Master Marksman Mark Corrigan says goodbye to the Faithful The Kinnitty wingman had few peers in a glorious intercounty career of 15 years and Mark has no intention of changing his decision. Wrestling with incredulity at the realisation that their favourites will be plying their trade in Division Two of the National Hurling League next season, hapless Kilkenny fans have been grasping for threads of consolation of late. However, like Manna from Heaven, most welcome tidings have filtered south from Offaly, Mark Corrigan, the Faithful County's last surviving member of the 1980 old boy network has decided to hang his inter-county hurl above the mantelpiece. Second grade hurling next Autumn and the prospect of a facile defence of their title on May 30th next doesn't seem that grim all of a sudden to rabid Cats. Niggling injuries and a loss of appetite for big-time hurling have been cited by the man himself as the primary factors which prompted him to bring down the curtain on a 14 year long Senior county career. Common get-out verbalism but arguably uniquely significant in terms of Offaly's hurling renovation of late, an indication of the country's changing of the old guard, in fact. There'll be a mighty last post and chorus though in the Faithful County at Corrigan's self-imposed exile from hurling's main stage. Mark Corrigan departs the inter-county scene with a hearty laugh, contented and full-sure that he's let nobody down by now choosing to concentrate his vast talents on spearheading Kinnity's charge up Offaly's hurling rankings. "I think I've left Offaly in good hands. A lot of the young lads coming through have already won All-Ireland medals at Underage level and they have the maturity to see that the county rise once again to the very top in the near future." At grassroots level, the ace attacker captains a Kinnity squad which shows the same promise as that which Corrigan maintains is exuded by Eamonn Cregan's band of hurlers. After a few seasons of being hit by emigration, injuries and retirements of some of the older hands and a dearth of confidence, the retirement of their 32 year old captain from Offaly colours has further enhance the local hurling resurgence, not that Mark Corrigan ever reneged on the men that first drilled him in the rudiments of world's most skillful game. Fact is, the Offaly County Council employed Carpenter has never let any side down from the time he first excelled with hurl in hand as a bubbly twelve-year old wing attacker. No regret, no tears to cry, that's the Corrigan standpoint as things present themselves at the moment. He insists there'll be no U-turn come early Summer and that his decision arrived at last Winter is final. Just like on each occasion he wound his way home after giving it his all on the field of play, there'll be no post-mortem on his hugely successful career, just lots of happy memories. Memories like how he scored the crucial goal which broke the hearts of the Coolderry men in the replay of 1979 Offaly Senior Hurling Final. A debutant for the club Seniors at sixteen, crafty Corrigan would go on to be talked about locally in the same breath as Kinnity greats of previous times such as Pat Spain and Eddie Moyles. Mark Corrigan was first sprung upon the larger Offaly hurling audience when he was a particularly vital and inspirational marksman on the county Under 21 team which careered to their first Leinster title in 1978. By that stage, a seasoned campaigner on the county club scene, Kinnity's pocket rocket had proved himself good enough to claim a place on the Senior county side which drew with Tipperary in the '78 League campaign. There then began a grand alliance between marksman Mark and the Green, White and Gold which was to prove a richly rewarding, mutually satisfying experience for all concerned. For all those whose fate it was to oppose a Corrigan-powered Offaly team, the alliance was a veritable nightmare affair, however, much to the delight of avid Faithful County fans. A product of the Father Madden school of coaching as a young speedster, the affable tradesman with the cumulative hurling skill of ten men was a winner from day one of his magical career, Captain of Kinnity county winning sides from under 12 right through to Senior grade, Mark Corrigan has, over the years, tended to outshine the hurling exploits at base of brothers Mattie, Denis, Mick and Paddy but, in truth, who has modest Mark not outshone over the course of his Offaly Senior sojourn? At 5'8" and fighting fit eleven stone was worth his weight in gold and was every inch the wizard of the wing that column will doubtless describe him in times to come. Mark Corrigan acknowledges that he was fortunate to emerge on the Offaly scene when an amalgam of similarly potent forces simultaneously came together under the aegis of top class coach Dermot Healy. "Players like myself and Ger Couglan probably wouldn't have made our way on to the county team only Dermot Healy came along. He changed the style of hurling in Offaly, made the game more skillful and less physical and it suited our type of play. We