VALLEY ROVERS

Valleys Abroad – Interview with David Callanan

• Jun 09,2020

In this section of Valleys abroad, we head to Paris, France to catch up with David Callanan. David talks about his life in Paris and his memories of the club.

So, let’s wind the clock back to a time before you left Valleys and tell us what your connection was with the Club? 

I played both codes, hurling and football, from underage up to Intermediate (up to Junior in Hurling). Whatever I managed in football, I was never that sweet to look at in hurling! I’m not sure of when my last game with the Valley’s was, but as I started in Paris in 1998, I guess my last game would have been around Sept / Oct 1997, probably the Junior football campaign. My nieces and nephews are still involved.

When did you move away and what was it like getting settled in? 

I moved to Paris in January 1998. It was a mixture of feelings I suppose. On the one hand, it was great to be starting a new life in a large city like Paris, but on the other hand, it was also difficult in adjusting to a new culture, new language etc. I had been to Paris two years before as a student, and at that time, I had deliberately stayed away from the Irish scene as I wanted to learn French and immerse myself in the French way of life. However when I came back in 1998, I realised the value of maintaining those Irish links and quickly joined Paris Gaels GAA Club.

Can you briefly describe to us your life now, work, family (if any) and have you time to be involved in GAA activities? 

I’m married to a french girl, Magali, whom I met in university in Dublin in 1994. We have two children, a daughter Amica (17) and a son, Sean (15). I worked in the oil & gas consulting sector for over 15 years. These days, 99% of my time is dedicated to my own business “No Scrum No Win” which does rugby clothing & rugby bars.

Though no longer directly involved, I was President of the Paris Gaels GAA Club back in 1999 / 2000. It was a terrific year from the club as we hosted the first football tournament under the newly structured European GAA organisation. Up until then the GAA in Europe was just a scattering of clubs, with the odd game being played. The then GAA President Joe McDonagh (RIP) came to Paris for the tournament and we had a great event (& morning) celebrating !

There was a strong Valley Rovers connection with the club! I remember we had Richie Hurley & Colm Forde togging out for us at a tournament in The Hague (they were both based in Paris for a while). The Innishannon connection went a step further as one of the Paris players was Denis Allen (nephew of Alice Taylor). And Seán Murphy (Alice’s son) was a supporter on the sideline at that particular tournament in the Hague ! Proinsias Collins who also lived in Paris for a while was also highly involved in the Club before my time!

I am not directly involved in GAA these days although I still follow it closely - especially the Valley Rovers and the Cork teams. It’s great to see so many Valley players (male & female) featuring on the various Cork teams. The Valley Rovers and Paudie Palmer keep me up to date on Twitter!

Looking back again at your time in Valleys, what would be your prominent memory of being around the GAA fields? 

Winning the county in 1989. I wasn’t on the team, but there was such excitement in the club in the build up to & the winning of that game. I’ll never forget Parc Ui Chaoimh that day. That the opponents were Kilbrittain only added to the excitement and buzz especially as many of us went to school with and played with some of the Kilbrittain lads on school teams. And then the club going up senior level with Sean O’Brien coming on board as trainer! The club was flying and the effect of that win was felt by the other teams and coaches throughout the club. The only spoiler about that particular campaign is that Paschal Hennessy managed to squeeze himself onto the panel & got a himself county medal :))

Tell us a little bit more about your life away from Valleys, for instance, what’s your weekly routine, how do you attack the weekend, and what’s a holiday from where you currently live? 

I usually get up at 6.00AM. The first part of my day is usually spent in my home office. I still do a weekly newsletter for the oil and gas industry so I try to get that done in the morning. Then there’s a lot of social media stuff to do for the rugby business. Then I usually head to one of our bars for lunch time to help out. I love meeting and chatting with customers. We had a mighty weekend a few months ago when loads of Munster Rugby supporters were in Paris for the game against Racing92! Our rugby bars are closed due to Covid-19 so that gives us a chance to focus on other aspects of the business. The rugby "team kit” side of the business is picking up now as rugby clubs in France are starting to focus on their kit for next season. And we are currently recruiting new ambassadors for the brand.

I’m still involved in sport as I like to keep fit in general. I still tog out from time to time with the local “over 40’s" rugby team:)

Summer holidays are spent in South of France and of course Innishannon.

If you could replay one game with Valleys again, which game would it be and why? 

A few intermediate football matches come to mind that I wouldn’t mind replaying. We had a decent side but we fell short on a couple of big occasions and never made the breakthrough.

But for a replay, I’d have to go for the 1997 South East Junior Hurling final against Courcey’s in Ballinhassig. They were red hot favourites - and rightly so. But what we lacked in skill we made up for in graft! However it wasn’t to be on the day. I’ll never forget Don Looney (coach) getting us motivated in the dressing room before the game - we nearly burst through the wall to get out to the pitch! The walk around the pitch behind the pipe band was epic and produced a bit of friendly shuffling between the teams! Some great characters on the Rovers side that day including Con Dan O'Sullivan, Paschal Hennessy, my brother Liam, Brendan O’Sullivan, Fergus Twohig, John O'Donovan....

Who is your favourite Valleys player, past and/or present? 

There have been quite a few outstanding players come though the ranks since I left, but for a favourite I’ll go back to my era and mention the likes of Don Looney, Brendan O’Sullivan, & TJ Deasy. They were a few years older but I had the pleasure of playing along side them. They were good mentors to the “younger lads” like ourselves coming up. I’d give a special mention as well to Aidan Crowley (very skillful, hardy and from a great GAA family).

I’d also have to give a special mention to “Master” Sean Collins and Father Seamus Murphy (RIP). For many of my age group, they were our first contact with GAA in Innishannon.

Have you any funny memories/stories from your time involved with Valleys, be it whilst playing, supporting etc. 

Quite a few! I suppose the one that springs to mind is a trip to Kinsale on the Monday after we won the Junior football SE final against Carrigaline in 1996. We went to Frawley’s in Kinsale for lunch and a few beverages, followed by mini bus back to Innishannon. Some poor tourist in Kinsale thought we were highly amusing so we convinced him to come back with us saying that it would be only a very short walk back to Kinsale afterwards. We did the pubs in the village of course and burst into Sully’s were there was a singing competition in full swing. Fr John O’Donovan (RIP) & John Newman were amongst the judges. We were a bit rowdy I suppose and you could say that we highjacked the event a bit ! Richie Hurley still won’t talk about it:)

What’s your favourite sporting moment of all time? 

The following come to mind: Stephen Roche winning the Tour de France 1987, Ireland going mad during the Italia ’90 campaign, Ireland beating the All-Blacks in 2016. But the top of the list for me is Cork winning the double in 1990. It was a terrific year for Cork GAA at both county and club level. The Valley’s were on a high as well since being crowned County Intermediate champions in ’89. Having a Rovers player (Brendan O’Sullivan) involved with Cork in the 1990 campaign made it extra special from our point of view.

Finally, do you have a message to send home to Innishannon? 

Well, it looks like we’ll have to take a rain check on meeting up this summer due to travel restrictions. But better days will come and hopefully this Covid business will be a thing of the past ... Stay safe & best wishes to all.

Please support our U15’s in their fundraising efforts for Cork Arc Cancer support this weekend by clicking on the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cork-arc-cancer-support-house  Many thanks and best to luck to all the lads with their 10km run. 

If you would like to take part in our ‘Valleys abroad” series or know of anyone who would like to do so please contact Colm on 0851674104.