Carrigdhoun's Football and Hurling All-Stars 2025

Carrigdhoun Teams of the Year

(JJ Hurley)

As the season comes to an end, the difficult job of selecting who were the men that made the ideal Carrigdhoun sides in both codes arises.

Patrick Collins takes the number one spot in the Carrigdhoun Hurling Team of the Year.

While ultimately that decision comes down to the paper, we did cast our net among the county scribes and officials to see the names that came up.

Incidentally, it looks like we weren’t that far off the mark in our choice.

The first thing to say is that the standard of the games in both codes was very high.

The new rules in football have been a game changer, reflected in the obvious increase in numbers attending.

A year that saw the emergence of a very exciting young U21 football side from Kinsale, under the guidance of Kevin Cahill.

The Premier Junior side were inconsistent in their results on the pitch, but to be a better side you learn from your errors on the pitch.

However, the U21s were outstanding, dispatching a very decent side in the Procure.ie final and very unlucky not to progress to a county final, losing out to Iban Gaels on penalties.

In that regard, a number of players from the seaside town made the starting 15, with several others just losing out.

Having returned to the senior grade, Carrigaline proved that they deserved to be back at the top table, with a fantastic result against Clonakilty.

A bit more belief and you’d never know, as their killer Bs had, and it has been acknowledged.

Of course, the man Driscoll was outstanding, and his injuries deprived the team of their talisman.

Another side who were hit badly by injuries were Ballygarvan, and two of the lads who made the team were absent for much of the season, which was a huge loss.

However, when they were available, the lads were class.

Valley Rovers pulled off what can only be called the great escape, and they had one old warrior to thank for that.

Anyway, here goes the Carrigdhoun Football Team of the Year:

Sean Byrne, Kinsale, Darragh King, Carrigaline, Adam Dunne, Ballygarvan, Aaron Keane, Kinsale, Kieran Kavanagh, Carrigaline, Sean Brady, Ballygarvan, Gearoid Kearney, Kinsale, Brian Coakley, Carrigaline, James Murphy, Kinsale, Brian O'Driscoll, Carrigaline, Fiachra Lynch, Valley Rovers, Evan O’Connor, Ballygarvan, Diarmuid O'Sullivan, Ballinhassig, Ray O'Halloran, Ballygarvan, Brian Kelleher, Carrigaline.

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Hurling

The hurling was a tough choice, as the standard among the teams was a credit to the work being done by the clubs.

Despite the Cork 20s losing out, all the local representatives did well, but unfortunately not all made the side.

A tough choice.

Retaining their Ross Oil Junior A title, Belgooly have a good representation in the team.

Of course, Ballinhassig make up a large part of the team, following their county title victory in what is the toughest grade in the county to win.

Ballygarvan and Kinsale both have representatives on the side, and one wonders if the red half of a certain parish looks at Kilbrittain and says, “what if”.

We could have picked three different teams, but this is the one we settled on.

The Carrigdhoun Newspaper Hurling Team of the Year:

Patrick Collins, Ballinhassig, Joe O'Sullivan, Belgooly, Kevin Maguire, Ballinhassig, Patrick O'Leary, Ballinhassig, Eoin Guinane, Valley Rovers, Darragh O'Sullivan, Ballinhassig, Conor Desmond, Ballinhassig, Charlie Grainger, Ballinhassig, Ryan Deasy, Ballymartle, Eoin O'Donovan, Belgooly, Michael Collins, Ballinhassig, Barry Dwyer, Belgooly, Michael Murphy, Kinsale, Ger Collins, Ballinhassig, Dylan O'Connor, Ballygarvan.

Ballygarvan's Sean Brady had a fine debut season with the Rebels and makes the South East Football team of the year.