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Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tipp captain Ronan Maher on his mural screensaver and joining a wall of legends
It had been so long since they had reason to update it, the paintwork on the famous Thurles Sarsfields mural had become rather patchy. So, no sooner had Ronan Maher's portrait been hastily added alongside his eight clubmates as an All-Ireland winning captain last week than it was temporarily removed as part of a bigger redecorating process. 'They're redoing it all up now,' he says. 'The whole clubhouse has actually been painted, and they're repainting all the signs, so it'll be really cool to be walking in training now and see it.' The first All-Ireland winning captain from anywhere came from Thurles Sarsfields, with Jim Stapleton leading Tipperary to victory in the inaugural Championship of 1887. Yet, Stapleton only took over as captain for the final victory over Galway. The skipper up to then had been Denis Maher, who stepped down from the role due to a fallout over travelling expenses for the final. Denis was Ronan's great-grandfather. Tom Semple, after whom the stadium in Thurles is named, captained Tipp to the 1906 and '08 All-Irelands, while another Sars man, John Joe Callanan, became the first man from the county to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 1930. Clubmate Jimmy Lanigan was the second in 1937, with John Maher, Ronan's granduncle, the third in 1945. Tony Wall maintained the club tradition in 1958 and it was further embellished by Jimmy Doyle (1962 and '65) and Michael Murphy (1964). So, Ronan Maher became the ninth different Thurles Sarsfields man to captain Tipperary to All-Ireland honours last month, and the first in 60 years. But, in an era where players drone on about the process and having eyes only for the next game, Maher had a wider gaze. Indeed, a doctored version of the wall was the screensaver on his phone. 'I had a blank picture beside the rest of the captains up there, and it was just an arrow pointing to it, and I suppose I had a few words underneath, and what my visualisation was, and that was basically it. That was one of Cathal's great skills.' That's Cathal Sheridan, the former Munster rugby player and now sports psychologist, who was also part of Kerry's All-Ireland winning football set up this year. 'When I met him in '24, he asked me what my visualisation was,' Maher explains. 'It was to walk up to Hogan Stand, to lift Liam MacCarthy, but also to have my picture up on the Thurles Sarsfields wall as well, with the rest of the legends, and to walk into the clubhouse with Liam MacCarthy with all my family and friends there, and that was exactly what happened on the Monday night. 'The centre was packed out and everybody from Thurles, outside of Thurles, was there, and it was just a dream come true. But I had it set as my screensaver, yeah, for the two years. It's hard to believe that it's actually come to life now.' Aviva Insurance Ireland have announced their new partnership with ClubberTV. At the launch in Aviva Stadium was Tipperary and Thurles Sarsfields star Ronan Maher. See to catch this weekend's highlights of club games across Ireland. (Image: Inpho) And yet, there's a certain poignancy for him in that his brother, Pádraic, who captained Tipp before him and was forced into retirement in 2022, didn't make the wall before him. 'I always thought that Pádraic should have been going up on it in '17 and '18, and that hits home as well, and it's one thing you think about, and I suppose you think you're so lucky to be going up there. He was one of our best leaders ever to wear a Tipp jersey, and in '17 and '18, we thought we'd be getting him up on the wall, but unfortunately we didn't and things didn't go according to the plan, so that just makes it more special I suppose, and the achievement that it is. 'It'll take a while before it hits home, but I'm born and raised in Thurles and I'll be there for the rest of my life. It'll be nice to look at down the line.' And, for all that, Maher feared that manager Liam Cahill would relieve him of the captaincy after the 2024 season was such a washout. Instead, he doubled down on his faith in him last winter. 'He just said, 'You're going to lift silverware this year' and he shook my hand and he said, 'Go do it' and that was basically the conversation. It does stir a few emotions in you inside, but I was just honoured to get the job again.' It was coming on six years since Tipp had even played a Championship game at Croke Park, but Maher didn't doubt Cahill's words. 'No, I believed him, and I suppose we were a good bit through a tough pre-season there, and I know the group of individuals and team we have, there is class there, and especially with the younger lads coming now as well, there's good lads coming through. 'I think in Tipperary we just have to build on it now, we can't be just happy and go back down again next year and not reach the same heights,' he adds, as Tipp look to retain the title for the first time since 1965 when, of course, a Thurles Sars man was captain. As for the screensaver, what is it now? 'I had to change back to the girlfriend there!'
