On a warm Saturday in May, Paul Shankey took the short trip from Portlaw to Dungarvan to see his native county play a Tailteann Cup match against the one he now calls home.
Six months on, this weekend (as intercounty collective training officially resumes) the former Meath player will take his first session as Waterford senior football manager.
When it was announced in early November that the 1999 All-Ireland winner was to be the new Waterford boss, it brought an end to the managerial merry-go-round for the 2024 season. It was the last position to be filled.
Ephie Fitzgerald had stepped down in August and the county board’s search for a successor proved challenging.
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Fitzgerald had given his all to try to turn Waterford’s fortunes around but they managed just one league win during his two years at the helm, and the Cork man has expressed his concerns about the future of football in the county.
“It wasn’t something that was really on my radar at the time,” admits Shankey when asked if the idea of managing Waterford had crossed his mind leaving Fraher Field back in May after Meath beat the Déise.
“But I enjoy coaching teams and when the opportunity came up, I was keen to get involved. There are lots of good footballers in Waterford, so I reached out to the county board and we took it from there.”
It’s an opportunity that has come about because of life choices made going back over 20 years. Shankey was part of Seán Boylan’s Meath panel from 1998 to 2003. A tenacious defender, the Kilmainhamwood club man played all the way through the underage system – winning an All-Ireland minor title in 1992.
But while at university in Limerick he met a girl from Waterford and the rest, as they say, is history. Paul and Annette initially lived in Rathgormack before setting up home in Portlaw.
“It’s a beautiful county, wonderful beaches and mountains, good towns, it’s a nice place to live,” says Shankey. “I left Meath to go to college at 18, so I’m actually down here a lot longer now than I was in Meath.”
He won an intermediate football title with Portlaw in 2016 and has also coached the team over the years.
“There was a bit of a joke: any time they were stuck, ‘give it to Shankey.’ No, I have helped out with coaching various teams, the men’s adult team, ladies’ football teams, underage teams, schools,” he says.
“I enjoy it, I’ve been constantly involved in coaching for years. It will never replace competing and playing, but it’s a close second.”
Waterford will again operate out of Division Four in the League next season, while the Munster SFC draw has pitted them against Tipperary at the quarter-final stages.
As he tries to assemble a squad, Shankey has invited all of the 2023 panel back while at the same time scouting for fresh talent.
“Our main objective at the moment is to get all of the best players out and create an environment to be as competitive as possible.
“We reached out to all the various clubs over the last few weeks and got a great response.
“There is lots of talent in Waterford, in the short-term we are trying to get all the best players involved. Long-term, you hope to create a sustainable environment where young lads want to come play football for Waterford. I think there is room for all sports.”
Waterford, of course, puts more weight on the small ball than on the big one. Kilmainhamwood wouldn’t be renowned as a bastion of hurling; traditionally, around north Meath, hurls were tossed in the corners of sheds alongside cricket bats and tennis rackets, for seasonal use only.
But that didn’t stop Shankey integrating with the locals on arriving to Waterford. When in Rome ...
“I played a bit of junior hurling when I came down, I was a wristy corner back,” he smiles. “We had three small kids at the time, so I was mad for anything. I’d be winding the lads up, telling them it’s not as hard a game as they make it out to be. One of the great things about most Waterford clubs is you can actually play both.”
The Shankey clan were among the small band of Waterford fans in Thurles during the summer shouting on Davy Fitzgerald’s hurlers as they caused an upset by beating Tipperary in the Munster SHC.
The next time he sees Fitzgerald will be at the SETU Arena, where Waterford intercounty teams train. And Shankey’s Meath accent will not be the only such brogue bouncing around Carriganore: Rathmolyon’s Jack Fagan has been playing with the Waterford hurlers since 2020.
With Boylan back involved with the Meath football management, Shankey might in the seasons ahead get the chance to share a sideline with his former mentor.
“Any opportunity you get to meet Seán is always a good one,” says Shankey. “Regardless of whether it’s on the field or off the field. We’d joke among ourselves now that if Seán told us tomorrow to do 50 laps of the pitch, we still would. It’s hard to describe – he’s a magical type of character.”
Waterford’s footballers can only hope Shankey brings some of that stardust.
