The Southern Star Sport Podcast

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 one of Bal’s marksmen in both codes.

We also look at the Cork county championship action and indeed disruption.

The big story this week was the postponement of big football games last Sunday due to a Met Eireann orange weather warning, including Nemo Rangers v Clonakilty and Carbery Rangers v Eire Og in the premier SFC.

Dohenys progressed to the semi final of the senior AFC after their win over Cill na Martra but there was disappointment for Bantry Blues, Ilen Rovers, Urhan and St James.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on X: @matt_hurley01 and @seanholland_15 

Produced by Matthew Hurley

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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 about too.

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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'Donovan and the other Skibbereen rowers at a massive homecoming event at the start of September – on this week's podcast, he tells us about why he loves West Cork, what the local recognition means to him, and how 2024 hasn’t been a bad year overall.

We also cover a very busy weekend of county and local football, taking you through each grade as we get ready for relegation play-offs and quarter finals in a couple of weeks time.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @matt_hurley01

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

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The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 for the next round or avoid the dreaded relegation playoff.

In Premier Senior, Castlehaven and Carbery Rangers clash in a West Cork derby. Ross know they will need a win to get into the next round, while Castlehaven are already through. Clonakilty are also in action and know a win over St Michaels will qualify them.

Newcestown are in a funny position ahead of the weekend, where they could potentially lose and qualify or win and not qualify. They could finish anywhere from 1st to 4th in their group – one to watch this weekend.

West Cork has lots of teams in action this weekend, and we take you through the permutations for each one on this week's Star Sport Podcast.

We also hear about an exciting charity event taking place this October, and look back at last weekend's hurling action as well.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @seanholland_15

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

***

The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 working as a doctor in the interim.

His recent achievements, along with his European and national titles got us thinking, at Star Sport HQ, is Paul O'Donovan the greatest Irish sportsperson of all time?

There are plenty of contenders to the title: Roy Keane, Katie Taylor, Henry Shefflin to name but a few.

O'Donovan has dominated a sport like no other Irish person has, and has raised the profile of a sport in a way perhaps only Katie Taylor can match.

We're obviously biased down here in West Cork, but spoke about why he just might be Ireland's greatest sportsperson of all time on this week's podcast.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

Olympics

Gold medal (Lightweight double sculls, Tokyo 2020)

Gold Medal (Lightweight double sculls, Paris 2024)

Silver medal (Lightweight double sculls, Rio de Janeiro 2016)

World Rowing

O'Donovan has seven World titles, four in the double (2018, ’19, ’22 and ’23) and now three in the single (2016, ’17 and ’24).

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy will be joined by thousands of fans, who are expected to descend on Skibbereen this Sunday afternoon for the homecoming that

will celebrate the incredible exploits of Skibbereen Rowing Club’s Olympians at the Paris Games.

For the second Olympics in a row, four Skibb rowers – Paul O’Donovan, Fintan McCarthy, Emily Hegarty and Aoife Casey – flew the West Cork flag on the world stage, and again they wowed.

Olympic champs Paul and Fintan won back-to-back gold medals with their victory in the lightweight men’s double in Paris, Aoife finished fifth in the lightweight women’s double sculls and Tokyo bronze medallist Emily was part of the Irish women’s four that won the B final.

Since then, Paul has added a seventh World title to his collection with his latest success at the World Rowing Championships last weekend adding another reason to celebrate this Sunday.

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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 last week.

Courcey Rovers stars Fiona Keating and Saoirse McCarthy played important roles in this year's triumph, and join the podcast this week to chat about the win, camogie in West Cork and the difference in feeling between the first and second titles.

Elsewhere, we look at a busy weekend of club championship action, with defending premier senior champions Castlehaven in good form, while Carbery Rangers fought back from six points down to salvage a draw against rivals Clonakilty.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @seanholland_15

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

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The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!

She looks back on an incredible performance at Paris 2024, where the Irish women's 4x400m relay team came fourth in the final, just missing out on a medal place.

We chat about the Paris experience, getting a hero's welcome at home and how the whole experience has lit a fire in Phil ahead of a busy 2025.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

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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 back at what was one of the most memorable races involving Irish athletes ever – one that will live on long in the memories of those watching at home.

We chat about the magnitude of Phil's achievements in Paris, the incredible performances from West Cork athletes across the board and reflect on a really fun couple of weeks.

It's not over though, as there will be a homecoming for Phil in Ballineen and Enniskeane this Thursday night and we also have the rowers' homecoming to look forward to on September 1st!

Elsewhere, Cork retained the All-Ireland senior camogie championship with a narrow victory over Galway, coming out on top by 1-16 to 16 points. Ger Manley's side had plenty of West Cork links and we look at their achievements in a season where they felt like they had a target on their back.

Club football is also back! We reflect on the first round of opening games before looking ahead to some big clashes across the divisions this weekend.

All this and more on this week's Star Sport Podcast. Watch above. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, by using the player below or by searching 'Southern Star Sport Podcast' wherever you get yours.

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @dyldonot & @KieranMcC_SS

Produced by Dylan Mangan.

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The Star Sport Podcast is brought to you in association with Access Credit Union.

Access Credit Union - Where your bank really does matter. Choose the Credit Union, Choose Local, Choose Community.

For more visit www.accesscu.ie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 3:25.05.

Becker led the team off with a 50.9, with Healy keeping Ireland in front from lane eight with a 51.9. McGrory ran a 52.6 to keep Ireland in touch, and Mawdsley ran a blistering 49.6 split to send Ireland into the final.

The final will take place on Saturday at 8.14pm.

Star sports editor Kieran McCarthy and digital manager Dylan Mangan react to a brilliant performance.

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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 the celebrations in Paris.

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