Killenaule's John O'Dwyer, affectionately known as Bubbles, is one of the best Tipperary hurlers of the past 25 years. Having made his debut in 2013, Bubbles spent the best part of a decade playing elite-level hurling for the Premier County, winning two Munster titles and two Liam McCarhty's. However, this week Bubbles revealed that while he was endearing Tipperary fans on the pitch, he was battling debilitating migraines off the pitch. He seems pretty certain that the stress and pressure of intercounty hurling contributed to those migraines.
O'Dwyer says he did not experience the symptoms of migraines in his underage career, but has noticed them ever since suffering a concussion in a game in 2013.
Especially given the number of high-profile head injuries in hurling in 2023, O'Dwyer's words are certainly worth bearing in mind in the discussion about the pressures of playing inter-county GAA.
READ ALSO: GAA On TV: The Hotly Anticipated All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Finals Plus More
Tipperary's Bubbles O'Dwyer on migraines
Speaking to the BBC's GAA Social podcast this week, O'Dwyer revealed how he suffered from intense migraines for the majority of his inter-county career, with the problem so serious at one point that O'Dwyer couldn't travel home with his teammates, would hide away in dark corners after games and training and could even be brutally sick.
I'd get them (migraines) so bad that I'd train on a Tuesday night, I'd go home I'd have to go into a dark room, I'd be vomiting, I wouldn't be able to go into college, work or whatever it was and you're only just recovering for Thursday night's training session.... The other players wouldn't have realised, they'd think it's just a headache. They'd say just get on with it or grow up, like.
I remember we were in the weekend of a Fitzgibbon, back when it was on Friday and Saturday. It was in Belfast in Queens, we played the semi-final on the Friday, I was fine after it, no migraine. Then on the Saturday the father travelled all the way up, we lost and after the match we were planning on going back down to Cork to have a few drinks. I went home with the father because I'd a migraine and we'd to stop the car on the way home three or four times for me to vomit.
O'Dwyer said he was especially prone to them at the start of the season, as the pressure of being in the panel intensified. Co-presenter Oisin McConville asked if there was any link between head injuries suffered on the pitch and the migraine symptoms. O'Dwyer wondered aloud if there was a conneciton between a concussion suffered in 2013 and migraines.
A bang in the head would make it worse. I remember in 2013 we'd a college semi-final in Dublin and I got concussed and just thinking back is that related to it? I can't remember getting migraines when I was under age, it's only since then. I got a bad belt that day and played on and has it stemmed from that maybe.
Thankfully, in 2019, a Tipperary nutritionist came up with a drink that included Lucozade and Dioralyte which made them more bearable. O'Dwyer says he hasn't suffered any since retiring from inter-county hurling.
I haven't got it in two or three years since I finished inter-county, but the stress levels of playing intercounty probably affected that too and probably had an impact on me getting the migraines as well.
The revelations from Bubbles O'Dwyer not only show the serious impacts the pressures and stresses that intercounty GAA can have on elite sports people who ultimately are amateur. It also highlights the dangers of head injuries for intercounty hurlers.
You can listen to the whole podcast here, with the discussion on migraines starting around 34.00.
Bubbles O'Dwyer's revelations come in the same season where a number of serious incidents involving Offaly's Cormac Egan, Cork's Darragh Fitzgibbon and Waterford's Stephen Bennet sparked intense debate on the issue.
SEE ALSO: Dónal Óg Cusack Understands GAA Players' Reluctance For Interviews
