Limerick great Ger Hegarty happy to fade into family background

AS YOU approach the Hegarty household in Rhebogue, on the outskirts of Limerick city, you are greeted by two small but seemingly feisty terriers, Lilly and Daisy. You soon find out that their bark is worse than their bite. It’s a family trait.

Gearóid Hegarty has lit up the hurling landscape since Limerick broke onto the scene to end a 45-year gap in 2018. Both he and the Limerick hurlers haven’t looked back.

Gearóid comes from a sporting family. It’s hard to escape sport in the Hegarty house. It’s everywhere. Ger Hegarty was a star player on the Limerick hurling team throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.

Youngest son, Diarmuid, unlike Gearóid, played at all levels with Limerick up to U20 but injuries have stunted his progress, for now.

The youngest of the Hegarty clan, Grace, also wears the number 10 for Limerick’s U16 camogie side that created history earlier this year by becoming the first side from the county to win a Munster Championship at that grade. The other Hegarty daughters, Aine and Ciara, are also fine athletes in their own right. It’s in the genes.

Ger and Gearóid at the Gaelic Grounds. Gearóid played for Milford NS in the 2006 and 2007 Mackey Cup. PICTURE: Joe Lyons

Before the 2018 breakthrough, Croke Park was seen as a place of fear for Limerick players and supporters alike.
This group of players has diminished those demons with devastating effect. It’s been one of their hallmarks, Ger says of this group.

“The iconic moment of Nickie Quaid’s save in 2018. People will look back at that in 25 to 50 years’ time as a pivotal moment. That win against Cork was absolutely monstrous. That broke the duck. That, and the win over Galway, have changed everything.

“If you would ask any of these Limerick players where they would want to play any game, it’s in Croke Park. If you ask Gearóid, I can certainly say the answer is Croke Park. Caroline Currid has to be mentioned as well.

“I know she does one-to-ones with the players and we are not told a whole amount of what she does but she is hugely influential.

“The fear factor is gone. The first place you sense that is with the crowd. Sensed it during the Galway game when they were a few points ahead.

“Nobody feared that Limerick were going to lose that match. The same in last year’s All-Ireland final. Never thought Limerick were going to lose the game. They don’t panic. They don’t crumble. They don’t get overwhelmed.”

Ger shares a unique position with a number of former teammates, namely Mike Nash (Barry Nash’s father) and Brian Finn (Sean Finn's father). Ger played with both during the 90s, while Nickie Quaid and Seamus Flanagan’s dads, Tommy (RIP) and John also played for the county with great distinction.

Ger says he is fine watching his son in the heat of battle. It’s not the same for his wife, Majella. “I’m lucky that I’m able to remove myself from it. When Majella goes out to watch a game, she only sees one player. I see the bigger picture.

“There are times when Gearóid can be playing great and other times when he might not get on the ball a whole lot. That’s fine and Gearóid’s attitude would be that the opposition are focusing on him and it opens opportunities for someone else.”

However, modern times create modern problems. In this case it’s social media. Gearóid had to endure his fair share of the spotlight off the field when rumours about his private life and status on the Limerick panel swirled around social media. It wasn’t an easy time for the family.

“The thing that would have disappointed me this year would have been the stick that Gearóid got on social media,” Ger explained.

“I don’t do social media but I know what’s going on. Some of the things that were written and said were below the belt. These lads are amateur sportsmen. Gearóid is a teacher in Newcastle West and has to face pupils that have seen or heard all this stuff.

“That disappointed me a lot and I would say that it took Gearóid a little while to get used to all of that. Like everything else, he has dusted himself down and moved on. It gets to Majella and the girls. It just rubs off Diarmuid and Gearóid. I laugh at it more than anything and move on.

“I love going to the games. I love it more the last few years than when I was playing myself. I never saw this coming. I never saw this layer of tremendous success coming. Six semi-finals in-a-row. A fifth final coming and four All-Irelands already won. It’s incredible.”

Gearóid Hegarty has been a star player for Limerick since their All-Ireland breakthrough in 2018.  

Ger won a minor and U21 All-Ireland in Limerick green during his playing days but the senior final in 1994 is perhaps his, and that team’s, defining days as players.

Limerick five points up heading into the final stages. The rest is history, painful history for Limerick. He remembers this one part in the defeat like it was yesterday.

“I loved my time with Limerick. It was a privilege and an honour any time that I got the chance to put on that green jersey. I had a couple of injuries along the way. The ‘94 final. I always say this. The best side will always win the All-Ireland.

“Offaly have never really been given the credit. They deserved to win the 1994 final. I think we shot something like 17 wides that day. We were coming down the stretch and we eased off.

“Do I still see that ball coming down on me? Yes I do. I have never shied away from it. That was a big moment in the game. Myself and Michael Duignan tussling for the ball.

“I wasn’t fouled. Michael managed to break the ball and it spilled away from me. Before we knew it...Bang! Bang! And Offaly had won.

“If it had happened 20 minutes earlier…That Offaly goal flashed into my mind when Cathal Mannion got the goal in the semi-final for Galway. I said to myself, what a wonderful time to concede a goal. You have time to recover.

“When you get hit with a big score like that with four or five minutes to go it can stun you. That’s what happened to us. If it had happened 15/20 minutes earlier, who knows?”

Ger Hegarty on the sideline managing the Limerick minor hurling team in 2010.

Majella explains that Gearóid’s preparation for both the semi-final and final have been hampered by some new arrivals in his and his partner Niamh’s home, to the tune of eight labrador puppies

You can’t mistake the tightness of the family when talking to any of the Hegarty’s. All five of the kids honed their hurling and camogie skills in their local St Patrick’s GAA club and, as Ger is keen to mention, his own club Old Christians in Rathbane.

The puck arounds are no longer as frequent given the age profile of the kids but, on occasion, Ger dusts the cobwebs off his own hurley to go ‘out the back’ with the lads.

No doubt it gets competitive. How could it not? It’s in the genes.