A NEW year brings new possibilities and opportunities for our local sportspeople. West Cork has been a hotspot of sporting excellence in recent years and we’re confident that trend will continue in 2025. Here are ten stories worth keeping an eye on.
How will Paul and Fintan cope with the big boys? After dominating the world of lightweight rowing, double Olympic champions Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy now step into the world of the heavyweights, and will be up against the big boys. As good as the Skibbereen dream team have been, this is a journey into the unknown. They seem confident they’ll hold their own, but this could take time. An interesting indicator is the winning times from the men’s double finals at the Olympics in Paris last summer – while the Romanian team of Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache won the men’s (heavyweight) double A final in 6:12.58, Paul and Fintan took gold in the lightweight double final in 6:10.99.
Can Castlehaven complete the three-in-a-row? The undisputed kings of Cork club football right now, Castlehaven have impressed as they knitted back-to-back premier senior football titles together in 2023 and ’24. If anything, they looked further ahead of the chasing pack last season, beating the Barrs and Nemo en route to the title. Now, can Seanie Cahalane’s men become the first Haven team to win three county senior football titles in a row? Castlehaven won back-to-back championships in 2012 and ’13, but no Haven team has threaded three together. Not yet ….
Will the new Gaelic football rules revolutinise the game? Something had to change to get people talking about Gaelic football for the right reasons, and now we have the new rules that, hopefully, can give the game the lift that it needs. Soon, ‘two-point arcs’ and ‘three up’ will become part of the every-day football vocabulary. From one-v-one throw-ins to the new rules around when a goalkeeper can take possession, and so on, these are major changes to Gaelic football. Whatever at inter-county level, it will be interesting to see how these changes take effect at club level. Spare a thought for referees, too, especially at club level.
Will Phil Healy add to her medal collection? She captured our hearts, again, last year by winning her first international medal (silver at the European Athletics Championships) and then finishing fourth in the Olympic final, both with the Irish women’s 4x400m relay team, so we watch with interest how Phil Healy and Co will go in a packed 2025. With the European Indoors, World Indoors, World Relays and World Championships all this year, there is an opportunity for the Irish women’s 4x4 relay to build on what they achieved in 2024, and it’s a chance for Healy, now 30 years old, to prove again she is one of the best in the business.
How will O’Donovan Rossa’s ladies find life at the top level? After their success in the past two seasons, the Skibbereen ladies’ footballers will now compete at the senior championship level in 2025. Now they are in with the big guns, including three West Cork rivals, Castlehaven, Clonakilty and Kinsale. While Skibb took the jump from junior to intermediate in their stride, this will be a much tougher test at senior level, but the high-flying Rossas have momentum and confidence.
Will Cork footballers get that league promotion they need? It’s no secret that Cork football has suffered in recent years, and despite fleeting greenshoots, a lack of consistency has held the various teams back in the past decade. Cork are now in their ninth season outside Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, since that relegation in 2016. John Cleary has made no secret of his desire to get the Rebels back to Division 1 and consistent games against the top teams. Will 2025 be the year Cork finally get out of Division 2?
Will Jack hold on to the Ireland No. 10 jersey? The Jack Crowley v Sam Prendergast v Ciarán Frawley battle for the Ireland outhalf spot will ratchet up in the weeks ahead, as the Six Nations closes in – Ireland kick off at home to England on February 1st. After the November internationals, and given how Prendergast was handed several opportunities, we’re a little less certain as to who will wear the No. 10 jersey in the Six Nations opener. But Crowley has the class, temperament and experience to emerge from his biggest test yet. Remember, too, the Innishannon man played every minute as Ireland won last year’s Six Nations.
Who will stop Cork camogie’s three-in-a-row bid? We have to go back to Wexford (2010 to 2012) for the last county to win three All-Ireland senior camogie titles in a row, but Cork are on the cusp of that achievement. The last time the Rebels won three in a row was back in the early 1970s; in fact that was four All-Irelands on the bounce (1970 to ’73). Ger Manley’s current crop has proved themselves to be the best in the business right now, pushing past Galway and Kilkenny to become the number one team in the country. The three-in-a-row would take the Rebels to a new level.
Can Clonakilty Soccer Club defend their Premier Division title? We have a title race, again. The battle for the West Cork League Premier Division title went down to the final day of last season when Clonakilty Soccer Club got their hands on the trophy for the first time, and almost at the midway point this season it looks like this title race will go down to the wire too. Clonakilty and Drinagh Rangers look set to fight it out, again, though Dunmanway Town and Castletown Celtic will look to capitalise if the big two slip up. Clon and Drinagh are also in the semi-finals of the Parkway Hotel/Maybury Coaches Cup and the Premier Division Cup, and have Beamish Cup hopes too, so expect some huge games in the weeks and months ahead.
Can Cork hurlers take the next step? Last year they came so close to the All-Ireland triumph that the Rebels’ hurlers crave so much, but yet finished the season empty-handed. Cork’s run to the All-Ireland SHC final was one of the stories of the 2024 inter-county season, but it’s a clean slate now and everyone is back to the start-line. For Pat Ryan, the target has to be improvement on last season, and that will mean the Rebels will be in the conversation for the big prize this summer. It won’t be easy, though, as finding a way out of Munster will be the first goal.
