ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by former Cork camogie player Sara Hayes as she gives her takes on the skorts and shorts controversy. Courcey Rovers’ Hayes has won multiple All-Irelands with Cork and manages her club in the senior county championship. The story took another turn in the last week when Cork and Waterford had their Munster senio…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Carbery GAA PRO Tim Buckley as he discusses the upcoming Carbery GAA centenary celebration of Carbery clubs. The division are celebrating their 100th year and will celebrate it in the Parkway Hotel in Dunmanway this Sunday, 11th May from 2pm to 5pm. All 26 clubs in the division will take part in the event as…

ON THIS week's podcast, we back at Cork’s heartbreaking Munster SFC semi-final defeat to Kerry as John Hayes reflects on an epic encounter. The Rebels went into this as underdogs but were agonisingly close to pulling off the unthinkable, losing 3-21 to 1-25 after extra-time. It was a game described by many as one of the games of the decade and desp…

ON THIS week's podcast, we preview the Munster SFC semi-final between arch-rivals Cork and Kerry. The Rebels are going into this game on Saturday at 7pm in Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh as underdogs. Kerry are league champions and are favourites for the All-Ireland SFC according to the bookmakers. John Cleary and his team have a massive task ahead of …

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Cork senior hurler Shane Kingston, amid the hype around the hurling team at the moment. Kingston, who was speaking at the launch of the ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa Challenge, and his Cork teammates are just off the back of their first league title since 1998. They beat Tipperary 3-24 to 0-23 to give themselves th…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Bandon Grammar coach Philip Murphy after the school won the Munster schools junior cup recently. The Grammar won their first ever Munster schools cup as they beat 19-time winners Christian Brothers College 20-12. A school that has past pupils such as Jack Crowley, Gavin Coombes and Darran Sweetnam as well as…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Irish hockey legend David Harte who is returning closer to home after a successful stint in the Netherlands. Harte was a key part of Team Ireland in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and has made over 200 appearances for the Emerald Isle. He spent 13 years on the books of SV Kampong over in the low country but…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Clonakilty Soccer Club stalwart and goalkeeper Iain O’Driscoll after they won their second Beamish Cup in a row. Clon beat Ardfield in a thrilling Beamish Cup final 7-6 on penalties after a 3-3 draw after extra-time. Soccer Club are now going for the double-double after their league and cup double in 2024. A…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by friend of the podcast Ger McCarthy as we look ahead to the Beamish Cup final between Clonakilty Soccer Club and Ardfield. The decider takes place in Turners Cross this Sunday at 12.30pm. Clon are looking to win their second Beamish Cup in a row while Ardfield are only competing in their first final since 200…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Ardfield stalwart Peter Barrett as the Beamish Cup surprise packets face giants Drinagh Rangers in the semi-final on Sunday. After beating Dunmanway Town, Beara United and Spartak Mossgrove in their run to the last four, they have been the undoubted story of the competition and will hope that there is one mo…

ON THIS week's podcast, we chat to University of Toledo athlete Laura Nicholson after she ran a new one-mile personal best (4:30.85) at the Boston College Eagle Elite meet recently. The former Bandon AC member smashed her previous PB by almost four seconds which saw her surge up to fourth in the all-time Irish women’s indoor one-mile ranking. Nicho…

ON THIS week's podcast, we chat to former Monaghan footballer Stephen Gollogly as we look ahead to Cork’s clash away to the Ulster side, which is in Grattan Park, Inniskeen at 1.30pm on Sunday. Gollogly won two Ulster titles in his time playing for Monaghan (2013 and 2015) and now owns a company called Gaelic Tactics Board. John Cleary’s Cork are o…

ON THIS week's podcast, we chat to the new Cork senior camogie captain Méabh Cahalane. Cahalane was speaking at the launch of the Very National Camogie Leagues for 2025 where she was honoured to go to the event as the Rebels’ captain. She talks to us about getting advice from her dad (Cork football legend Niall), being part of a successful GAA fami…

