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I thought North Offaly was the hotbed of Offaly hurling?

That would have been a bit of a surprise result though not entirely a shock. Birr are always strong and should always be strong at B level if they are organised. Banagher College have slipped a good bit from where they were 10 years ago - maybe don't have the players?

Re North Offaly, am I correct in saying north Offaly teams have won most of the minor A titles in last 10 years through KK (3 or 4), Ballinamere (2) and Clodiagh Gaels (1). And If so, why are South Offaly clubs falling so far behind?

Hard stretch to claim K/K as North Offaly? It borders Drumcullen and Kinnitty in areas.

Col choilm were down Ter Guinan due to injury. Kk is north offaly, not that should matter in a county as small as offaly.

If kk claim to be north offaly so be it wouldn't think so myself.

Birr are the only school within the county who competed at the highest level.

Let's be honest it's shocking that they are in the B a school with their tradition should be in the A it highlights the problems in South offaly not the progress in North offaly.

I see today that Col Choilm Tullamore edged out St Pats Navan today to make the semi finals. That's two very close wins and should stand to them in next game. Their hurlers being beaten by Birr should help them too even if it wasn't what they wanted. Looks like a strong enough outfit with plenty of experience. Any idea who they play next?

Makes it unlikely that col choilm players will be available for combined schools

Progress for Birr, Kilcormac and Ferbane in schools hurling and for Col Choilm and also Clara in schools football, makes combined schools a hard one to manage as these schools now go into finals and semi finals in individual schools. U20 managements, particularly in hurling (given volume of players double jobbing), need to row back on players involved in all these teams or lads will burn out or get injured like all the u20 footballers did last year.

What progress have the schools apart from colaiste choilm made? Not abreast of the situation at home, only ever see tullamore school mentioned in the local paper.

Any word on how Kieran Dolan is doing?

jimbob17 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:38 pm Progress for Birr, Kilcormac and Ferbane in schools hurling and for Col Choilm and also Clara in schools football, makes combined schools a hard one to manage as these schools now go into finals and semi finals in individual schools. U20 managements, particularly in hurling (given volume of players double jobbing), need to row back on players involved in all these teams or lads will burn out or get injured like all the u20 footballers did last year.

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Very true, unfortunately with some managers/mgts. while they are in there to do a job, their own egos become more important than player welfare.

Yea heard that some schools had difficulties getting access to their own players for training and intervention was needed which is quite bizarre if Offaly are interested in schools doing well. Sure some managers think they know it all. If what I heard is true, then Offaly really need to look at their recruitment process.

Media only give air time really to A schools competions and thats why you only hear re Col Choilm. They are a big school of over 600 Catholic boys in a country area where football is dominant sport and the question should be asked really about why it's only recently that they are competing in A grade competions. All other schools are smaller co-ed (meaning boys and girls) schools, where half population obviously is female. In some of the schools, then, they'd be non religious, or 'non denominational', meaning, that as well as half population being female, that a high proportion of students would come from different religious backgrounds, often meaning non-Irish background, ignificantly reducing chances of GAA involvement.

Obviously Col Choilm are into an A semi final, but with their talent, its no surprise and they probably should be reaching this stage of competition without too much fuss. Will be lot tighter for them from now on. Acc to paper today, Kilcormac (a very small school, albeit with plenty of hurling talent) are into a Leinster B semi final against Naas CBS I think which is a good achievement given first time in years at this level. Birr also into B hurling semi after beating Col Choilm Tullamore in quarter final. Moate CS are also into A football semi final after beating St Peters Wexford fairly well with plenty of Offaly lads involved. Ferbane walked through a hurling D final and will probably win Leinster by looks of it. Possibly able for a higher level. Clara which is another small school are into a final in D football for first time in a good while also. Once it gets to finals stages, the lower grade competitions standard can often be lot higher than people might think, as there are often teams misplaced in wrong grade. As an example, teams in B C and D finals have often played teams in other finals in higher grades in challenges in the past and have been known to beat them. I'd imagine that anyone winning a B or C Leinster or All Ireland in football would be well able for A grade colleges football competition, and anyone winning a D or C would seriously contest a B grade competition. Kilcormac a perfect example here. They struggled to win C all Ireland last year but are comfortably into a B grade Leinster Semi final now with great chance of winning that too. Beyond that lots of these players are involved in the combined schools hurling team, who are due to play a Wexford school (either St Peters or Good Counsel) in semi final this weekend I think and they will probably win well - which will likely pair them in a final with St Kierans College, which I'd also expect them to win. In fairness it is quite unfair on stand alone schools for Offaly to compete in A hurling as a combined team when they have 4 schools in B grade and 3 of them contesting at latter stages of B competition. Essentially it is the guts of next years Offaly u20 team playing in a schools competion and I'd be disappointed if they didn't win it, given the talent and experience at their disposal.

Having played colleges A hurling for many years In St Brendans Birr I think for Offaly to make improvements its important to have a combined schools team in A competing at the highest level..

The fall of offaly hurling is evident when you see St.Brendans in the B.

Yes this year we have a strong combined team but othe years we haven't or won't in the future.


They will play Good Counsel this weekend and I imagine it won't be one sided these are well drilled sides.

If they beat St Keirans I take my hat off to them.

Great win for St.Brendans today big win over Castlecomer of KK.

They now go to the leinster final.

Very good win. 1 19 to 9. Playing kilcormac in final?

Think they are playing Naas. Could go either way that.