridgway Coaches) so whatever is required it's kind of put out. There's at least a couple of buses going and if the demand is there for more he just puts them on.
'The clubhouse will be packed. We are not simply 'open' to the public for the day, we would always be welcoming to anyone in the local community, and over the last couple of years we've developed what we have to offer here.
'We have a cafe that opens at 9am, serves breakfast and then lunches up to half-two, then Thursday to Sunday we have food upstairs anyway.'
Drop down if you are near!
Thomas Davis are confident you'll like what you see, a modern, well-run operation, part of the identity of thriving Tallaght.
'It's a big community hub here and we field 100 teams each week. There's just loads of people giving a hand, running things like the Tallaght Festival or the St Patrick's Day parade, you put a small committee together and you try and get things done.
'There's two or three mentors with each team, then you have ground staff, you have committee staff, you are always looking for people to come in and help out and we've over 300 volunteers here -— volunteerism, as most people understand, is actually where the GAA is.'
'Actually it is the young people who are the lifeblood of this club,' says longtime club veteran Terry Carthy. 'They're fantastic, you take those helping at the camps today, they're going to be the Paul Nugents of tomorrow.
'Paul was a coach here one time too — now the young coaches are they're going on to play senior football and senior hurling. That's the way it works here.
'They are a fantastic group of young people, you couldn't get better in any area, in any other sport, because the idea is that it has to be that it is self-sustaining, that has to be your target.'
'You're always working at something,' says Nugent from the Thomas Davis bridge.
'I suppose, there's always a bit of fundraising going on, and here in Tallaght, a lower income area, it can be harder to raise funds.
'Our senior hurlers are in Division 1B, one down from the top echelon. We kind of went up and down a couple of times over the years but it's a big jump and we've struggled with it.
'Our footballers are in the top division, we got to the Championship final in 2020 and we'd be optimistic this year, we have a couple of lads who came back from abroad so it has strengthened our team.
'We have an intermediate team playing in Division 3 and our junior team is playing Division 5 in football so to have three teams at one, three and five is excellent.
'The girls' section is just thriving, imagine we have just one minor (Under-18) boys team but three minor girl teams.
'Obviously then, we are looking to re-cover our all-weather pitch, you're always trying to get a few grants and South Dublin County Council have been good to us over the years, or the government, let's say, with the grants originally.
'We have a big facility here that helps the whole community and we are proud to represent it too.'