We look at the Cork star's West Cork connection.
A HEADLINE in last week's Southern Star proclaimed that 'There's something about Sean Powter', and we're glad to report that we've discovered what that special something is: it's his strong West Cork connection.
To be more precise, it's Sean's strong links to Skibbereen.
The performance of the Douglas footballer for Cork in the recent All-Ireland SFC Round 4A qualifier defeat to Mayo caught the attention of all; he was superb, running himself to a standstill as he led the Rebels' fight-back, despite only turning 20 last Sunday.
And now we can reveal that Sean's football ability stems from Skibbereen, where his family has a very strong GAA and sporting background.
Sean is the eldest son of David, from Australia, and Marita, from Skibbereen, and he has two younger siblings, Brendan and Lia.
His father David was also a top-class sportsman and got a call-up to the Australian junior hockey team, and Sean's great grandfather, on his dad's side, was a professional sprinter who ran the 100 yards race, as it was back then, all over Australia, and was quite successful. Now we know where Powter's blinding turn of speed comes from.
Turning attention closer to home, and to Skibb, Marita is the daughter of Liam and Joan O'Donovan, and Liam (Sean's grandfather) played football with O'Donovan Rossa, but it was his brother, and Sean's granduncle, Dermot who is better known as the footballer of the family.
Dermot was a class act on the football field and he was a Cork minor for four years, 1951 to '54 (is that some sort of a record?) who captained the minors in his final year, and he also played with the Cork juniors, winning All-Irelands in 1955 and 1964.
With those sporting genes from both sides of his family, Sean was always destined to make headlines.
