In March 1977, Tim Horgan released the original of ‘Cork’s Hurling Story’, a book documenting Cork hurling from 1890 to 1977. It was a book of its time, bereft of modern technology in terms of design, but invaluable in terms of information and reference. ‘Cork’s Hurling Story’ (2010 edition) has been republished by Collins Press and updated to the present day. Littered with excellent photographs (The ladies will like the one of Sean Óg on page 320!!), it’s best described as a full, in-depth account of the success of Cork hurling, coupled with a phenomenal number of first hand quotes from Cork players of every era. Needless to say, defeat isn’t dwelled upon too much when there are numerous Croke Park successes.

Some modern writers deem it to be a negative thing when a book is written in chronological order, and to be honest, there was no other way around this book. It is laid out in chronological order from start to finish, and within the chapters, there are subchapters where, in the main, Horgan introduces profiles of some of the bigger names relevant to their particular era. Jack Lynch, Paddy Barry, Jim ‘Tough’ Barry, Ray Cummins, Justin McCarthy, The Kid Cronin, John Fenton and Tomás Mulcahy are amongst those profiled within chapters, not to mention the great JBM. In modern times, the ‘SIPTU’ brigade are profiled: The Rock, Dónal Óg, The O’Connors, the O hAilpíns along with others such as Tom Kenny, Wayne Sherlock, Timmy McCarthy. Limerick and Waterford supporters might note that the profile of Justin McCarthy is headed Justin – The Hurling Apostle!

Putting it mildly it’s a great book for those who pride themselves in being from within the Peoples’ Republic. It’s a book that a parent can hand a Cork kid in five years time, and say, “Read that and you will know what Cork hurling is all about”. It is not top heavy on accounts of the strikes, but let’s be honest, the strikes are the products of three single individual years, they are not the history of Cork hurling. There are other books such as ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Come What May’ that describe the strikes in as great detail as you are going to get. In any event, people are sick of reading about the strikes.

What we get here from the modern side of things, is the emergence of the 2001 minors and where they came from, a summary of the emergence of JBM’s kids in 1999, and John Browne’s failure to take to rugby. There are oodles of nuggets of information to be found. For instance, Tom Kenny was one of Brian Kerr’s underage stars and might well have won an under 16 European championship with Andy Reid and John O’Shea. But the book also reminds us that Kenny has amazingly never received an All Star. We are told that both Christy Ring and Jack Lynch rated Pat Horgan as the best hurler Glen Rovers produced in a decade back in 1979. Perhaps people of older vintage than myself might comment on that one, but based on video evidence its fair to say he didn’t fulfil that promise.

The review is incomplete without a few words on the excellent presentation. There is no denying but Collins Press are top notch when it comes to finishing a book. Perhaps I am biased, but I am proud to be biased based on the job they did on ‘Unlimited Heartbreak’, for which I can claim no credit. They have a proven track record in this regard, and ‘Hurling Warriors’ by Diarmuid O’Flynn was an excellent example of how a book can be presented, as opposed to the standard paper used by most books with a clump of photos on high quality paper in the middle.

The value of an index on a GAA book cannot be understated, especially for future reference, but for some reason most publishers don’t bother with them for GAA books. Some publishers (and perhaps authors) may be looking at the dollar signs, after all, the lower the production cost, the more money that can be made. But forgetting the short-term economics, a Collins Press book is a book worth holding in the hand. Better quality paper will stand up to the test of time, and inevitably ‘Cork’s Hurling Story’, is a book that will be pulled down from the shelf on a regular basis.

Many years ago, the children in a classroom was asked to sum up Cork hurling in a three letter word, after numerous guesses, the answer was given, JBM. Things have now advanced to the stage where we are now in a position where we can sum up Cork hurling in three words – ‘Cork’s Hurling Story'.


ISBN: 978-1-84889-096-1 • Paperback • 234 x 156 mm • 320 pp • Colour, b&w photos