Learn a little if not everything about the Cork hurlers
by Brendan Coffey
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Blood Brothers by Michael Moynihan
You’d think that a book documenting the last 10 years of the Cork hurlers at the time of the latest impasse between the county’s hurling team and the county board would benefit from time.
You’d think that it would benefit from time the way last year’s book about the rich history of Dublin and Kerry in the All-Ireland football championship fell flat on its face because of the Dubs habit of falling flat on their face once they reach the altitude of an All-Ireland series.
Tom Humphries book, while a blatant attempt by the Dub obsessed author to elevate his beloved county above the status they’ve achieved in the last 20 years, was still a wonderful trawl through the characters and stories of that era. Michael Moynihan’s book about the Cork hurlers is a let down because the writer is capable of much more and the stories he tells aren’t particularly new.
Denis Walsh’s superb book: Hurling, The Revolutionary Years, tells the tale of the first Cork strike in 2002 in exacting and compelling detail. Moynihan’s opus brings the story up to the present day but suffers because his book is released at a time when the latest chapter is now being played out.
There are some tales in here that remind you of the humans behind the actors in the latest dispute: the time Diarmuid O’Sullivan hung up the phone on Jimmy Barry Murphy because he didn’t believe that the great JBM would be calling a lowly teenager like O’Sullivan, least of all to play hurling with Cork.
There is no doubt that the author has put in a serious amount of work and you will come away from this book with an understanding of what makes the Cork hurling team tick. You get the impression that one book would never be enough to get to grips with this team. Certainly one manager was never enough to handle them.
Alongside Brian Corcoran’s superb book with Kieran Shannon, released a couple of years ago, there is now a fine collection to detail the most fascinating period in Cork hurling and one of the seminal moments in the GAA.
Blood Brothers is another worthwhile exploration into the weird world of the Rebel county. Like the players who feel constrained by the lack of ambition shown by those in authority, you get the sense that this could have been better.
Tags: Blood Brothers, Cork hurling, Diarmuid O'Sullivan, Dublin, Kerry, Kieran Shannon, Michael Moynihan
