MICHEÁL O'Sullivan senses a change in attitude towards schools football within the county, but admits that this isn’t a quick-fix.

‘There is a bit of a shift towards schools football in the last few years, by the county board in particular,’ says the Clonakilty Community College manager, who guided his team to their first Simcox Cup success (Cork U19A football) this season.

‘The board are offering more support, are trying to streamline it a bit more, and there is more co-operation between development squads and schools in the Corn Uí Mhuirí.

‘It will take time, and it will take some school to win one to get the mentality going that Cork schools are good enough to take on the Kerry schools, and be successful.’

In this past Corn Uí Mhuirí (U19A) campaign, O’Sullivan’s Clonakilty Community College turned heads when they stunned record winners St Brendan’s College, Killarney in the group stage – it was evidence that Cork schools can compete with Kerry’s best, but this needs to become the norm, not the exception.

Working on the front line, former Cork minor football manager O’Sullivan knows the challenges better than most. And those challenges exist – the biggest one being Cork’s persistent underperformance in the Corn Uí Mhuirí, the blue riband competition for schools football in Munster.

No Cork school has won this trophy since Coláiste Chriost Rí in 2011. Kerry schools have snaffled up every Corn Uí Mhuirí title since then, Tralee CBS with the latest last weekend.

Success in this competition has a knock-on impact at inter-county level. Since 2011, Kerry have won 11 Munster minor football titles, while Cork have triumphed twice, the same number as Tipperary. In the same timeframe at U20, the Rebels have dined on success more frequently with six Munster titles, compared to Kerry’s seven. Dig deeper, though, and the Kingdom have won seven of the last nine, and the last four in a row. The danger signs are glaring: underage Cork football is struggling, Corn Uí Mhuirí included. It doesn’t help when the football-obsessed neighbours next door are utterly dominant. But therein lies one reason for Kerry’s stranglehold in the Corn Uí Mhuirí – their structure is designed for more glory days, whereas Cork’s isn’t.

Who will be the next Cork school to get their hands on the Corn Uí Mhuirí?

‘There are so many schools in Cork, it means the talent is diluted,’ Micheál O’Sullivan explains.

In West Cork, three schools lined out in this season’s Corn Uí Mhuirí – Clonakilty Community College, Hamilton High School Bandon and Skibbereen Community School. St Francis College Rochestown, Patrician Academy Mallow and Coláiste Choilm Ballincollig also contested. Only St Francis survived to the last four. Last season, Hamilton High School was the only Cork semi-finalist. In the last nine Corn Uí Mhuirí competitions, only one Cork school has made it to the final (Rochestown, 2023). Slim pickings.

‘Football in the county is spread out,’ O’Sullivan continues, ‘Maybe it’s time we become a bit more selfish in Cork where we have stronghold football schools, like we see in hurling – Midleton CBS, St Colman’s in Fermoy.’

This topic has been raised before on these pages when former Cork football manager Brian Cuthbert – just named as the new chairperson for the Munster Council Football Development Committee – suggested the creation of football hubs driven through schools.

‘What I would like to see happen is that particular schools would become hubs for clubs within particular regions so that you have absolute coordination within the region in terms of coach education, player development and competition,’ Cuthbert told The Southern Star in 2024.

‘I feel the way for Cork is to improve on that communication process between these three bodies – clubs, schools and county – and the way forward is to make the school the central hub where you have a classroom, the gym and a pitch, and all the satellite clubs around that school get player development, coach development and input from Cork GAA into that school.

‘In time, that may entice boys to go to one school because it’s deemed to be the best school to become the best footballer and the best scholar, and all in one place rather than spread out like we currently have. Until that changes I don’t see us having a model that can challenge at Corn Uí Mhuirí level right now.’

Clonakilty Community College manager Micheál O'Sullivan and Eric Hicks, both Carbery Rangers, with the Simcox Cup.

Micheál O’Sullivan sees the logic in that suggestion because a look across the county bounds shows that’s essentially what Kerry have: strong, established football schools in certain regions, like St Brendan’s College in East Kerry, Tralee CBS and Mercy Mounthawk in Tralee, and Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne in West Kerry, though the latter didn’t compete in this season’s Corn Uí Mhuirí.

