A family affair for Sars Stakelum’s

By Shane Brophy

The Stakelum surname is synonymous with Tipperary hurling.

From Pat Stakelum of Holycross/Ballycahill who captained Tipperary to All-Ireland glory through to the Stakelum’s of Borris-Ileigh, including Conor and Richard, the latter who skippered Tipp to end a Munster title famine in 1987.

However, the influence of both strands of the Stakelum family have benefitted Thurles Sarsfields hugely, firstly through Pat and his lead role as one of the founding fathers of the Dúrlas Og club in 1979, to develop underage hurling in the town when the fortunes of the great Sarsfields side of the ‘50s & ‘60s had long since died.

Conor Stakelum’s business interests in Thurles town saw him set up home there and what his own Borris-Ileigh missed out on, Thurles Sarsfields have benefitted as all four of his sons Conor, Darragh, Cian and Aidan, will be involved in both the senior and premier intermediate hurling finals.

“It is great playing with your brothers and dad is very invested in it as well in the club,” Conor said.

“It is a huge privilege and honour for our family to have the boys representing Thurles Sarsfields in two county finals as Aidan is on the premier intermediate team, so it is a proud moment.”

Conor Stakelum was but a novice when he won his one and only county senior medal to date as a 20-year-old in Sarsfields last title success since 2017, which completed a four-in-a-row, but it has been a famine of sorts since.

“When we won the four-in-a-row, it was a case of when is this going to stop,” Conor admitted.

“But we haven’t won a county title since then, so it is great to be back in the final. When Thurles Sarsfields aren’t competing in county finals is it not good for our club so we’re delighted to be back there again.

“2017 was my first year on the senior team and I look back on it with fond memories. I thought this is what it is going to be like over the next few years, but life doesn't work out like that, and sport doesn't either.”

Conor’s claim to fame came a year later when he scored the decisive goal to help the Tipperary under 21 hurlers to beat Cork in the All-Ireland Final at the Gaelic Grounds.

Stakelum looked set to kick on, but his form fell away in 2019 and 2020 when he struggled to make an impact at club level, but the penny began to drop in 2021 when he had a superb campaign for Sarsfields as they reached the county final but lost to Loughmore/Castleiney after a replay.

That form saw him called into the Tipperary senior panel by Colm Bonnar and over the last two years has been a consistent member of the starting line-up come championship where Tipp tend to perform well when Stakelum is on form.

“Some of the harder days on the pitch, I had to learn from them,” he admitted.

“I worked hard in the off-seasons and worked hard with the S&C coaches, and the likes of Mikey Bevans with Tipp was a big help.

“It is also about enjoying your hurling as well and trying to leave it all out there. If you can walk off the pitch knowing you have done that, the happier the frame of mind.”

The 26-year-old is looking forward to getting back in with Tipperary for the 2024 season but is hoping that will be some way off yet as it will mean Thurles Sarsfields winning the county title and going into compete in the Munster club championship, but Kiladangan will have a lot to say about that, considering they defeated Thurles 2-23 to 1-17 in the group stage ten weeks ago.

“That was a tough day at the office for us,” he admitted.

“To be fair, Kiladangan have also come on strong in the last few games, so both teams have been building nicely towards this. It will be a cracking game as there is great respect between the two teams.”

Sarsfields recovered from that defeat well, the first test of Padraic Maher’s managerial credentials, and as a player who played with the Sars and Tipp great from 2017 through 2021 and under him as a Tipp selector this past year, has first had insight into how he has transitioned from player to manager.

“He is very basic; it is about doing the simple things right,” Stakelum revealed.

“He sets very high standards, there is no secret ingredient. All coaches are trying to get the best out of their players and Padraic has hit the nail on the head with us this year. You see what you get from Padraic who was an inspirational leader on the pitch. Padraic would have played with most of the players on the team and if he says to do something, you know where it is coming from.

“You can’t be under any illusion of how good it is to play with a manager that you have soldiered with as well, which has been a big help this year.”