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Now Tipperary skipper Ronan Maher will visualise 2026 target
A couple of days after the All-Ireland hurling final, the job finally completed, Ronan Maher took out his phone and changed the screensaver. "I changed it back to a picture of the girlfriend," smiled Tipperary's All-Ireland winning captain. A picture of the 'wall of fame' at the entrance to the Thurles Sarsfields club, next to Semple Stadium, had been his screensaver. The club honoured all eight of its All-Ireland winning captains by putting their pictures on plaques and mounting them on the wall outside the clubhouse. And when Maher was first handed the Tipp captaincy, at the start of 2024, he put himself in a position to potentially join them. It was Tipperary's performance coach, Cathal Sheridan, that really got him thinking about that as a lofty but achievable goal, urging him to chase the dream. So defender Maher took out his phone and changed the screensaver to a picture of the wall with a blank space at the end and an arrow pointing to it, where his own image would go. Beneath the picture, he had some motivational words. "That's one of the skills that Cathal Sheridan had," said Maher at the launch of Aviva Insurance's partnership with Clubber TV. "When I met him in 2024, he asked me what my visualisation was for the year and it was to get my picture up and he asked me what my visualisation was as captain and it was to walk up the Hogan Stand and lift the Liam MacCarthy. "But it was also to have my picture up on the Thurles Sarsfields wall with the rest of the legends, and to walk into the clubhouse with the Liam MacCarthy, with all my family and friends there, and that was exactly what happened on the Monday night, the centre was packed out, and everybody from Thurles and outside of Thurles was there. It was just a dream come true." They worked quickly and had a plaque with Maher's image on it in place for the evening. "It was a temporary job," explained Maher, who posed for pictures beneath the plaque with big brother and former Tipp captain Padraic. "They're redoing the whole thing there at the minute. It'll be really nice when it's done. Not many people outside the club probably recognised that it was a thing there, people probably didn't know it was there, so they're redoing it all now. The whole clubhouse has actually been painted and they're painting all the signs, so it'll be really cool to be walking into training and to see it." Jim Stapleton was the club's very first All-Ireland winning captain, from 1887. Denis Maher, Ronan's great grandfather, had been team skipper until the final but a dispute over travelling expenses prompted him to stand down. In 1945, John Maher, Ronan's grand-uncle, made history as the oldest man to lead Tipp to All-Ireland success, at 37. "I always thought that Padraic should have been going up on the wall in '17 and '18," said Ronan of his sibling, whose career was eventually cut short by injury. "That hits home as well, and it's one thing you do think about. You realise you're so lucky to be going up there. He was one of our best leaders ever to wear a Tipp jersey and in '17 and '18 we thought we'd be getting him up on the wall but unfortunately we didn't. "That just makes it more special I suppose, and the achievement that it is. It'll take a while before it hits home. I'm born and raised in Thurles and I'll be there for the rest of my life, so it'll be nice to look at down the line." Visualisation has been a big part of Maher's preparations for several years. Ahead of last month's final against Cork, for example, he looked back on clips from the successful season of 2019, when he'd marked Kilkenny's Colin Fennelly and Wexford's Conor McDonald, recalled what had worked well for him and resolved to make it happen all over again. "I suppose you were trying to visualise that and trying to act on it and then, in the game, make it come to life," said Maher, who was named Man of the Match for his terrific man-marking job on Cork's Brian Hayes. Maher will shortly set himself fresh targets for 2026, imagine them coming to life and then attempt to bring it all to reality. Tipp hasn't retained an All-Ireland title since the mid 1960s, when Sars man Doyle was captain, so that's an obvious target? "You can have that in the back of your mind," nodded Maher. "But you have to strip it back to the small goals and that'll all start when we sit down together. We'll go after all those things again."
