Francis Forde playing crucial coaching role in Galway's season
ST RAPHAELS are a school who have been on the rise in post-primary hurling in recent seasons. Principal of the school John Hardiman said there is a sense of pride in the Loughrea based school this week ahead of the All-Ireland Hurling final between Galway and Limerick.
Galway captain Darren Morrissey along with Tiernan Killeen and Shane Morgan are all past pupils of St Raphael’s. Stephen O’Halloran, John Cooney, Cullen Killeen and Kieran Hanrahan who is currently sidelined through injury also attended the Loughrea based school.
“First of all you would be very proud of them having made that far representing Galway. I suppose you think of them coming in as first years. They all showed early promise as hurlers, they all did very well academically as well all those lads. They were well able to balance what was going on in school and what was going on in the hurling field. It’s funny they’re all, each of them are very levelled headed that’s going to stand them very well in the lead up to the All-Ireland final. It’s the pinacle of any hurlers career to get out in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day,” Principal of St Raphael’s John Hardiman told Tribune Sport.
The Galway senior hurling coach Francis Forde is a teacher in the school and he has recently been appointed deputy principal. The Turloughmore clubman has put incredible work with the senior school team in St Raphael’s over the past decade.
He was also joint manager of Turloughmore alongside Joe Hession in 2020 when they were defeated by St Thomas in the county final. Forde led St Rynagh's to the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship title in 2016, ending a 23-year drought for the club.
Galway senior hurling manager Micheál Donoghue has been accompanied throughout his managerial career by his trusted selectors, Francis Forde and Noel Larkin. The pair have worked alongside him during both of his spells in charge of Galway, as well as during his tenure with Dublin.
“Again he’s like the other lads, he’s a very unassuming person, he goes about his business in a very effective manner. You’ll never hear him raise his voice but still he’s very good at getting his message across. He’s passionate about and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of not only every hurler in Galway every hurler in the country,” explained Hardiman.
“That’s one thing that strikes me about him, whatever game in the past, whatever club game you talk about, he has an unbelievable memory of everything that happened on particular days, he just has that huge knowledge of the game. We’re very lucky to have him here, passing it onto the young fella’s in school but also passing it onto the coaches that are working in conjunction with him here in the school. That gives them a great confidence when they work with Franny, then they might have more confidence to take a team on their own from the experience that they’ve had from with Frannie.”
One moment that stands out for Hardiman is when Darren Morrissey returned to the school as All-Ireland Minor Hurling winning captain in 2017.
“There’s good little omen here, when Galway won the All-Ireland minor final in 2017, I remember the cup being here, it was a great occasion. The two cups came back that day, the minor and senior All-Ireland cups and Darren was captain of the minor team that day. David Burke and himself brought the two cups into the school, shortly after that victory and it was brillant day in the school. It would be great if Darren was coming back nine years later with the senior cup.”
St Raphael’s won the All-Ireland B Hurling championship in 2019 where Shane Morgan, Tiernan Killeen and John Cooney were all part of the side. In 2024, they were defeated by St Kieran’s in the Croke Cup final after extra time. This season, St Raphael’s fell short in the Croke Cup quarter-final against St Kieran’s. Principal of the school, John Hardiman has played a key role in hurling across the county. Hardiman worked with the Galway senior hurling team under John McIntyre and the Athenry native also worked with his own club and Moycullen in recent seasons.
“We are on the rise, if you look at it we were well represented on the Galway minor team. We had Eoghan McLearn and Tadgh Mac Cartaigh on the team, and off the top my head Daithi Dillon, Oran Collins, Oran Stratford and Kayn Boyle were on the panel as well. And when you think of the U20 team that got to the All-Ireland final, Donnchadh Campbell, Gavin Maher, Cullen Killeen, Jack Shaughnessy and Vince Morgan have all been through the school. I think we are very lucky here, in St Raphael’s, we’ve very good coaches looking after the hurlers. We are in a catchment area where they are brillant clubs around us and all those clubs are doing fantastic work at juvenile level. And what we are getting into the school in first year our top class hurlers with the basics,” concluded Hardiman.