FIVE years ago, when he turned up for his first training session at Kilmacud Crokes, Lorcan McMullan was pointed towards the ‘B’ team and left to his own devices.
If he’d told the coaches he was from Kilkenny or Tipp, even Antrim, their eyes might have lit up at the possibility of netting a valuable catch but a hurler from Down? From Bredagh?
The junior team trains down there…
They hadn’t even seen him play and those condescending words hurt might well have put him off entirely but McMullan took them as a challenge and he has risen to it.
Last weekend he scored three points from midfield as Kilmacud dethroned defending All-Ireland champions Cuala and now he’s looking forward to playing in the Dublin county final against Ballyboden St Enda’s on October 21.
It has been remarkable rise for the driven 23 year-old who completed his final law exams at UCD last week.
“I went along with a friend the first night and I was asked: ‘Where are you from?’
“I said: ‘Belfast’.
‘Oh you’re an Antrim man?’
“I said: ‘No, I’m from the Down side of the river.”
‘Oh right, you can play for the juniors then…’
“That was motivation. You have to use that to spur yourself on and achieve what, in a way, I’m not meant to be doing.”
The son of a Down father and a Belfast mother, Lorcan has links to St Patrick’s, Portaferry and city outfit Rossa but he grew up on the Ormeau Road playing his hurling for Bredagh.
“Being from an intermediate club in Down on the Ormeau Road is a motivating factor to show that you can compete with the best players in Ireland,” he explained.
“Whether you’re from the Ormeau Road, or Donegal or Longford or the Bronx in New York, you can still play with the best if you make the sacrifices and do those extra hill runs or do a few extra hours on the ball wall or whatever.
“That’s what has motivated me this last few of years – if even one person sees that there’s a fella from Belfast playing who’s not particularly big (he’s 5’9”) and strong and thinks: ‘If he can do that, then I can do that’ then that’s worth all the extra training and the personal sacrifices.
Lorcan played underage for Down and, following in his father Lorenzo's footsteps, he made the Mourne county senior team as a 17-year-old.
After moving to Dublin to study Law at UCD, he transferred to Kilmacud and has been based there for the past five years.
“From the position I was born in, you wouldn’t necessarily get a chance to feature on a stage like this and maybe break into the Dublin set-up down the line so I take it very, very seriously in terms of training and being at the ball wall more often than not,” he explains.
“I take a very serious view of it from all aspects – diet, training… everything.
“I’m not big in stature so I have to make sure my fitness and speed.”
His dedication and form for Kilmacud has not gone unnoticed by the Dublin selectors.
McMullan was invited to play for Dublin U21s during his time in college and, although that didn’t happen, he says lining out for the Dubs is an ambition he’s had since childhood.
“I would have aspirations to go and play in a blue jersey,” he said.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was very young.
“I’m not looking beyond Kilmacud Crokes but it has always been a dream of mine to play for Dublin.
“Maybe I’ll do it next year but it’s completely out of my hands, all I can do is keep playing for the club and help us to keep going in this championship.
“If I get a call I’ll be over the moon but I’m not holding out for it.”
If he maintains his form for Kilmacud, McMullan should have a realistic chance of breaking into a Dublin squad that pushed Kilkenny and Galway hard in last year’s Leinster Championship.
The standard of club hurling in the capital has arguably never been higher and last year Cuala beat Kilmacud in the county final and went on to clinch a second All-Ireland title after becoming the first Dublin club to capture the Tommy Moore Cup the previous year.
Kilmacud avenged that loss last Sunday in an entertaining semi-final that went right to the wire.
“We had a great first half and we were 10 points up with 15 minutes to go,” recalled McMullan.
“They got a penalty and the game turned and our ’keeper made some very good saves towards the end of the game and that got us over the line.”
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Focus on the Danske Bank Mageean Cup contenders
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They won by two points in the end to set up a final clash with Ballyboden who are managed by his old Down underage coach, former O'Donovan Rossa, Belfast stalwart Mickey McCullough.
“He’s a great fella,” says McMullan.
“He was my Down minor manager when we won Ulster and he was the manager of the Ulster schools’ team.
“He’s one of the best coaches that I’ve ever worked under and he’s a fantastic trainer, in my opinion he’s second-to-none in the country.
“It’s two Ulstermen going against each other and he makes a lot of sacrifices too, he would have aspirations to make the top of this game as well.
“He lives in Tyrone so he’s obviously on the road three nights a week, two hours in the car each way and that’s no joke with two young kids.
“The commitment that man has… I always have tremendous respect for what he has accomplished and what he will continue to accomplish.
“He’s an idol of mine and I’ve always looked up him but I’ll relish the challenge of going toe-to-toe with him.”
It’s one of the complexities of sport that friends and family are often pitted against each other and personal feelings in both camps will have to be set aside in the decider.
McCullough knows that too
“After working with him for six years bringing him through Down and now I have to try and stop him!” said Ballyboden manager McCullough, whose team prevailed when the sides met in the league in August.
“They beat us off the park – I think it was 10 points in the end,” said McMullan.
“They have very strong forwards and a very good goalkeeper and with the likes of Paul Ryan and James Madden they are strong all over.
“Niall McMorrow is a key man for them, he’s always an outlet for them. I would say they are playing better than Cuala would have been, I’ve never seen a Ballyboden team so fit and so hungry.
“Mickey has got them firing and I have complete respect for them but there is no fear for us.”
Dublin Senior Hurling Championship final:
Ballyboden St Endas v Kilmacud Crokes (Sunday, October 21, Parnell Park, 4pm)
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