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leading Tipperary to All-Ireland summit yet to sink in for Ronan Maher
Ronan Maher says he has changed his phone's screensaver after two years, having accomplished his goal of becoming the ninth All-Ireland winning captain from his club. Thurles Sarsfields have a wall of portraits dedicated to club players who have won an All-Ireland with Tipperary as captain. After being handed the captaincy in 2024, Maher set a photo of the wall to his phone, and has finally moved on after lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup nearly three weeks ago. 'I had a blank picture beside the rest of the captains up there, and just an arrow pointing to it. I didn't look too far ahead, but it was always a nice reminder to have on the phone,' Maher says. READ MORE 'I had to change back to the girlfriend there,' he adds, laughing. 'It'll take a while before it hits home, but I'm born and raised in Thurles, and I'll be there [on the wall] for the rest of my life. It'll be nice to look at down the line.' Maher set the goal for himself when he started working with Cathal Sheridan, the former Munster rugby player and sports psychologist. Sheridan was involved with the All-Ireland winners in both men's codes, having also been a performance coach with Kerry this year. Ronan Maher with the Liam MacCarthy Cup on his return to Thurles. His club, Thurles Sarsfields, have a wall of portraits dedicated to club players who have won an All-Ireland with Tipperary as captain. Ronan joined them in 2025 Photograph: Thurles Sarsfields X account 'When I met him in 2024, he asked me what my visualisation was as a captain. I suppose it was to lift Liam MacCarthy, but also to have my picture up on the wall and to walk into the clubhouse with Liam MacCarthy, with all my family and friends there.' That dream became reality after Tipperary's triumph over Cork : 'That was exactly what happened on the Monday night, the centre was packed. It's hard to believe that it's actually come to life now.' His work with Sheridan is part of a process of mental preparation that he has been honing for years, which also includes journaling and watching highlights of previous performances. 'That's the way I like to do it, put a plan together in my diary – it could be only three or four points – and watch a few clips,' says Maher. 'If you have doubts leading into a game it's really good to look back on things that you've done well, and it just gives you that bit of confidence.' This cerebral approach to the game has paid dividends for the two-time All Star, especially in this year's final when Tipp were six points down at half-time. The Premier County mounted an incredible comeback, with their defence nullifying Cork's attacking threats. In a brilliant team performance, Maher was selected as man of the match. Tipperary captain Ronan Maher at the Aviva Stadium for the announcement of Aviva Insurance Ireland's new partnership with ClubberTV. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho 'I'd actually felt that up until the goal before half-time, we were performing really well. I suppose our execution was off a bit and we butchered two goal chances as well, but it just felt right on the day. On the field it felt really good,' Maher says. Despite the turnaround after the break, there was no dramatic scenes during half-time: 'It was actually one of the calmest dressingrooms that we had all year. We pushed on, and who else other than John McGrath to sniff out the two goals. He's just cute as a fox.' It feels like a long time since Tipperary crashed out of Munster last year in Maher's first season as captain. Maher says people had no issue telling him, or the rest of the panel, how they had underperformed. 'If you speak to any Tipperary player that was on the panel, there's frustration from people. They're not really tapping you on the back, they're asking you questions and challenging you on things,' he says. 'But that's just the way we are in Tipperary. Tipp has always been like that, the expectations are so high. I suppose it's a skill just to be able to take it on the chin and move on.' With the club season about to start, there hasn't been much time for Maher to look back on his accomplishments. 'It could be Christmas time now before it really hits home, but it's all I've ever dreamed of. Maybe it won't be until I finish up, until I look back and say that was unbelievable.'