were lucky in that we joined up with a great bunch of players, all of whom had great respect for each other's ability," explained the hurling artist whose plans for the immediate future certainly don't include getting his hands on the proverbial pipe and slippers. Where once Mark Corrigan was Johnny Flaherty's greatest fan, these days Corrigan himself stands as an icon for promising Kinnity starlets such as Tony Carroll, Michael Egan and Peadar Bergin. He is, after all, a perfect role model for all aspiring young sports-people. A non-drinker and non-smoker, Mark Corrigan's honour-laden career was nothing more than he deserved, given the level of commitment and dedication afforded by him to the game most racy of his native soil. As honest as the day is long, the latest inter-county star hurler to break from the fast lane admits that he never could have believed that such success was in the pipeline when first he earned his spurs with Offaly Seniors. "Even though Dermot Healy gave us a great belief in ourselves and instilled into us never to be afraid of the opposition jersey, I didn't full realise the potential within the side. Looking aback now on the teams that won the All-Ireland's in 1981 and '85 there was great balance in every sector. Each of the players were capable of doing a tremendous job, confidence was high and there were really no weak-links", the Kinnity stalwart confessed. Strangely, despite the aforementioned Offaly successes in '81 and '85, Mark rates the Offaly team of 1982 as, perhaps, the best of the lot. Being pipped by Kilkenny (0-12 to 1-11) only helped stir the appetite of the Birr Vocational School graduate, plus Messrs, Fogarty, Coughlan, Delaney etc. Of farming stock and son of Michael Corrigan of Offaly 1929 All-Ireland Junior hurling winning fame, Mark Corrigan's feat in the 1989 Leinster decider against Kilkenny has since been etched in hurling folklore within the confines of the Faithful County and beyond. A twice acclaimed B & I Award winner, Mark blasted home an amazing 3-7 tally to clinch a provincial medal to add to his county Championship medal scooped with Kinnity in the same season. All told, Corrigan the hurling Cavalier has amassed a bundle of medals. Enough, in fact, to satisfy the desires of countless dedicated hurlers in counties Carlow, Laois and Westmeath to name but a few success starved minnows of the game. Two Senior All-Irelands in 1981 and '85, seven Leinster title in 1980, '81, '84, '85, '88, '89, '90, five Offaly title which included successes in 1978, '79, '83,'84 and '85 a National Hurling League medal scooped in 1991 and a Railway Cup medal clinched three seasons earlier leave much to recommend Mark Corrigan as an attacker of few equals. Having emerged up through the Offaly inter-county ranks with such pedigree hurlers as Brendan Keeshan, Jim Troy and Ton Conneely and having been moulded on to successive winning combinations, Mark Corrigan is better equipped than most to analyse the task facing the current Offaly squad in reclaiming their 'erstwhile top notch hurling position in the country. His analysis is refreshingly objective and pertinent. "I feel we need to achieve some success at Senior level as quickly as possible. The last two first round Leinster Championship defeats were big blows and, in all honesty, the enthusiasm generated by our 1980 success has all but evaporated. What was done then is history, but I definitely detect the signs of a resurgence within the county," A promoter of the spectator-friendly free running game so characteristic of Faithful County hurling during his own period under the Senior spotlight, Mark the Master hopes in time to put his knowledge of the game he loves to good use a team mentor close to home. Seeking out future Joe Hennessy's (rated by him as his most difficult opponents) Sean Foley's, Denis Coughlan's and Dermot MacCurtain's is some way further down the line though for the burgeoning team captain. Getting the better of 1993 county Championship favourites Birr and Rynaghs tops Corrigan agenda for the present. As of yet, his decision to bow out of inter-county fare hasn't been such a dramatic shock to the system and, in truth, Messr.Corrigan isn't particularly bracing himself for the onset of cold-turkey like shivers. "I don't think I'll have any problems with coming to terms with retirement because over the last while I've come to realise that I no longer was part of Offaly's plans. I had trained hard for last year's Leinster Championship but still didn't make the team. I felt I had something to offer but Padraig Horan felt otherwise. He had to do his job to the best of his ability, and I fully accepted that and I can't grumble," reflected the still fearless marauder. Mark Corrigan reiterates that there'll be no U-turn, no imitations of Bomber Liston, Gerry McEntee, Kevin Hennessy, Tony Sullivan, Retiring now happy in the knowledge the punters have seen the best that Mark Corrigan had to offer. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 2nd April 1993 Tweet

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