Mayo double-act are on top of the world

Mayo handball added another two world champions to its collection when Aughagower’s Shane Heraty and Bonniconlon’s Lorcan Conlon won the Men’s ‘B’ Doubles 40x20 title at the O’Neill’s 4-Wall World Championship in Coolgreany, Co Wexford last month.

For Conlon, who represents Bofield Handball Club, it is a first ever world handball title. The 22-year-old, who works as a carpenter, began playing when he was eight with the juveniles after his parents brought him to the club. In addition, he has also played with the Bonniconlon footballers but after an injury in last year’s intermediate relegation final, Conlon decided to take the year out and focused solely on handball. The decision has reaped the greatest of rewards, bringing a first world title back to his home club.

“I was meant to go back but I just didn't really get back. It was in the middle of the championship then when I was ready to go back after the injury so I took the year out,” Lorcan told the Western People this week.

“It was great, especially after the footballers lost (the Mayo junior final). It kind of kept the village up. It was good for the Bofield Handball Club and obviously myself. It doesn't come around every day, them type of things.” With a number of talented youngsters coming through, he hopes the success can inspire others.

“There's a few young kids there coming up. I'm sure there'll be more anyway, hopefully.” 

Conlon added: “It's a good achievement. Sometimes I’d be thinking, you know, ‘it's only a ‘B’ but ‘B’ is nearly harder than men's ‘A’, you know. It's like junior football, to get out of junior it's hard.” 

He credits handball legend Dessie Keegan for partnering him with Shane Heraty.

“Dessie used to play, he was a senior player and Shane was playing a challenge game with him one day and seeing who could he get to play men's ‘B’ in the worlds.

“Dessie put my name forward because Dessie used to train me since I was 12 or 13. Shane just texted me and I said I will see how it goes. It was more for the craic than anything, but we ended up winning anyway!” stated the Bonniconlon native.

Fittingly, a tiebreaker was needed for the final against Ned Reilly and Myles Carroll, coming through 11-8 to make history. Heraty, who won the All-Ireland over-35s singles championship earlier this year, recalls speaking with Dessie Keegan and another Bofield clubman Wayne Devine about an ideal doubles partner.

“I had no partner. They just said give Lorcan a text, he'd probably play with you. I didn't really know Lorcan, he's a bit younger than me,” said the 36-year-old, who works as a chemist with Baxter.

“I was playing the over 35s All-Ireland this year and he won Connacht and he was playing the All-Ireland semi-final, and that was really the only way I kind of knew him.

“I've been away travelling and I was in Australia for a year, just kind of out of touch with handball. He was playing one of my clubmates, Alan Masterson, for a while. I think they were in a minor semi-final or something like that.

“We got going then about six or seven weeks before the tournament started. We trained really hard, trained one or two times a week and did training on our own as well. We just went hard at it and it paid off.

“I’ll have a go at the junior championship in January and see where that brings me. I got to the All-Ireland semi-final last year. Hopefully this year I'm training a bit more and fitness is up so with the help of God I’ll do better.”