Offaly captain Ciaran Burke says 'sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves' wasn't an option for the Faithful when they hit rock bottom five years ago. Now the midlands county are preparing to return to the top flight of both the National League and the Championship for the first time since 2018. Offaly slipped to 18th in the national rankings at the time before digging deep and turning things around. "It was during covid so we all had to drive separately," said Burke of that 2020 debut. I didn't know in what direction my own hurling career was going to go, or even Offaly.

Source: Irish Examiner December 30, 2025 10:11 UTC