THERE are a fair few side roads to veer onto with Ayrton Gleeson, the traditional thoroughfare of National League breeze-shooting and boys-gave-it-their-all talk a relatively barren land, even for a man enjoying an Indian summer in pastures new.
Growing up in Kilkenny and idolising DJ Carey, the Carlow career that didn’t quite catch fire and an unlikely second shot in red and black that pits him against friends and former team-mates this weekend - those are all on the agenda.
But first things first: the name.
Is there a secret clan of Ayrtons milling around Ireland’s south-east that none up here are aware of? Or could there be a family link with one of the most famous Formula One drivers, and certainly the most famous Ayrton, in history?
He laughs knowing the inevitable Senna question is coming, the little-known Sao Paulo-Carlow connection confirmed once and for all.
“No, it’s definitely not a common name where I’m from.
“My dad used to race cars before I was born… he would’ve raced a good bit of Mondello and teams around Ireland. Now he wouldn’t have been anything big because back then, unless you had big sponsorship, you couldn’t do a whole pile. He tried to fund it himself for a few years but couldn’t really sustain it.
“The love was always there though…”
Ayrton Gleeson was born on April 5, 1994 but, as parents Pat and Hazel struggled to settle on a name, so the debate stretched out. Less than a month later, on May 1, Ayrton Senna died in a crash at the San Marino GP in Imola.
With the sporting world in mourning, a decision was finally made.
“I don’t know how they got out of the hospital without giving me a proper name but it seems they did… or nothing too official anyway.
“Then when Senna died, my da turned to my mum straight away - ‘that’s the name picked’. Mum was a driving instructor so she was into her cars as well, and she agreed to it. She likes all those obscure names, so she thought it was brilliant…”
However, any early ambitions to follow his namesake’s lead were swiftly nipped in the bud.
“I used to race quad bikes, but then I ended up in hospital for a week one time after a crash.
“After that my mum was like ‘okay, you’re not going near a quad bike again’. And that was me done. Retired early.”
By then, though, hurling had already captured his heart.
Pat hurled for Kildare club Kilcullen all his days, and that love was passed on to his son, growing up in Clara further strengthening that bond in a place where the caman code is, and always will be, king.
“It’s all we did. That’s the Kilkenny way, to have a hurl in your hand from no age.
“I remember being three or four years old and going down to dad’s hurling training, me standing there with a size 24 hurl, the thing bigger than me, trying to use it.
“By the time I was eight or nine Kilkenny were really starting to dominate, so I’d have gone to loads of All-Irelands through the years, down to Nowlan Park…. growing up I’d have played in Nowlan Park quite a bit with the school and with Clara.
“That was the thing to do, every group of lads was the same at the weekend - you’d either be playing yourself or going to see Kilkenny.”
When the family moved across the county border to Carlow and Closutton – “sort of in between the parishes of O’Loughlin, Leighlinbridge and Bagenalstown” – Gleeson carried on where he left off.
After transferring to Naomh Brid, he progressed through the underage ranks and forced himself into Pat English’s senior Carlow squad in 2015 and 2016. But the inter-county career he hoped for wouldn’t happen – not yet, anyway.
“Ah I went in with the seniors a couple of times but it never really worked out unfortunately… just different commitments like doing my Masters in Maynooth. I never really got a proper run.”
And so, when work took him to Dublin, Gleeson continued to hurl away with the club, content with his lot. But another fork in the road was lurking around the corner.
It was during those years in the capital that Gleeson met Katie Bohill from Saul. The couple are now engaged and had, until the Covid-19 pandemic intervened, planned to base themselves somewhere around the Newry-Dundalk area.
With work from home shifting the balance of lives the world over, however, daily treks to Dublin were no longer required. And when Katie began a new teaching career at De La Salle High School in Downpatrick, a move north became a no-brainer – with mum Hazel following him up the road in September.
“I brought Carlow with me,” he smiles, “mum’s just opposite Katie’s mum and dad, so we’re all within 10 minutes of each other. It couldn’t have worked out any better.”
Typically, it wasn’t long until word spread across Strangford Lough that a new recruit could be available, with the black and amber stripes of his youth eventually proving the perfect fit.
“I was at the Spar shop in Saul one day and Brendan Mullen, who would be an ex-Ballycran man, asked was I going to be playing a bit of hurling up here next year, and had I picked a club yet. I hadn’t even thought about it because Naomh Brid were still in the Leinster intermediate, so I was still travelling up and down.
“Brendan said about maybe training with a team up here in the meantime, then within an hour I had a phone call from Stephen Keith inviting me to come over to Ballycran…”
The rest, as they say, is history. Last year was his first with the Crans and while they lost the Down decider to Portaferry, Gleeson had already caught the eye of Down boss Ronan Sheehan.
Seven years since he was last involved with Carlow, the 28-year-old made his League debut in their last outing, coming on as a late substitute in defeat to Kildare.
On Sunday he returns to Netwatch Cullen Park for the first time since helping Naomh Brid claim the Carlow intermediate championship 18 months ago. It will be strange, he knows, but already Gleeson is looking forward to being reacquainted with some familiar faces.
“It wasn’t something that was on my radar at all - it was a surprise to get asked in, a lovely surprise, and I’ve really enjoyed it so far. Same as with Ballycran, everyone has been so welcoming and so good.
“And look, of course I’d love to get a bit of game-time against the guys - even on a personal level, to try my best to get as many minutes as I can and try to get onto the team.
“It’ll be great to see some old friends too, though there probably won’t be too many friends on the pitch! I’d say there might be a few lads gunning for me at some point, I’ve already been getting messages from friends saying they’re going to the match to heckle me, just for the fun of it.
“It’ll be an experience. I’ve some great memories from Dr Cullen Park and, to be honest, I’ll relish the opportunity to get a go at some of the guys I’ve either played with or against a couple of years ago.”
