By Kevin Egan

The old adage states that those who do not learn their history are doomed to repeat it, but that has never really rang true in the GAA. For some who grow up in a club, school or county with a tradition of success, learning and appreciating the history of that unit can be a huge step towards repeating it, as it feels empowering and reassuring to be part of something that has proven itself to be so strong.

Yet for those on the outside of that circle, history can be every bit as restrictive as brick walls and iron bar windows. While some stand on the shoulders of giants, others find their climb impeded by the slain soldiers that have gone before them and battled in vain.

Whether it’s the Mayo Gaelic footballers, the Waterford hurlers, or even closer to home, a club like Cappataggle or pre-2021 Mountbellew Moylough, the memory of always finding ways to not quite get there can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It’s for that reason that Presentation College Athenry teacher and senior hurling coach Cathal Moore has for the past couple of weeks been very focused, not just on what he can teach his hurlers, but on making sure that they un-learn all those negative history lessons, ahead of this Friday’s All-Ireland Post Primary Schools final against St Kieran’s College of Kilkenny in Croke Park (3pm) .

“We’ve great respect for St Kieran’s, they’ve played in the last eight Croke Cup finals and won 23 of them in their history,” the Turloughmore club man said to Tribune Sport this week, before adding that: “they have nobody involved from any of those teams that actually won All-Irelands. We respect tradition, but it’s players that win games, and nothing like that is going to tell me that this is anything other than a 50/50 contest before a ball is struck”.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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