Hurling is a test, a constant mental, moral, physical test that goes beyond skill.
Family. Club Hurling. North Cork. These are the things that shaped Diarmuid O'Flynn's life. He played club hurling from an early age and captained his club, Ballyhea. But his childhood was scarred by beatings both at home and at school.
With bracing honesty, he recounts the ups and downs of a life in club hurling, of the game that was an outlet for his inner demons and an anchor throughout his life. He relates playing the game while working overseas, and the bigger battle he fought against injury and the limitations of age.
Experience the thrill of the action as he leads his team from junior to senior championship level, all while growing up, forging a career and finding love.
Diarmuid O’Flynn played his first hurling match at the age of nine, and togged out for the last time in July 2003 at 50, in the Cork Senior Hurling Championship. He worked in construction projects in Ireland, the UK, Iran, Libya and New York before turning to journalism, and writing for the Irish Examiner for 20 years. From 2011 to 2021 he was centrally involved with the Ballyhea Says No campaign against the bank bailouts in Ireland, and subsequently served as an accredited parliamentary assistant in the European Parliament. He retired in 2019, and now lives with his wife Siobhán in Mallow, Co Cork.