ON THIS week's podcast, we chat to Barry O’Donovan and Guilherme Alencar about the recent success of the 4 Honor Bantry jiu-jitsu club. The club was only founded in January 2023 and recently came back from the European Championships in Portugal with three gold medals (won by Kawan Azeredo, Juliana Taparica and Mariana Ribeiro) and one bronze (Karel…

ON THIS week's podcast, we look back at the Cork footballers’ win on the opening day of the Allianz Football League Division 2. John Cleary’s side beat Meath by 2-19 to 0-21, winning their first Division 2 opening game in eight attempts. The Rebels face Down next in Newry (1pm on Sunday) and are looking up with positivity. The Hurlers also got on t…

ON THIS week's podcast, we look back at the recent West Cork Sports Star Awards held in the Celtic Ross Hotel. It was no surprise to see Olympic legends Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy pick up the main award, Paul for the fourth time, Fintan got his third. Niall Cahalane (Hall of Fame), Clonakilty Soccer Club (Team of the Year), Goleen GAA (Spec…

ON THIS week's podcast, Sue Nicholson joins us to talk about West Cork Jesters. Nicholson chats about all their activities, events and opportunities going on at their Clubhouse in Durrus. She also delves into their fundraising efforts to get their 17 athletes to the Mixed Ability World Cup in Pamplona Spain in June 2025. They competed at the 2022 W…

ON THIS week's podcast, we look ahead to a new year of the Beamish Cup. It is a staple to the West Cork soccer calendar and nobody is more excited for the commencement than in Star HQ. Clonakilty Soccer Club hope to retain the cup they won in dramatic fashion in 2024, beating Drinagh Rangers 3-2 in the final. Drinagh themselves, who lost out on the…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are looking back at a memorable year in West Cork sport, hence why the end of year list has been increased from 10 to 20 places. 2024 was one to remember for West Cork sporting fanatics between success at the Olympic Games in Paris where the Ballineen Bullet Phil Healy and Skibbereen rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCar…

ON THIS week's podcast, up and coming GAA referee Shane Scanlon explains why he took up the whistle. The Newcestown native has taken charge of some big games in his young career including this year’s Cork premier SHC final between Imokilly and Sarsfields. Scanlon chats about his career to date, the number of referees needed for club championships, …

ON THIS week's podcast, we catch up with Macroom native Erika O’Shea after her Australian Football League Women’s triumph with the North Melbourne Kangaroos. The Roos won the title against the 2023 victors, Brisbane Lions, in the final by 39-9 and went the whole season unbeaten, no team in the AFL men's or women's have done that before. O’Shea just…

ON THIS week's podcast, we are joined by Goleen midfielder Matthew Sheehan as the Carbery junior B champions face into a county final against Douglas. The Mizen Peninsula club have already won two championship trophies (confined junior B and Carbery junior B titles) as well as a West Cork division 2 league win. Their county junior B final is in Pai…

ON THIS week's podcast, Kieran is joined by O’Donovan Rossa hurling trio Alan Foley, Flor Crowley and Rob Long. The club is celebrating 20 years after their Cork junior BHC victory in 2004. On November 14th, 2004, Crowley, who was captain of the team, collected the junior B cup in front of a huge Skibbereen following. Recently, 25 players from the …

ON THIS week's podcast, Tom Savage from Three Red Kings joins us to discuss the current state of play involving Jack Crowley. The Bandon RFC graduate and Innishannon man has been in competition for the Irish number ten jersey for the past few weeks with Leinster players Ciaran Frawley and Sam Prendergast. Crowley played 58 minutes against New Zeala…

ON THIS week's podcast, O’Donovan Rossa forward Kate O’Donovan chats after the Skibbereen club’s Munster intermediate LGFA title win. Rossa beat St Ailbes from Limerick by 0-10 to 0-7 and produced a particularly impressive second half display. That's five championship titles in the last five for super Skibb, who have only lost one game in that time…

