WHEN Ailish Cleary and Niall Cahalane got married in 1991 it made the headlines in The Southern Star. This was the joining of two Castlehaven strongholds, the Clearys and the Cahalanes, two clans central to the success of their local GAA club. Together, this DNA would strengthen the club even more and also create their own Cahalane empire.
Ailish hails from Cleary stock. Her late father Ned, from Mayo, has been hailed as the greatest man to ever arrive in the parish, such was his transformative effect on Castlehaven GAA. Ailish is one of eight siblings – and the oldest of the five girls. The genes are strong. Her oldest brother, John, is the current Cork football manager. Her youngest sister, Nollaig, is a nine-time All-Ireland football winner.
The Cahalane brothers – Patsy, Niall, Denis, John and Fra – have made their mark locally, too. All-Star Niall hit the highest of heights, winning back-to-back All-Ireland football titles with Cork (1989 and 90); his legendary status is secured, for club and county. There is a Cahalane and Cleary link to all of the club’s six senior football triumphs, going back to the breakthrough in 1989.
The Cahalanes making headlines in the Southern Star in 1991.
‘There were three Clearys and five Cahalanes on the Castlehaven panel that won the first county senior title in ’89, Dinny and Fra would have been a bit younger,’ explains current Haven senior manager James McCarthy. The families’ connection to Castlehaven is strong, and it endures to this day.
When Haven won the 2023 county and Munster senior football titles, Ailish and Niall’s three sons – Damien, Conor and Jack – all started, and three more cousins were involved too – Cathal, Rory and Micheál Maguire (sons of Ailish’s sister, Deirdre). The Cahalane connection to the Haven is one of the pillars the club’s success is built on.
This incredible sporting family took centre stage at the GAA President’s Awards on Friday night when they received the prestigious Dermot Earley Family Award, recognition of their contribution to the GAA.
Ailish and Niall have seven children who are carrying the Cahalane torch: Cork hurler and 2023 All-Star nominee Damien (31), All-Ireland camogie winner and All-Star Meabh (28), county hurler Conor (26), Cork camogie player Grainne (24), Rebels’ footballer Jack (21), All-Ireland camogie winner Orlaith (20) and rising star Kate (17). The oldest six are all involved with various senior inter-county Cork squads this season.
Though Ailish and Niall live in the city, their connection to home has never waned, and they were always keen on maintaining this link to Castlehaven – and Damien, Conor and Jack are all starters for the county football champions.
‘Their commitment to Castlehaven is second to none,’ James McCarthy adds.
‘I am the nearest person living to the pitch in Castlehaven. I would be one of the last to leave it after training, apart from the local ladies who sort out our food, but the three Cahalanes would be the last three pulling out – and they have the journey back to Cork. They are either talking to someone, getting physio, but their commitment is incredible.’
The Cahalane clan pictured after Castlehaven won the 2023 Cork Premier SFC final. (Photo: Castlehaven GAA on 'X')
All seven Cahalane siblings tog out with St Finbarr’s in hurling and camogie. Maebh, Orlaith and Kate play club football with Éire Óg, and Gráinne lines out with the Barrs. Castlehaven, however, also plays a huge part in all their lives. Look at how much the epic Munster club senior final win against Dingle in December meant to them, Damien emerging as the penalty shoot-out hero.
‘They grew up with Castlehaven, they just moved to the city but their heart is here,’ McCarthy says. ‘They are down here in the summer, down here at Christmas, I’d meet them more than some of my neighbours! Every chance they get, they are here. It is a big, big commitment.
‘This is the third generation now. We had Niall’s father and my father and that gang, they were all great friends, then Niall of course, and now the next generation are keeping this going, all great friends again. It takes a parish to keep that going, and to have the pull back to the place.’
So what is the secret to the Cahalanes’ success? Well, it’s Ailish’s pancakes!
‘Mom makes pancakes for all of us,’ Grainne explained, with Niall adding, ‘If they were pancakes made for me in my time, I might still be playing!’
With their recipe for success, the current Cahalane trailblazers will continue to keep their famous surname in the headlines.
