'I hope I've left the jersey in a better place'

Interview

Kevin Óg Carney

In his all too brief (two year) spell in Cavan, Liam O'Brien stood out on the local hurling fields like a lighthouse in a bog.

He’s back living and working as a vet in his native Waterford but, for a period, he was one of our own and his appetite for achievement lifted him high above the commoner-garden hurler countywide.

But the Waterford native also raised the temperature at a lot of venues countrywide while wearing the Breifne blue. So much so, in fact, that the mandarins at Croke Park couldn't but notice. On Friday night last, they garlanded him with a top award.

On an evening pregnant with expectation and anticipation, O'Brien joined a gathering of Ireland's star hurlers at a black-tie banquet on Jones’ Road. A thunderous round of applause broke out when O'Brien received his 2025 Player of the Year award in the Lory Meagher Cup category. To those present, it came across as the loudest of all cheers echoing on the night.

For good measure, he was selected in the number 10 position on a team (Champion 15) drawn from 2025's finest performers in the Joe McDonagh Cup, Christy Ring Cup, Nicky Rackard Cup and Lory Meagher Cup.

The Waterford native's tenure (October 2023 -May 2025) in Cavan hurling circles showed him to be a prodigious talent. On occasions, he made the fields of Cavan and other stages in so-called 'weaker counties' his private fiefdom. His 13 points tally last May in Pearse Park, Longford against the locals - when Cavan booked their place in the Lory Meagher Cup final - was a wondrous exhibition and a joy to behold.

Cavan Hurling Inc. remains peacock-proud of O'Brien, despite what seems, due to work commitments, to be a parting of the waves. His adopted club East Cavan Gaels will be the big losers too as well as the Cavan senior hurlers. O'Brien maintains he got as much out of his stint with both parties as they got from him:

“I was obviously personally delighted about getting the award but also for my family and my club and for everyone involved in hurling in Cavan as well,” the fully-qualified veterinary surgeon.

“I really enjoyed my time with East Cavan Gaels and Cavan. Everyone made me feel so welcome in both set-ups. It was the same with the footballers of Drumlane.

“I'll miss the camaraderie among the players but I hope I've left the jersey in a better place in all the camps I was involved with.”

O'Brien worked in a vet's practice in Cavan but lived in Ballyconnell while showcasing his silken skills locally over the past two years. He landed in Breifne land a few months after Cavan landed the 2023 National Hurling League Division 3B title. He remembers taking great heart from joining a ship that was blazing a path to better climes and not just drifting; even if his first impressions were coloured somewhat by a trouncing handed out by Fermanagh in a McGuirk Cup tie in November 2023.

“That was a real baptism of fire but I saw enough in the players around me that night to know that we had a lot of talent in the squad and, again, when we came up against Cootehill in the league final a while after that, I was surprised by the standard of the hurling and the rivalry there was there which were all positives in my mind.”

O’Brien (25) represented the Decies at county minor and U20 levels and although his home club of Ballinameela (some 10km from Dungarvan) has just been relegated to junior ranks, he hasn’t given up hope of being called up to the Waterford senior panel.

“Obviously, I’d love to get the call-up but we’ll see,” the ace free-taker declares.

“I won’t be getting ahead of myself but with the unsocial hours and length of my working week as a vet, I don’t even know whether I could commit to the county even if I did get that phone call. But it would be great if I had that decision to make.”

Cavan’s odyssey to the 2025 Lory Meagher Cup final in Croke Park is his stand-out time with the blues, he concedes. Although the wound remains open. The fact that it was a New York team that was parachuted late into the competition that beat (4-17 to 2-17) Cavan that day poured a lot of salt into the wound, he concedes.

“I think it was very unfair to let New York into the Lory Meagher (Cup) because they were obviously a team capable of playing in a much higher grade of hurling.

“I got a chance to speak to Tom Parsons (GPA) and Jarlath Burns (GAA President) at the awards night and about how unjust we all felt it was for New York to be playing in the Lory Meagher Cup and they both agreed that it was something that the GAA needed to learn from.

“I would gladly have exchanged my award that night for a Lory Meagher Cup medal and one each for all the other 29 lads on the Cavan panel.

“I’m sure Cavan will win it (Lory Meagher Cup) some day soon.”

And the chances of him being back on board at that juncture?

“Ah, I can’t answer that at this stage. It’s a three-and-a-half hour trip, one-way, to Breffni from my home and I don’t know about the legalities or logistics of me joining up with Cavan in the future.

“I really loved my time playing in Cavan and I am a better player for having played club and county hurling there. To train and play with lads with such passion and love for the game was a pleasure for me and thanks to everyone for giving me the chance.”