ON THIS week's podcast, Diarmuid O'Mathunas captain Jeremiah Hurley discusses their first Carbery junior AHC win in 14 years. The Castletownkenneigh club beat Ballinascarthy by 1-14 to 1-12 in Enniskeane to bring the Flyer Nyhan Cup back to Mathunas. Hurley talks about the emotion of the win, the support from the Mathunas’ fans, balancing hurling a…

ON THIS week's podcast, Castlehaven captain Mark Collins joins us on the show after their 0-16 to 0-11 win over Nemo Rangers, winning their second county premier SFC title in a row. They repeated the feat of 2012/2013, manager Seanie Cahalane captained the team 11 years ago and is now the winning manager. The Haven were full value for their win aft…

ON THIS week's podcast, former Cork footballer and Southern Star Sports columnist John Hayes previews the county premier SFC final between Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers, on Sunday in Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh at 3.30pm. The Haven are going for their second Andy Scannell Cup in a row and face a Nemo side chasing their first crown since 2022. The sid…

ON THIS week's podcast, Kieran chats to O’Donovan Rossa captain Laura O’Mahony after the Skibb side’s county intermediate LGFA triumph over Naomh Aban, 0-12 to 1-8. O’Mahony talks about the rise of the club from being in junior C in 2018 to competing in Senior in 2025. Rossa won the junior Cork, Munster and All Ireland crowns in 2023 and have won 1…

ON THIS week's podcast, Kieran McCarthy chats to Cork Camogie and Courcey Rovers star Saoirse McCarthy. McCarthy was in Croke Park this week for the Launch of Eir as an Official Telco partner of the Camogie Association and three year sponsor of the U16 Camogie All Ireland Championship. She talks about how Camogie brings people together, adapting to…

ON THIS week's podcast, we chat to Ballinascarthy forward Brian O’Donovan ahead of their Carbery junior AHC semi final against St James on Sunday at 2.30pm in Enniskeane. O’Donovan has been in two of the last three Southern Star Team of the Week’s across hurling and football. He is one of the most lethal finishers in the Carbery championship and on…

BEARA'S Billy Murphy has a new role as their new schools coach and how they can develop as a division. He talks to Kieran McCarthy on this week's podcast. We also cover a big weekend of county football action as Clonakilty, Carbery Rangers, Dohenys and Bantry Blues. The current state of play in the Carbery junior A championships will be talked abou…

PAUL O'DONOVAN was recently awarded for his incredible 2024 with a monthly West Cork Sports Star award, and we took the time to catch up with him in a year that has gone pretty well, it's fair to say. A second Olympic gold medal, a seventh World Rowing championship, starting work as a doctor – it's been a busy year. Thousands flocked to see O'Donov…

THIS week's podcast is a preview special as we look ahead to this weekend's Cork football championship matches as the final round of the group stage takes place. It looks set to be an exciting couple of days of football as there is still plenty to be decided across the different divisions, with a number of West Cork clubs looking to either qualify …

PAUL O'Donovan might have chosen to take some time off after winning his third Olympic – and second gold – medal in Paris during the summer. He would have been well within his rights to rest, recover and let everything sink in. Instead, he travelled to Canada just a couple of weeks later and won his seventh World Rowing title. He also started worki…

CELEBRATIONS raged across Cork last week as the All-Ireland winning senior camogie team returned from Dublin with a second O'Duffy Cup in as many years. The Rebels’ reign is well underway. That’s now back-to-back All-Ireland senior camogie titles. With Cork also winning the All-Ireland intermediate crown, the first leg of the double, at Croke Park …

PHIL Healy is the special guest on a special episode of the Star Sport Podcast, as The Ballineen Bullet joins Kieran McCarthy to reflect on a whirlwind couple of weeks at the Paris Olympics. Phil was welcomed home to the twin villages of Ballineen and Enniskeane in style last week, as she was paraded through the streets in a vintage Rolls Royce! Sh…

