'From the club's point of view, you could say it's awkward' - Araglen GAA on the All-Ireland Final

Nestled right on the border of Cork, Tipperary, and Waterford, Araglen GAA is, geographically speaking, one of the most remarkable clubs in the country.

It is in fact the only club in existence which is situated in the Rebel County, and players must then cross the border to play on their pitch which resides in Tipperary.

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It’s understandable then, with the first-ever All-Ireland SHC Final set to take place between the two sides this weekend, that tensions and banter are running high within the club, as Chairman Alan Hegarty told the Tipperary Star.

“Well I suppose from a club point of view, you could say the situation is awkward,” he began.

“Obviously we’d have members from both Cork and Tipperary, and we’d even have Waterford natives who would have an interest in it too. Where we are and what we are leaves us in an unusual position when it comes to Sunday.

“Our pitch is actually in Tipperary even though we play in Cork, so we are well and truly in the mix of this thing!”
Alan went on to explain that this Cork/Tipperary divide stretches outside of Araglen GAA and into his personal life too.

“Even to take my own situation in all of this, I’m actually originally from Cork City, and my wife is from Tipperary, and the Tipperary part of the village is technically where we live. We have one son who follows Tipperary and another son who follows Cork, which is unusual to say the least.”

When it comes to situations like these, the banter in the club between both sets of supporters is bound to be at an all-time high. For Alan Hegarty this means a large cohort of players who will be elated come Sunday evening, and an equally large proportion of players who have just watched their county lose an All-Ireland Final to a fierce rival.

“Look, as long as I’ve been living here, which is the past 25 years, it’s always been great banter and done in good spirit. Whenever any of the three counties play each other you’ll always have that sort of light-hearted tension in training that week, jokes flying, digs getting in early etc. But of course I realise there is quite a bit more at stake this weekend.

“One side will be disappointed next Monday, of course, from my own point of view I’m just hoping it won’t be the team in red!”

Outside of the club and taking the entire village of Araglen into account, Alan was adamant that it’s the Rebel County who have the largest amount of fans in the local area.

“It would be predominantly Cork, just because of our proximity to other clubs and villages in Tipperary and Waterford and how the geography of it all works, we have plenty of out and out Cork supporters here in Araglen.

“Interestingly though in terms of the GAA club and the players we have in the set-up at the minute, when you go down to training right now you see the Tipp jerseys, you see the Cork jerseys, there’s no end of red and white and also blue and gold flags and bunting in the village at the moment.”

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