THE dial in Castlehaven has moved. The hunter has become the hunted, and Jack Cahalane feels how they dealt with that pressure in 2024 highlights how much this group has grown.
Castlehaven finished the year as back-to-back county senior football champions and the undisputed top team in the county.
Having watched Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s – the two other members of The Big Three in Cork club football – juggle the previous six county titles (2017 to ’22), the Haven are now number one, following up their 2023 success with an even more impressive triumph.
As defending champions, Seanie Cahalane’s team couldn’t play the underdog card in their title defence, and how they handled that expectation pleased Jack, the youngest of the Cahalane brothers who add steel, character and a dash of brilliance to the Haven.
‘The really satisfying thing about this year is that we were fancied going into every game and it’s really good to know that you can back yourself up and not shy away from it on the big day,’ Jack explains.
‘It’s easy to get yourself up when you think that everything is going against you and that you have to work harder against a better team to get over the line. The really good teams are able to perform and win when they are expected to win, and that’s a sign that we coped with it.
‘The mentality in most clubs is that you go in thinking you are the underdog, thinking that everything is against us – and that was the way last season (2023). The Barrs were talked up a lot ahead of that 2023 semi-final and we were underdogs but we knew if we worked hard enough we had the players to win it. And we did. It was the same in that final. And we won. It was different this season, we were expected to win and we rose to that challenge.’
Jack Cahalane was named county final man-of-the-match.
The success of 2024, following on from the county and Munster glory of the previous season, means Castlehaven’s basecamp has moved; what constitutes a successful season now is different to, let’s say, 2022. It’s a sign of their progress, but that will bring its own pressure. Kings of their home patch, this is a team that will have hopes of making moves outside the county, and Jack believes they have the quality to make further strides in 2025. To achieve that, improvement is a non-negotiable necessity because there are clubs all around the county plotting how to knock the Haven off their perch.
‘We have to start from the bottom again next season and we realise that we can’t stay still, we need to keep moving forward,’ Jack says.
‘This time next year, if we have been just as good in the championship as this year, I don’t think we’ll win the county. We need to improve year upon year. The Barrs will be better next year. Nemo will be better. Ballincollig too. Mallow. All those will be better teams so we know it’s going to be a massive challenge.
‘We have to improve, we know that, but what’s very promising is that we have a group that can get better. The work-rate is there to get better, and that’s what wins counties.’
That’s ominous for the chasing pack: Castlehaven feel there’s room for improvement. They defeated Clonakilty, St Michael’s, Carbery Rangers, St Finbarr’s and Nemo Rangers in their run to glory – and the Barrs, losing the semi-final by four, got the closest to them – but the Haven were never at full tilt with a fully-fit squad. Conor Cahalane didn’t start a game in the county championship, missing the entire group stage with a hand injury. Michael Hurley’s niggling ankle injury limited his impact. Damien Cahalane, hampered by injury, played 34 minutes in the semi-final and final combined. Ronan Walsh, a rock in 2023, was held back by injury, too. Yet Haven were even more convincing winners in 2024 than the previous year.
Jack feels they’re in a good place to kick on again. There’s more in the older players, like captain Mark Collins who, at 34, is fitter than most of the younger lads, Jack quips. But it’s the wave of young players who have freshened up the squad that give the most reason for optimism. The culture of this club is the platform that their success is built on: that togetherness, tight family vibe backed up by hard work and commitment. In this community football usurps all else; it’s the pulse of this rural outpost that has been put on the map because of its footballers.
‘We have our big leaders who have been massive Castlehaven men for years, Brian Hurley, Michael Hurley, Mark Collins, Damien Cahalane, Conor, you have massive personalities there,’ Jack notes.
‘I think the younger group of lads, like Jack O‘Neill, Thomas O’Mahony, Jamie O’Driscoll, Robbie Minihane, Sean Browne, those lads, really drove it on this season and grew massively in confidence. The improvements that the lads have made … they are savage athletes.
‘Coming up through the ranks they could always play football, they’re very skilful players, and the strides they have made in terms of conditioning and being able to move around the pitch, it really drives everyone else on when you see lads improving game upon game, year upon year. Those lads gave the rest of us massive confidence.’
Captain fantastic Mark Collins lifts the Andy Scannell Cup after Haven's 2024 success.
Jack is part of that youthful, vibrant wave too. At 22, he’s the present and the future – and he proved his worth in 2024. The county final man of the match, he kicked 0-3 against Nemo Rangers, having kicked three points in the semi-final against the Barrs too. 1-3 against Clonakilty. 1-2 against St Michael’s. 0-3 against Carbery Rangers. Jack raised his own game to a new level.
‘There really is something special about pulling on the Castlehaven jersey, there is such a deep family connection to it. Playing with family and your friends, it’s special,’ he says.
‘I really enjoyed my football this year, I was given a new position and was further out the field so I was able to open up my legs a bit and it suited me. The lads around me make it easier because I know there is no pressure on me to perform; you have Michael Hurley, Brian Hurley, Micheál Maguire, Sean Browne, these guys, so it means there is no massive pressure on any one guy to play well.’
Jack adds: ‘All the games when I was younger probably stunted my own growth as a player, that has shown because this year is probably the first year I have really shown my worth to Castlehaven and St Finbarr’s in both codes. It was massively enjoyable during the club season, going from game to game.’
Jack’s challenge in 2025 will be, much like with Castlehaven, to find the next level. That’s what’s needed to stay at the top. There’s unfinished business outside the county. The Munster club exit away to Dr Crokes in Killarney in November stung, but to get back there, Jack and Co need to look after business at home. Also, no Castlehaven senior football team has ever won the three-in-a-row. Challenge accepted.