PHIL Healy ran an incredible race last Saturday night, clocking a time of 50.94 in the women's 4x400m relay final to help get Ireland to within eighteen hundredths of an historic bronze medal. It was an emotional race for Phil and her teammates, who were in tears afterwards, wondering what could have been. Now that the dust has settled, we can look…

PHIL Healy is a two-time Olympic finalist! The Ballineen Bullet along with Sophie Becker, Kelly McGrory, and Sharlene Mawdsley qualified in third position in heat two of the 4x400m women's relay to qualify automatically for the final. The Irish quartet ran a fantastic race, just finishing marginally behind Jamacia and the Netherlands with a time of…

WE have a very special treat for Southern Star fans as we caught up with two-time Olympic gold medallist Fintan McCarthy to chat about his experiences at the Paris Games. One-half of the dominant Irish lightweight men’s double alongside Paul O’Donovan, Fintan reflects on the A final, the build-up, sharing the moment with his family and friends, and…

They only went and did it! Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy are Olympic champions once again following victory in the men's lightweight double sculls final this morning. It's a massive achievement for the Skibbereen pair, who will go down in the history books as some of Ireland's greatest-ever athletes. Paul O'Donovan is now the only Irish person…

SKIBBEREEN will have three rowers competing in Olympic finals on Friday morning after Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy and Aoife Casey – with Rochestown's Mags Cremen – all qualified after impressive performances in their semi-finals. On today's podcast we look back on an exciting morning for West Cork, Cork and Ireland as Star Sports editor Kieran …

SKIBBEREEN rowers are heading into one of the biggest weeks of their sporting career, as competition at the Olympics hots up. All four rowers from West Cork were out in action on Sunday, with Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy dominating their heat to qualify straight into the men's lightweight double sculls semi-final on Wednesday morning. We chat…

THERE are four rowers from West Cork heading to the Paris Olympics – Paul O'Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty. All four have come through Skibbereen Rowing Club, and all four are part of an Irish rowing team which is confident of bringing medals back from France later this summer. On this week's podcast, Star Sport editor Kier…

ALL roads lead to Croke Park on this week's Star Sport Podcast, as former Cork senior hurling manager John Meyler joins us to preview Sunday's All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Clare. Cork are hoping to get their hands on the Liam McCarthy Cup for the first time in 19 years, but have a formidable Clare side in their way, who are themselves…

GOLEEN captain Padraig Reidy was in great form, along with his teammates, this week as they ended a long wait for the county confined junior B football title with a victory over Ballyphehane in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday. The men from the West had lost four county finals in recent years and were determined not to let that number grow as they found t…

FORMER Cork footballer and Star columnist John Hayes joins the podcast this week to talk about Cork's loss to Louth in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final at the weekend. Hayes says he doesn't think he's 'ever been quite as annoyed' at a result as he was on Sunday, and breaks down where he thinks Cork went wrong, why they struggled to create …

EUROPEAN silver medallist Phil Healy – the Ballineen Bullet – joins us on this week's podcast to chat about her incredible achievements at the European Championships in Rome. Healy was part of the women's 4x400m team who thrilled the Irish crowd last week with a brilliant performance in the final, securing their silver medals with a new national re…

NICOLA Tuthill is this week's podcast guest, fresh off the plane home from the European Championships in Rome. The Bandon hammer thrower – still just 20 years old – finished in ninth position at her first ever senior European Championships and joins us to chat about an amazing experience, beating her personal best in recent weeks and her future pot…

CLONAKILTY Soccer Club are West Cork League Premier Division champions for the first time, and to celebrate we are welcoming Shane Buttimer to the podcast this week to chat about how it felt to get the title over the line. It was a nerve-wracking match on Sunday against defending champions Drinagh Rangers, who needed to beat Clon to secure first pl…