They say you should write about what you know, though if that were true then there would be a blank page in the sports section every week.

The great thing about sport of course is that pretty much anyone can spout an opinion that ends up having some small bit of merit.

Beyond that, though, I am extremely lucky in that my job allows me to contact people who do know what they’re talking about and ask them questions that are not entirely inane.

That good fortune was something that was clear to me as I completed my work on a new book, Cork Hurling: Game of My Life.

Over the past year and a half, Hero Books has been publishing editions on this theme focusing on different counties and I was lucky enough that – having worked with Liam Hayes of Hero on Larry Tompkins’ autobiography in 2019 and 2020 – I was asked to put the Cork hurling and football versions together.

Concept

Essentially, it’s a concept where 25 or so players are asked to pick the one game that stands out above all others for them and to discuss why it was so special, but there is plenty of scope to look at other aspects of their careers and how and why they became the men and players that they did.

Both Cork tomes were meant to be out before Christmas but circumstances intervened and a self-driven project like that will always end up getting bumped in such a scenario, but thankfully January was put to good use in finishing the hurling one, with the football one to follow in the autumn.

In many ways, my task was easy – once I had spoken to the players, it was a case of transcribing their words and literally letting them do the talking.

While my name is on the front, it is ultimately a book with 25 authors and I merely happened to be the one putting their thoughts on to paper.

The ins and outs of it

Transcribing is a funny one for journalists and writers.

In theory, having someone else’s quotes in a piece means that there is less need for thought on your part, but it always ends up being a task put on the long finger, primarily because we know that it takes a while – roughly speaking, a minute of audio takes three minutes to type.

28 September 2013; Shane O'Neill, Cork. GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final Replay, Cork v Clare, Croke Park, Dublin. \ Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

There is also the self-loathing that comes to the fore as you listen back and hear yourself cut across an interesting answer for the umpteenth time to ask a banal question.

“Shut up and let the person talk,” is a regular piece of constructive self-criticism in these exercises.

Support

More positive support came from family and friends. While I tried not to bother my confidantes with my fears that the thing might not actually ever be finished, having them as sounding-boards was a valuable asset, even if they weren’t actually aware of it at the time.

18 January 2017; Daniel Kearney of Cork in action during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Senior Hurling League Round 3 match between Cork and Waterford at Mallow GAA Grounds in Mallow, Co Cork. \ Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Quite a lot of the book was written while sitting outside the room of my elder son Johnny as he manfully battled against sleep; another chunk was done in the early mornings as his younger brother Aaron scuttled around the kitchen in his walker. There were even a couple of occasions – as Seánie McGrath in particular can vouch for – where the pair of them tried to help me conduct the player interviews. Most of the time, my wife Jessica had them in her care as I spent too much time away from my parental and marital duties to wrap it all up, but I am back in action on the domestic front again.

Unfortunately, my mother Gretta, who did so much to inspire my love of reading and writing, had a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia at the age of 58 six years ago and so she won’t be able to read the book but the foundations she laid were of the utmost importance and I know she would be proud. Equally, my father Jim taking me to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Semple Staidum, Croke Park, Fitzgerald Stadium and all manner of venues inside Cork for matches in the early 1990s put me on the path I am on today and I am eternally grateful for that.

PLayers and fans

Hopefully, the finished product does those people and all of the players justice as they were all so generous in terms of their time and memories. The book is dedicated to “Those that wore the Cork jersey – and those whose dreams they were living,” but it’s interesting to note that a common theme across those interviews was how those players were fans too and were generally overawed when first going into the dressing room and sitting alongside their heroes.

2 September 1990; Cork captain Tomas Mulcahy lifts the Liam MacCarthy cup following the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final match between Cork and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. \ Ray McManus/Sportsfile

The players featured, covering games from 1966-2019, are: Gerald McCarthy, Tony Maher, Brian Murphy, Martin Coleman, Tom Cashman, Ger Cunningham, John Fenton, Johnny Crowley, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, John Considine, Ger Fitzgerald, Tony O’Sullivan, Tomás Mulcahy, Seán O’Gorman, Denis Walsh, Seánie McGrath, Wayne Sherlock, Ronan Curran, Kieran Murphy, Tom Kenny, Ben O’Connor, Shane O’Neill, Stephen McDonnell, Anthony Nash and Daniel Kearney.

And finally, if you’ve made it this far, you can win a copy! Simply tell us when Cork last won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. As a sort-of club, that year’s final was the game chosen by Tom Kenny for the book.

Email competitions@farmersjournal.ie with “Cork Hurling Game of My Life” as the subject heading.