SPORTING PASSIONS DENIS IRWIN Mark Roddanhears from the former Ireland and Manchester United stalwart about growing up steeped in the Cork hurling tradition

I LIVED about 50 yards from the St Finbarr's club so we used to go up there and puck around from a very early age. I played hurling at Togher primary school, and with Cork being so successful, I used to go up and watch the Barrs playing - Con Roche and Charlie McCarthy. Then it was Jimmy Barry Murphy - there were so many Barrs players who used to play with the Cork hurling team.

And the Cork full-forward line of Ray Cummins, Seánie O'Leary and Jimmy Barry-Murphy - I grew up watching all these players.

Hurling was everything down in Cork at the time but soccer was big enough. I used to watch Cork Hibs play in the early 70s and they used to attract quite a crowd, especially with the derby games against Cork Celtic. But hurling was the main sport and everybody who was growing up in Cork at that time probably wanted to be a Cork hurler.

I played for the Barrs all the way up. I actually played for Cork primary schools against Dublin schools in Croke Park when I was 11 and played full back. I marked Mr Niall Quinn. He was a big, six-foot full forward, he was. It was easy - he only scored a point and that was off a free. We drew four points apiece.

So I always wanted to be a hurler. In saying that, I went to Coláiste Chríost Rí, which is predominately a Gaelic football school. I played at Croke Park a couple of times and won an All-Ireland Colleges under-15½ Gaelic football medal. But hurling was always my first love and it still is. I still watch a game of hurling when I go back and I still go to see Cork.

There was some great hurling. Seánie O'Leary was a great man for scoring a goal. Jimmy Barry-Murphy was my hero because he played for the Barrs and he was one of the star players, one the crowd loved because of the way he played.

You just remember the good games, particularly in Munster because they're all very strong down there. Games against Tipperary and Limerick, who were very strong at the time, as well. Cork-Kilkenny down through the years as well, especially in the last few years.

But when you move away, you lose track of it a little bit because there wasn't that much of it in England. You'd only get a final on Sky but now we've got Setanta so we're back up and running again, I'm glad to say. Because when you don't see it and you only read it in the papers, you don't really get the picture of how good games are.

It's a special game. You talk to people over here and they watch it and they say you must be mad to play that game, but it probably looks worse than it is. There's no faster game in the world - it can change within a minute, really, with a couple of goals.

I actually remember we went down to Limerick in 95 with the Ireland squad. We were based down there for a week and myself and Niall Quinn dragged Alan Kernaghan to a Munster match and he enjoyed it. Myself and Niall would always be talking about it in the Ireland squad.

I wouldn't have been able to get back too often during my career. Whenever Munster finals were on there was always pre-season training and even with All-Ireland finals it was very hard to get across to watch them. It's only in the last four or five years when I stopped playing football that I've been able to get across and watch more games.

I can only look at it as a fan and it looks very professional to me. If you want to be a hurler for Cork now you have to dedicate an awful lot of time to the training and the weights and get time off work. It looks from afar as if it's near enough a professional job now.

The game's got so much quicker. It's like professional soccer, really; it has got quicker and you have to go with it. Now you watch a hurling match and they're as fit as anybody. To get to that level of fitness you have to dedicate a lot of time and I know that they do.

Seán Óg Ó hAilpín has been fantastic because I predominately played at half back or wing back. In the Cork half-back line there's a couple of Na Piarsaigh lads and the only Barrs man in there at the moment is Ronan Curran.

They've been very strong defensively, especially in the half-back line and Diarmuid O'Sullivan as full back of course.

It's just a joy to watch.