While Shane O’Neill taking charge of Galway in an All-Ireland semi-final against his native Limerick is a harmless plaything for the media, its relevance in either camp is minimal.
The last time that Limerick faced opposition that was managed by one of their own was when Eamonn Cregan’s Offaly sensationally beat them in the 1994 All-Ireland final. Cregan’s name wasn’t mentioned once in the build-up, says former Limerick goalkeeper Joe Quaid.
“We didn’t reference it at all and, to be fair, from talking to Eamonn and Derry O’Donovan afterwards, they found it extremely hard to manage against their own but, no, it won’t be used as a motivating tool,” Quaid insists.
“You can see by the Limerick set-up, they’re very single-minded and very focused and I think their motivation this year is what they felt were the wrongs of last year against Kilkenny.
“Knowing John Kiely and his mindset, it would be a case of, ‘There’s a team in front of us to get to the final and to get to the next stage they have to be beaten’.”
Sean Stack, who managed O’Neill at club level at Na Piarsaigh, doesn’t believe that the Galway manager will have been tying himself in knots about tomorrow’s game, even though seven of his clubmates are on the Limerick panel.
Stack managed both Toomevara and Na Piarsaigh successfully in Munster club finals against his native Sixmilebridge, something he found extremely difficult, but this, he says, is different.
“I wouldn’t rate it the same inter-county as it would be inter-club. Inter-club is closer to the core,” he explains.
“You’re coming down to your home place and you know everybody and you’re tied in a lot of areas outside of hurling with club players and mentors and your cousins and your uncles and aunts and whoever is supporting you but inter-county isn’t like that.
“I think that won’t have any bearing on what Shane is thinking. He’s managing Galway and he has a job to do.”
O’Neill’s family settled in Caherdavin, in the Na Piarsaigh hinterland in Limerick city, in his youth, though his father, Michael, from O’Callaghan’s Mills, is “a diehard Clare man”, according to Stack, and has moved back to Quilty in retirement.
O’Neill has built an impressive career for himself in law and is a partner in Sweeney McGann Solicitors in Limerick. Similar to his predecessor in Galway, Micheal Donoghue, he comes across as reserved and methodical.
Like Donoghue, his inter-county career wasn’t quite a stellar one and didn’t enjoy longevity. Their careers intersected in the 1997 League final, which was probably the high point of O’Neill’s time in the Limerick jersey given that he lost his place during the run to the 1996 All-Ireland final.
He played at midfield, scoring a point in a 1-12 to 1-9 victory over Galway, with Donoghue at wing-back but, despite the result, manager Tom Ryan was moved on with Cregan replacing him.
Back then, only beaten Munster and Leinster finalists were afforded a second chance and when Limerick fell at the first hurdle, for the third successive year, against Cork in 2000, it proved to be O’Neill’s last game for the county. He was just 26.
“He was a good hurler, really good club hurler,” says Quaid. “Intelligent guy obviously with his position in life as well as part of a solicitor firm so he’s an intelligent guy, good guy.
“Shane would have been quiet. Did his business. There wouldn’t be too many that would know too much about him outside of his own friends.”
Stack speaks of O’Neill like a father would of a cherished son.
“Whatever secret you have in life, I can guarantee you one thing, you could tell it to Shane and it would never go any further,” he says.
If O’Neill’s Limerick career flattered to deceive, he drew fulfilment from Na Piarsaigh, albeit belatedly.
He was part of underage sides that made waves in the 1980s and early ‘90s. The club won the junior title in 1990 and the intermediate four years later. It was 2009 before they got to a senior final, however, with Stack at the helm.
Adare rinsed them, 1-17 to 0-3. With a fresh wave of talent emerging, O’Neill hung in. In 2011, at 37, he got his reward as they beat Ahane to claim a first senior title.
Stack recalls: “Some time during the celebrations that night, and all the lads were celebrating and singing and dancing away in the clubhouse, I found him over at the window looking out at the field on his own and I was wondering was there something wrong with him and I went over and I could see nearly tears in his eyes and he looking out on the field.
“He said, ‘I thought I’d never live to see this day’ and I think that’s my most cherished memory of that victory, the reaction of Shane from that night.
“That stands out in my mind a mile away and it just showed everything about the man, that he was so delighted that the club had reached it and that he finally was a part of it.”
When Stack moved on, O’Neill succeeded him and drove them to the All-Ireland club title in 2016.
“When he took over as manager of the team those guys were coming in to be big players and they just filled up and the young lads matured and these newcomers were just outrageous talents, as everyone realises now.
“Shane took them the next step then to win the All-Ireland. He was the perfect guy at the right time in the right place.”
He may have had a wealth of talent at his disposal, but Quaid insists that “what he achieved was outstanding”.
“He probably had to leave lads off that he played with and things and sometimes them decisions are harder to make than if you had only the bare makings of a team,” he says.
He will likely be linked to the Limerick job at some point in the future but, as Quaid says, “managerial appointments, they can go one way or the other”.
“Circumstances have ro be right sometimes too,” adds Stack. “Shane has a family now and they’re young, like and he has a high-profile career to look after too.”
So, he’ll be striving to make the most of his opportunity with Galway, for whom O’Neill is a perfect fit, Stack believes.
“I’m sure as a player, you couldn’t imagine being around a better atmosphere than Shane would create.
“When it comes to motivation he’ll have that in his own calm way but he just has a calming influence and makes everybody feel good about themselves and feel good to be a part of a set-up and you need that in management nowadays. You can drive fellas so long but that’s only an interim fix.“
They have to admire you and come with you and be happy doing what they’re doing.
“I think Galway probably needed that. They just needed somebody to be a father figure for them and I couldn’t imagine anybody doing a better job at that than Shane.
“Now, they got lucky breaks and they’re in an All-Ireland semi-final and they have it all to do, but it looks like a happy camp and it looks like they’re all playing for each other and that hasn’t always been the way with Galway teams.
“They had a lot of great individuals down the years and they’re the sum of the parts more so now. It looks like that.”