The 42
21-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Ronan Maher lands All-Ireland hurling final man of the match award
TIPPERARY CAPTAIN RONAN Maher has been named man of the match after today's All-Ireland senior hurling final. Maher led the Premier county to Liam MacCarthy glory after a sensational second-half surge against Cork. Tipp won 3-27 to 1-18 after outscoring the Rebels 3-14 to 0-2 in the latter period. The Thurles Sarsfields defender beat team-mates John McGrath and Darragh McCarthy to the coveted award, which as announced on The Sunday Game on RTÉ, and presented by GAA President Jarlath Burns at the team banquet at the Grand Hotel, Malahide. Advertisement 'Ah sure listen, it's absolutely unbelievable,' Maher told RTÉ's Joanne Cantwell. 'It's what we all dream about, coming up to Croke Park and putting in a performance. 'Someone asked me earlier on what we done at half time, but I think the group, as a collective, were really, really calm. We knew what we had to do in the second half. 'Listen, it's an honour for me to captain this group of people, the players, the management, the backroom team, I'm the lucky one standing up here. 'Everyone put in a savage shift today, even the lads that didn't get onto the field today, everybody was just tremendous throughout the year. It's just a good, honest group of people here, and I couldn't be happier or prouder standing in front of them.' Maher went on to reveal a source of personal motivation for his third All-Ireland success: he will now join an illustrious list of Thurles Sarsfields' All-Ireland winning Tipperary captains etched onto a wall of fame at the club. 'It's a dream come true really. Liam Cahill spoke to me at the start of the year and I was absolutely privileged to get the job again, I didn't think I would. I have him to thank for that. 'I had a picture of that wall set as my screensaver for the last two or three years. It's something that I've been looking forward to, getting up there. 'It's unbelievable. I couldn't be prouder as a Thurles Sarsfields man and a Tipperary man to be going up on the wall, but I couldn't do it without these lads down here.' Hailed a 'colossus' by The Sunday Game pundit and former Tipp star Brendan Cummins, Maher's nullification of Cork star forward Brian Hayes has been widely lauded. The 29-year-old played it down. 'There was a lot of them to block out, I suppose. Everybody was tremendous today. Like I said, we came out after half time and put in a big shift. Credit to every man that got onto the field there today, it was unbelievable. 'I'd like to think that we put so much pride back into the Tipperary jersey, for the supporters, and for everybody in this room, it means so much to everybody. We're just absolutely thrilled to have Liam MacCarthy here tonight.' ***** Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
The Irish Sun
20-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘I'm the lucky one' – Ronan Maher shows true colours with classy gesture to Tipperary teammates after winning GAA award
RONAN MAHER was named Man of the Match following the All-Ireland final - and dedicated the gong to his Tipperary teammates. The towering Advertisement 2 Ronan Maher captained Tipperary to the All-Ireland hurling title Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 He named Man of the Match on The Sunday Game It came after an Maher did more than his part in the comeback, keeping Brian Hayes - who had scored a hat-trick in Cork's semi-final win over Dublin - under wraps. But speaking from the winner's hotel on He said: "It is absolutely unbelievable. Advertisement Read More on GAA "It is what we all dream about, is coming up to Croke Park and putting in a good performance. "Someone asked me earlier on there what we done at half time but I think the group as a collective were really, really calm and we knew what we needed to do in the second-half. "It is an honour for me to captain this group of people. The players, the management, the backroom team. "I am the lucky one standing up here today. Everybody put in a savage shift today. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling Comment "Even the lads that didn't get onto the field today, everybody there was trememendous throughout the year. "It is a good honest bunch of people here and couldn't be happier or prouder standing in front of them." Ronan Maher pays tribute to Dillon Quirke after Tipperary GAA win All-Ireland final Maher got visibly emotional when host Joanne Cantwell revealed he had written himself into a special chapter of history . A proud Thurles Sarsfields man, the two-time All Star has dreamed of joining the club's Hall of Fame. Advertisement In an And now that he is part of that very exclusive club, Maher couldn't help but smile from ear-to-ear. He added: "It is a dream come true really. Advertisement "Liam Cahill spoke to me at the start of the year and I was absolutely privileged to get the job again. "I didn't think I would and I have him to thank for that. "The picture on that wall is my screensaver for the last two or three years. "It is something I have been looking forward to, getting up there and it is unbelievable. Advertisement "I couldn't be prouder as a Thurles Sarsfields man and as a Tipperary man to go up on the wall. "I couldn't do it without these lads down here so it is unbelievable."
