The Electric Ireland Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Championships are unlike club and county Championships. Team composition is determined by place of learning not place of birth allowing traditional rivals to form the most unexpected of alliances. The UL team with Clare's Podge Collins and Galway's Johnny Glynn capture that spirit beautifully.
Galway hurling tends to be considered as a secluded entity in the west as its surrounding counties struggle to manufacture any sort of competition. The Connacht championship proved inoperable despite a brief revival in 1995 and ultimately after 1999, faded into the abyss.
As a result, Galway never formed a bitter rivalry of the kind familiarity forms. Their footballers had and maintain it with Mayo, but when it came to hurling any true rivalry lacked the added spice associated with proximity.
Then reform swept through the country and the Championship structure was rejuvenated. The association was over a hundred years old yet Galway had only faced their nearest hurling stronghold a handful of times. Suddenly, within 20 years they would meet nine times. Thus, the Galway-Clare hurling rivalry was born.
It had its roots in the Gort, Ardrahan and Portuma's of Galway traveling across the border in search of challenge games. Then several of Ardrahan's representitive's traveled to Limerick in pursuit of Fitzgibbon glory.
First Iarla Tannion went and won two Fitzgibbon Cups with LIT, shortly afterward Jonathan Glynn followed him, to their cross-city rivals UL.
As chance would have it, starting college at the same time was Clare hurler Podge Collins.
First-year hurling we got a lot of time together, we’d a great first-year bond. We trained a lot together and none of us were on intercounty senior panels, so we’d a lot more time together. We got to the final, against UCC who were a fine team. We had Johnny Glynn, Eamon Murphy, Padraic Walsh, Paul Flanagan... such a strong team. We lost by a point that day. That bond, it’s just cause I actually lived with Johnny that year!
It was by accident. I lived with a few Clares lads, myself and another lad moved in with him. Ah, it was good old craic. There wasn't much hurling talk! More the other craic.
Despite their bond at university, Glynn was still acutely aware of the Galway Clare rivalry, as his Clare playing college mates Jack Browne and Paul Flanagan would respectively find out.
Jack Browne and Glynn
Paul Flanagan and Glynn
Collins and Glynn didn't need the tournament to develop as hurlers in the same way other players did. In many ways that is the beauty of the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup, it grants scope to get what you want out of it.
In a university as big as UL, students can struggle to connect. A perfect trinity of first year living quarters, a talented fresher's team and some great work by the GAA club ensured a soon-to-be inter-county rival would be an invaluable team-mate.
I honestly think Fitzgibbon is different for some players than others. It depends, for us it was the friends you make and buying into it. Before, some of the smaller colleges probably developed a bigger bond through it because they come across each other every day than in the bigger colleges. We might see lads in training and then the way intercounty has gone the Fitzgibbon management get very little time with the players.
LIT and Carlow IT and them kind of colleges mightn’t be as big. They probably showed it as they developed more of a bond between each other and that kind of club atmosphere. [That was] until UL worked hard on it the last few years and it's paying dividends. Even now, they have a team of tight galacticos. I really liked my time in UL and through it I met some great people, a lot of people put a huge of time into UL GAA.
Collins and Glynn would face each other on the biggest stage of them all in 2013. Clare played Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final, a young Clare side outworked their Northern neighbors and overcame the Tribesmen 1-23 to 2-14, Podge contributing 0-4.
The pair went on to form an incredibly talented Fitzgibbon Cup team under Clare hurling legend Brian Lohan. Their first day out they hammered UCD with the housemates in inspired form, contributing a combined five points from play.
Collins quarter-final epitomized the unique allure of the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup. At the same time as his inter-county rival turned into his team-mate, his All-Ireland winning inter-county team-mates became his rivals.
Tony Kelly, Cathal McInerney and Jamie Shanahan all lined out for LIT. What's more, they were managed by then Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald. The sides were tied with just ten minutes left, until a moment of magic from Kelly saw him slice through the UL back six and expertly lob past Shane Hassett. Although, if you ask his Clare team-mate, it wasn't as much skill as it was a fluke.
We’d such a strong team alright and then we got an early shower from it. We played that LIT side inside in UL and I suppose they were the complete underdogs yet they beat us. Tony Kelly was playing in midfield, he got what I still call a lucky goal! They got over us that day and with the bit of rivalry between the colleges and it was disappointing for us.
That goal proved the turning point and LIT never looked back, eventually running out six-point winners.
That is the novelty the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup guarantees. Collins saw his All-Ireland team-mates go on and win an Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup for his rivals.
In a weird twist of faith, Kelly will line out in the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup final this year for Collins former university, UL. A course swap in 2015 saw the midfielder move across the city and he now has the opportunity to secure his second title.
As for his former teammate, Collins got the opportunity to catch up and reminisce recently when Clare traveled to Boston for the Super 11's, when Clare came up against Glynn and Galway once more.
The Electric Ireland Sigerson, Fitzgibbon and Higher Education Championships. Taking rivalries to the next level. #FirstClassRivals
