It was Conor Fogarty’s turn yesterday to make his bow and leave a stage in which he won four All-Ireland medals, nine Leinster titles and five National Leagues.
The Erin’s Own clubman was never a head-turning star act, but his value was known where it mattered most — within that Kilkenny dressing room.
An All-Ireland minor winner in 2008, he arrived at a time when most had to wait in a queue to get their chance at senior level, even if his father, Martin, was a long-time colleague of Brian Cody’s on the Kilkenny management team.
His first two All-Ireland medals in 2011 and ’12 were won as an unused substitute, before finally winning his first as a starter in 2014, while he partnered Michael Fennelly at midfield a year later — scoring a point — as Kilkenny won their 36th and last Liam MacCarthy.
At 34, his departure had been anticipated. He came off the bench in five games this summer, with Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng hailing his impact in the crucial two-point win over Dublin, but the sense was that the door was closing firmly on him and his final appearance was a very late cameo against Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Conor Fogarty Announces His Retirement
— Kilkenny GAA (@KilkennyCLG) December 3, 2024
Click on the link below for the full statement.https://t.co/eSHcgJgLe4
"It has been a privilege to have worked alongside Conor whose contributions to Kilkenny hurling have been significant," said Lyng yesterday.
"His humble attitude demonstrated his strong work ethic and discipline, and he played a pivotal role in Kilkenny’s successes down through the years. Conor will be greatly missed and I wish him all the best as he enters retirement."
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Despite being anticipated, his departure, following hot on the heels in the close season of Cillian Buckley and, more recently, Walter Walsh should jar with Kilkenny folk conditioned to being stacked with hall of fame All-Ireland winners weighed down with Liam MacCarthy Cup silver.
Now only two remain, their 37-year icon and seven-time All-Ireland winner TJ Reid and 34-year old goalkeeper, Eoin Murphy — who was a team-mate of Fogarty’s in that All-Ireland minor final winning team and joined the Kilkenny panel with him in 2011.
Kilkenny Senior Hurler and Erin’s Own stalwart Conor Fogarty has announced his retirement from inter-county hurling, drawing the curtain on an illustrious 14-year career.https://t.co/sRjZs1IjWl
— KCLR 96FM (@kclr96fm) December 3, 2024
It brings ever closer an alarming prospect that they will head out into the Championship in the not-too-distant future without a single All-Ireland medal winner in their team.
That is such a rare event that you have to go back to 1957 for the last time Kilkenny won the MacCarthy Cup without a single previous All-Ireland winner in their ranks.
Of course, should they win it in 2025 with Murphy and Reid on board that will not be the case. The market is less than convinced that is going to happen, pricked as fourth favorites at a distance (13/2), behind the Munster front-runners of Limerick, Cork and champions Clare.
It adds to the sense of desperation and pressure building around Kilkenny, although that was something Cody was dismissive of when speaking at the launch of the Hurling Development Committee report earlier this year.
"You never look at that. You look at 'Are you being competitive? How are you playing?' You could go through the other strong hurling counties and start counting years as well. Kilkenny are not alone. It’s hard to win these things.
"Since Derek came in, we have been very competitive. They were barely beaten by Clare this year, who went on to win the All-Ireland final.
"They won a League and two Leinster finals as well. ‘We are doing very well and that’s what we get on with.
"It’s easy to say you want to be successful, but to be successful you have to be competitive, and we are," insisted the 11-time All-Ireland winning manager. But, perhaps, only to a point.
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The production line that was a constant in the past is not whirring like it used to. They have not won an All-Ireland minor title since 2014, and you have to go back to 1950 for the last time they endured such a wait between titles when they went 14 years.
At the underage level, Leinster is no longer their plaything like it used to be. They have not won a Leinster minor title since 2021.
Even at Under 20 level, their 2022 title was their only All-Ireland win in the grade in the last 16 years. Others in Leinster, not least Dublin, Wexford and, in particular, Offaly have found their mojo at the underage level, and if nothing else that means, for a whole new generation, the uniform of the stripey men does not invite the sense of terror it once did.
Even at an adult level, their authority was diluted as recently as last month, when Westmeath’s Castletown Geoghegan dished out an 11-point thumping to the Kilkenny champions Thomastown.
That would have been unthinkable once upon a time, but not anymore. Fogarty saw it for himself this summer when he made his first championship appearance of the season in the Leinster SHC third-round clash with Carlow.
Once upon a time, that would have been a limb-loosener for the season ahead but he was brought on to douse a Carlow fire which was still ablaze at the death as they earned a well-deserved draw.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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