Conor William Sheehan lives for hurling, and already has his own business making and repairing hurl, which he has plans to develop into his career.

Like most young lads in Cork, Conor is obsessed with hurling at the moment. He was in the GAA grounds with his dad Derek for their epic Munster final win. However, for Conor, who turns 15 next month, hurling and hurleys have been an obsession for years.

Conor is from Upton, which is 20km outside Cork city to the west. That means his village and parish is Inishannon and his club is Valley Rovers. Conor is involved in every aspect of the life of the club.

Maor Uisce

“I help in the club any way I can. I am a Maor Uisce for the men’s hurling teams, which means I’d be at most adult matches and help out with the water and spare hurleys for the players,” he says.

Conor also operates the scoreboard for home matches as well as doing match updates on social media.

“Sometimes the players ask me to make sure I say they’ve made a good save or tackle or taken a nice score, so there’s a bit of craic with that,” he says.

Conor’s parents, Derek and Abbie, encourage his involvement. His sister, Áine Rose, who is three years older than him, used to play football for the club too.

“I play with the under-15s and the under-16s,” Conor says.

While he plays both hurling and football, hurling is his first love.

“I’d usually play full forward with the under-15s, and wing forward with the under-16s. I’d have a fairly decent skill level; I have a hurl in my hand whenever I can.”

Repairs

For Conor, it goes further than using a hurley. He also has been repairing broken hurleys since the age of 10, and wants to be a hurley-maker, a quintessential Irish artistry.

“I mend hurleys for a lot of the lads in the club” he explains. “At first, it was just fixing my own hurls if they got a crack, but it’s something I love doing.”

Cork's Conor Sheehan repairing a hurl in his workshop. \ Donal O'Leary

Conor is drawn to something that echoes back to the time of Cú Chulainn – the feel of the ash timber in your hands, crafting a stick until it’s just the right weight, shape and feel.

Such is his passtion, he is already expanding his operations. “I have a set up in the garden shed, but we’re converting a stable over to a work shed for hurley repairs. I’d like to be a hurley maker when I leave school.”

Speaking about this school, which is Hamilton High School in Bandon, he says, “I like it there and I’ll definitely have another career along with the hurley making. I hope to go to college, and will decide when the time comes.”

Conor is a country lad who is fond of the outdoors and is looking forward to the long summer days. At home, he helps with family chores.

“We have chickens. I’d help feeding them and collecting the eggs, just for ourselves. And every year we buy a few sheep and fatten them.

“Last summer they broke out a few times and I spent a couple of afternoons rounding them up and keeping them penned until I had a little help to repair the fence,” he explains.

Conor is close to his grandma Phil, who lives only two houses away.

“I do a bit of grass cutting for ourselves and my Gran – help with the gardening, that kind of thing.”

But mostly, he admits, he likes to be pucking a ball, and his hurl is with him wherever he goes, whether that’s checking the sheep or heading to the local pitch.

Cork is Ireland’s biggest county, so the underage divisions are regionalised.

“Valley Rovers hurl in division one west in under-16s. The furthest we’d have to travel would be Dunmanway, maybe. For football, it would be as far as Skibbereen. We’ve gone to one or two hurling finals, but we’ve lost out. We have won one or two football titles, so it’s not too bad,” he says with a smile.

Future for the rebel county

Cork, after years in the wilderness, have been knocking on the door recently, and Conor and dad Derek have been dedicated pilgrims on the road to hurling redemption.

“We’ve only missed one Cork hurling match this year. The buzz at the matches is great, I love it. We’ve lost a few finals since I started going to games. The All-Ireland final last year hurt,” he admits.

“But this year has been great, winning the league final in the park [Páirc Uí Chaoimh], and then beating Limerick in the Munster final. With a little luck, we’ll be back in the All-Ireland this year – maybe we’ll win it,” he says, with optimism in his voice.

There is a sense that Cork are making their own luck this year. Which is certainly true of Conor William Sheehan.

A hurling fan, hurler and hurley maker.

A busy young Cork man indeed.