O’Farrell completes All-Ireland treble at 20

By Stephen Barry

If his performance didn’t already confirm as much, pre-match rumours that Sam O’Farrell was ill were nonsense.

The Nenagh Éire Óg clubman hadn’t heard the gossip beforehand.

“No, no truth to that,” he confirmed.

“Well able, fresh, and ready to play.

“Paul Carroll from Tipp FM said it to me earlier on that there was a lot of rumours about that circulating, but luckily I didn't hear it and probably just as well.”

The versatile stickman put in an all-action display to shackle Darragh Fitzgibbon and his smart use of the sliotar assisted four points in the first forty minutes.

With this victory, O’Farrell completed the set of senior, U20, and minor medals, having captained Tipp to the 20s crown just seven weeks earlier.

“It’s an absolute whirlwind. Myself, Josh Keller, Craig Morgan, and Jake (Morris) would have car-pooled all year to training. Jake would often remind us that in 2019, he did the 20s and senior.

“At the start of the year, you're saying, ‘Well, look, if we do one, we'd be doing very well.’ To have the two this year, it's the stuff of dreams. It really is. It just still feels surreal.”

Following in the footsteps of his father, Paul, who is a GP in Nenagh, the 20-year-old is studying medicine at the University of Galway.

“This year was an introduction year, so it gave me ample time to be home for training. It wasn't too taxing. A lot of it was continuous assessment,” he revealed.

“But I've heard it's going to be a different story next year, so we'll move across that bridge.

“Hurling is my first love, and as long as I’m able and want it, I’ll be playing.”

Coming into a squad that had endured a winless 2024, it didn’t take much medical insight for O’Farrell to sense the pain.

“They definitely didn’t shy away from it,” he added.

“There was a lot of honest discussions. If anything, it spurred us younger lads to get our act together to really drive this thing on, because the passion that was displayed in some of those meetings... Lads just wanted to do the jersey justice and get to days like this.

“I don't know if many could have foreseen this, but it was obviously the goal.

“Just the raw emotion and passion was inspiring from those early meetings. Everything was put out on the table. They parked last year, but those scars would drive on those lads to prove a lot of people wrong.”

O’Farrell grew up playing in attack and featured at wing-forward for some of the club championship last year. The switch from under 20 defender to senior attacker wasn’t such a leap so. Especially with the backing given by his managers, Brendan Cummins and Liam Cahill.

“Brendan was brilliant to us this year,” he added.

“He let us in with the seniors for the first half of the season, just completely all in with them, and any time we needed any bit of experience to lean on, he was there.

“Then, our senior management team, just the confidence they inspired in us young lads, handing us the start that first day in Galway was huge. They never ever had a bad word to say to us or about us. It was huge bravery.”

Beating then-All-Ireland champions, Clare, on their home patch in knockout hurling was a major moment for the group.

“That game was probably the catalyst for what we went on to do this year. To go into the All-Ireland champions’ backyard and beat them was special.

“It was Craig Morgan's first Munster Championship win, Ronan Maher's first Championship win as captain, so what it meant to those lads and the buzz it gave us, it really kicked things on.

“We had to beat Waterford the next day, and that just gave us confidence to keep winning. And winning is the best thing ever. Once you get a taste for it, you never want it to go away.”