3 days ago
Tom O'Meara in a New York state of mind for Lory Meagher decider
They have a saying in the US military, 'no man left behind'.
The New York hurlers do their best to live by a similar creed but with the visa situation being what it is, and the general uncertainty of the Trump regime, it's not always possible.
So it is that one or two who might ordinarily have been part of the New York hurlers' shot at Lory Meagher Cup title success this weekend will be at home.
"It's not a thing of the past," said Tipperary man and New York hurler Tom O'Meara of visa difficulties.
"Even with the current situation, Trump has halted applications for F and J visas. It's always a battle. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to travel home. Look, we lost out on a couple of lads probably that couldn't travel home but you're always going to have that in America."
O'Meara is one of the lucky ones. He counts the Astoria neighbourhood in Queens as home these days and works in construction as a project manager. Three times a week, he makes the hour or so journey to Gaelic Park in The Bronx for training.
It's two and a half years since he first settled in New York and he sees a life stretching out ahead of him there.
"I'm lucky enough to be on a visa that gives me three years and it can be renewed for another three years," he said. "As I said, not everyone is as lucky. I love it out there and I do see myself staying for the foreseeable. I'm from rural north Tipperary and I'd find it very difficult to adapt back after living the big city life!"
O'Meara captained the Tipp New York club to championship success in 2024 and helped them retain the title in 2025. He is joined in the county setup by several more Tipp men. Some, like Portroe's AJ Willis, who hit 1-08 against Monaghan in last weekend's Meagher Cup semi-final, are players, while others are involved in the management.
New York feels like home at this stage though O'Meara acknowledged that a lot of his free time is spent at the hurling club. He likes going into Central Park with pals too, for a puck around.
It was novel at first drawing attention from interested passers by but the questions and the queries about the stick and ball game soon got old.
"Every Tom, Dick and Harry is asking you what's that?" said O'Meara. "I'm sick of telling them it's hurling. It's usually, 'What? Curling?' I say, 'No, not curling, hurling'. I've just resorted to, 'Ah, it's cricket' and they seem to walk away. You get a lot of that, and gawking stares."
If nothing else, he's spreading the hurling gospel. Not that it has fully caught on just yet. There's just one home grown player in the New York hurling squad.
"James Breen, he's born and reared in the Bronx, a great hurler," explained O'Meara.
Men like former Cork senior Sean O'Leary-Hayes and 2017 All-Ireland winning Galway forward Johnny Glynn are picking up the slack in the meantime. Glynn has embraced New York more than any of them, lining out for the senior footballers previously. He's currently the GAA board's vice-chairman.
Lory Meagher Cup final opponents Cavan, no doubt, will have their hands full with the big forward who clipped two points in the 1-29 to 2-13 defeat of Monaghan.
"He's a cult hero out there now," said O'Meara. "Any man that watches hurling knows Johnny's ability in the air. He's been one of the best to field a ball. He always keeps himself in very good nick, a hard trainer also. He's still well able to go."
This is the first season that New York has been included in the hurling's fifth-tier competition. There have been suggestions that they're too strong for the grade.
"I can see where they're coming from, saying that," shrugged O'Meara. "Galway had the same set up back in the day, getting straight to a semi-final in the Liam MacCarthy. It can be an advantage or a disadvantage. Like, for the first 10 minutes of the Monaghan game we were sitting ducks.
"I don't think we scored at all. We hadn't played any competitive games. In New York, you can't organise any competitive match to the same standard. So there are positives and negatives to it."
