CIAN O’ROURKE
FOUNDER + OWNER OF COREX SPORTS
Q1. Favourite food?
The hot pep pizza slice from Bambino's in Dublin. I lived up there for four years and never had a bad slice.
Q2. Are you superstitious? Do you have a pre-match routine?
Not at all. I'm far too disorganised for a routine, and most weeks I forget my boots or my helmet. The one thing I do is put a fresh grip on the hurl before every championship game, but that's more about the feel than any superstition.
Q3. Favourite movie and why?\
Law Abiding Citizen. It's an emotional storyline. You find yourself rooting for the bad guy and the good guy at the same time.
Q4. Favourite music? What do you listen to before a match?
Drake or Fontaines D.C. Before a match I don't really listen to anything, just whatever's on the speaker in the dressing room.
Q5. Place you would most like to visit? Why?
Japan. I travelled Asia for a few months but never got there. I'd love to see the culture, and the food.
Q6. Dream car? Why?
Growing up it was always the Audi R8. However, these days I'm a big fan of the BYDs.
Q7. Toughest opponent you have ever marked? Why?
Fergal Kearney from Tulla. We've been marking each other from U12s right up to senior championship, and we've hit each other a fair amount over the years.
Q8. Opponent you would love to mark (past or present)? Why?
Anthony Daly. The man lives and breathes Clare hurling, and I'd love to see that passion up close.
Q9. Past or present, who would you like to play alongside or against? Why?
My three uncles, Pat, Paul and Declan, who all won a senior county championship with Wolfe Tones.
Q10. If there was a transfer window, who would you pick from another club in County Clare? Why?
Tony Kelly. He's the GOAT. No explanation needed.
Q11. If you could play any sport at a competitive level, what would it be and why?
Darts. Low-impact training on the body, and an easy nutrition plan to follow.
Q12. What's one thing supporters would appreciate more if they knew what went on behind the scenes?
The commitment levels. Championship is everything and it comes at the end of the summer, but lads are putting in three, four, five nights a week from January and February. A lot of that isn't team sessions, it's individual work. After all that, you can still turn up in championship and play terrible. It's not for the lack of trying. Some days it's just not your day.
Q13. Outside of your parents, who has had the biggest influence on your life or hurling career?
My two brothers. My older brother John was always driving my hurling on and pushing me to a higher level, in a Roy Keane kind of loving way. My younger brother Oisín is the one I'd be pucking with or taking shots on every day. The three of us are always training together outside of the team throughout the year, and that's probably what I enjoy most about hurling.
Q14. Best club player who never played county from your club?
Gary O'Connell. An absolute Rolls Royce of a hurler.
Q15. Of all the people you've trained with, who is the best to train with?
Jamie Roughan. So much passion, always driving standards, and a real leader.
Q16. Who is the worst person to train with?
My brother John. He lets the whole team know every time I make a mistake.
Q17. What is the best game you've ever played?
The 2024 Intermediate County Final against Tubber. We won by a point to get back senior after being relegated the year before.
Q18. What game you lost still hurts the most to this day?
Watergrasshill in the 2024 Munster Intermediate Club semi-final. They went on to win the All-Ireland, and we had our chances that day.
Q19. Who is the unsung hero at your GAA club? Why?
Larry Donnellan. He always has Wolfe Tones' best interests at heart, a true club man.
Q20. Fantasy Hurling Team: COREX United (7-a-side)
Goals: Mark Sheedy (Bridge)
Backs: Niall O'Farrell (Broadford, John Conlon (Clonlara)
Midfield: Seán Rynne (Inagh, Tony Kelly (Ballyea)
Forwards: Mark Rodgers (Scariff), Fred Hegarty (Inagh
