by Mark Woods
Evening Echo
Thursday, October 2rd 2003

Brothers in arms could be another name to use for Newtownshandrum. Back in 1973 they caused a sensation by defeating Glen Rovers to become the first winners of the county U21 hurling championship.

That team included four Herlihys, Pat, Donal, Joe and Kevin and a couple of Coughlans, Pat and Denis.

The current senior side continues the trend with three more sets of brothers, all holding down important positions in the team. There are three Mulcahys, Brendan and Pat at full-back and centre-back respectively, and Donal, who operates in the half-forward line.

Twins Ben and Jerry O'Connor are well known and another brother, John, kept the Newtown dream alive by coming off the bench to notch the equalising point against Sarsfields last week.

Add in goalkeeper Paul Morrisey and centre-forward Mike Morrissey and you get a flavour of how tightly knit this small north Cork parish is.

"The whole community is involved really," said selector and manager Patsy Morrissey. "You could say over 90% of the population will be at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday. Hurling is a way of life, because there are no other sports, no Gaelic football, no soccer, no rugby."

And it's all the more remarkable given that Dromina is also part of the parish and they're in the semi-final of the county junior hurling championship. They play Kanturk in Buttevanat on Saturday and are hotly fancied to make it to the final.

Newtown's fairytale rise to the top has attracted attention outside the Avondhu division and even outside Cork. Duhallow, more renowned for football, has pockets of hurling interest which keeps an eye on Newtown's fortunres as does Ballygran in South County Limerick.

Those who have left the parish and done well for themselves haven't forgotten their roots either. Cheques from all parts of the country and even further afield will flood in next week should Newtown reach their second consecutive final.

It's an acknowledgement of the huge commitment and sacrifices made by the players and the back-room team and a token of thanks for the joy they bring to thos looking on from the outside.