Limerick’s Cian Lynch named GAA/GPA hurler of the month for May

Two days after inspiring Limerick to their Munster hurling victory over Clare, Cian Lynch was back at work behind the counter of his local Spar shop in Raheen.

To him, it felt like just another day, until Lynch noticed a few more youngsters than usual, coming into the shop, tugging at each other’s arms, staring up at the counter, whispering to themselves, ‘is it him’?

Still only 19, this was all new to Lynch, yet one of the inevitable changes to his life after his performance for Limerick on May 24th. On that day his three points from play – and countless other magical moves on and off the ball – not only earned him the RTÉ man-of-the-match award, but officially opened membership to the Cian Lynch fan club.

It also earned him the GAA/GPA hurler of the month award for May, and accepting that award in Dublin, Lynch admits he’s been amazed by some of the attention since that Clare game, while realising he, too, once stared up at players with that similar sense of wonder.

Usual craic

“I’d be in the shop alright, having the usual craic, just being myself,” says Lynch, also now recognisable by his pencil-thin ponytail, stemming from just behind his right ear.

“Young fellas would come in, look up at you, want you to sign something, and you’d say to yourself ‘what are they staring at?’. It’s changed, but you wouldn’t want to dwell on it, because it’s only one match.

“You would be a bit surprised by it all, but you can’t let it get to you. It’s all part of it. We have to keep going, and look forward to the Tipp match, on Sunday week.

“But it’s great, too, because I remember being that age and looking up to hurlers, saying to myself ‘wow, that’s Séamus Hickey’ or ‘that’s Henry Shefflin’. It’s cool enough, but you have to take it with a pinch of salt. You don’t want to get carried away.”

Anyone who knows him will say Lynch doesn’t do carried away – and he’s has been leaving his mark all the way up from underage hurling in Limerick, including as captain of last year’s minors who lost out to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final.

Still, the ease with which he settled into his first championship game for Limerick was quite astonishing, yet even he admits it took a while to sink in.

“It’s what you dream of. Even leading up to it, when the team was named, I was trying to soak this in, and make the most out of it. Then the time I walked out to the pitch, before the match, you are looking around, like it’s the coliseum out there, like the gladiator going into the ring. Thank God it kind of went well, but you have to keep the head down too.

“And I think it’s always about the first ball. If you win the first ball, it is that extra kick up the backside. You are after starting off well. But then if you miss the first ball you go for the next ball. Thank God I had a bit of luck on my side and it went well after that.

Head down

“And to get man-of-the-match just put the icing on the cake. After the match I was there, watching the supporters coming on, when one of the security fellas in Thurles came over to me, grabbed me, and told me I was after getting man-of-the-match.

“Sure I didn’t believe him. I thought man-of-the-match now you’d have to be the likes of the top guys. It was surreal. It was a nice way to start but you have to try keep the head down now, forget about that and move on.”

Indeed Lynch will be getting daily reminders of the fact Tipperary are now lying in wait, on Sunday week, given his father, Seán, is a Tipperary native, and hurled himself with Loughmore-Castleiney.

There will also be daily reminders of what’s at stake from his mother, Valerie, brother of former Limerick star Ciarán Carey.

Hurling pedigree

Despite this hurling pedigree, Lynch might well have been lost to soccer: he played a couple of seasons with the St Kevin’s Boys club in Dublin, despite the long commute, and also in the Ireland Under-17s, and one of his former team -mates, Jack Byrne, is now on the reserves at Manchester City.

Yet hurling was always likely to win out, given the number of Limerick players he grew up admiring: little did he realise he’d be playing alongside them so soon.

“I had the likes of Donal O’Grady, Gavin O’Mahony, Paudie O’Brien and all the senior players, tapping me on the back, and reassuring you. They’d sit down beside you in the dressing-room and tell you to go out and play your own game of hurling, and express yourself. Which is great advice to have.”