Fionan Mackessy wins back to back M. Donnelly Poc Fada All-Irelands
Courtesy of GAA.ie
By Paul Keane
Fionan Mackessy took pride in a unique double after braving the brutal conditions on Annaverna Mountain to retain the M. Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada title.
The Kerry hurler blew away a strong field that included two All-Ireland winning Clare hurlers despite being lashed by heavy rain and high winds with poor visibility.
Due to the dangerous conditions one section of the 5km circuit which winds around the picturesque Louth mountain even had to be closed, reducing it to around three quarters of the normal course.
Mackessy completed it in 40 pucks and 73.4 metres, almost a full two pucks ahead of 2021 winner Colin Ryan from Limerick.
It was a stunning performance in the circumstances and means that Mackessy is the first man since Offaly’s Cillian Kiely in 2018/2019 to win consecutive titles.
Offaly centre-back Kiely returned to the Cooley Peninsula to compete in the event and finished in third position, just eight metres behind Ryan.
MacCarthy Cup winners Peter Duggan and David Fitzgerald took part and finished in eighth and 11th position respectively.
“I was talking to Martin Donnelly who sponsors the competition and he said it’s the worst weather conditions he’s ever seen it played in,” said Mackessy.
“It was nice to be able to do it in bad weather having done it in good weather last year.”
Mackessy, who made an intriguing club switch to Kilkenny and Leinster champions O’Loughlin Gaels in spring, was supported on the mountain by friends and family but still lost a ball early on as the conditions closed in.
“You just had to battle it out,” he said. “I knew with the conditions the way they were, there’d be plenty of lads losing balls. You just need to set that aside and move on, don’t let it distract you because you don’t know what’s going on ahead of you. Sure there could be a couple of lads losing balls. You just need to stay focused and keep ploughing on.
“I knew at the half-way mark that I was on 30 pucks and that Colin Ryan ahead of me on the course was on 31. I said I just needed to keep the head down and keep shooting and try to not mess up any shots and I think I did that.
“Last year I did the full course and I had 48 pucks and 70 metres so I probably wouldn’t have been far off that if it had been the full one again. Martin Donnelly was saying that if it was a good day, and if we’d done the full course, I probably would have broken the course record. That’s what he thought, I’m not sure, but he reckoned I was a good way towards doing that anyway.
“I’ll come back next year. It’s a great competition. It’s run very well. Fair play to Martin Donnelly and all the refs and stewards and voluntary helpers. They run an unbelievable show up there.”
Meanwhile, Cork camogie captain Molly Lynch won the senior camogie title for the fourth year in a row, beating 2017 and 2018 winner Susan Earner of Galway into second position.
Kilkenny’s Ona Kennedy won the U-16 camogie title and Kerry’s Matthew O’Sullivan was the U-16 boys champion.