While some schools come and go at Munster U19A level, there are those ever-present football powerhouses who are hard to resist, like The Sem (St Brendan’s College), even more so now when they have superstar David Clifford as a teacher. Look to current champs Tralee CBS where former All-Ireland winning Kerry defender Marc Ó Sé is the manager. Current Kerry footballer Seanie O’Shea coaches football at his school, Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine Kenmare. They know what they’re doing in Kerry football – schools serving as the ideal nursery ground, coached by stellar names.

Where are those similar football institutions in Cork? Go back to the now-closed St Fachtna’s from Skibbereen (amalgamated to make Skibbereen Community School) who won three Corn Uí Mhuirí titles in ten years (1982, 1990 and ’91), the last West Cork school to either win or contest the final. Also, there’s Coláiste Chríost Rí in the city but the latter didn’t even line out in the Corn Uí Mhuirí this year.

That’s why the concept of a hub makes sense, especially in a county where hurling is so prevalent too; something has to change to give football an opportunity to thrive. A formidable Cork football team would also help, raising the profile of the game and making it more attractive for the next generation. In the battle for hearts and minds, the hurlers hold the trump card. That’s not a concern in the Kingdom. Success breeds success.

Geographically, Cork and Kerry are two very different counties, given the sheer size of Cork, and ruralness of areas like West Cork, but maybe that’s more of a reason to explore the setting up of these hubs? Imagine one hub based in West Cork – it would give that school the platform it needs to hold their own against Kerry’s finest.

‘The way it is now you nearly have to have a generational group to compete,’ Micheál O’Sullivan adds.

‘You need two or three years in a row that are full of quality footballers to make a strong senior team. That won’t happen all the time because we are so diluted.’

Right now, Clonakilty Community College is in a healthy position, but this is also cyclical in nature. They won the Simcox Cup for the first time this season and also topped their Corn Uí Mhuirí group before a disappointing quarter-final exit to eventual finalists Clonmel High School.

For next season, Clon will lose seven of this year’s starting team – Tim Bailey, Oisín Harrington, Olan Murphy, Dylan Harrington, Sean Whelton, Jason Murray, David Harte – but having contested the last two Frewen Cup finals (Munster U17A), there are talented players on the way through. (As an aside, Kerry schools have won the last nine Frewen Cups)

An upside to Clon’s Simcox success and 100 percent record in their Corn Uí Mhuirí group is that it was a stage for players to shine. They grabbed their chance.

‘At one stage this year, from our senior squad we had 16 players involved with Cork squads (U20, U19 and U17),’ Micheál O’Sullivan says, and perhaps a notable shift in how Cork post-primary GAA in the county is now being run will reap rewards too.

Skibbereen Community School's Danny O'Donovan cuts inside Clonakilty Community Colleges' Oisin Harrington during their Corn Uí Mhuirí derby this season.

This is the first season where the Cork GAA Games Office is helping to run Cork GAA Post Primary Schools’ competitions.

‘This new structure is set to strengthen the link between schools and the wider GAA community in Cork,’ a statement on the Cork GAA website said in September. Already, there are changes that will carry potential knock-on effects.

‘It was a positive step this season that the O’Callaghan Cup and the Simcox Cup finals were both played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh – that makes it attractive for young lads to know the finals will be played there,’ O’Sullivan says, with Clon beating Coláiste Choilm Ballincollig in the final in December.

‘I can’t remember the last time the Simcox was finished before Christmas and that makes a huge difference. There are rounds of the Corn Uí Mhuirí being played towards the end of the Simcox if you are still in it, and if you progress out of the Corn Uí Mhuirí group stages you know the Simcox is over so you can focus fully on Munster.

‘Having those three or four games played in the Simcox, like we had this season, it means you've found your team at the right time of the season whereas in the past you might have had a Simcox semi-final in January and the final in April. You could be out of the Corn Uí Mhuirí and find it hard to keep fellas training – you weren’t getting any momentum out of it.’

But there are still areas that need to be improved. The split-season calendar means there is an overlap of clubs and schools football in September. As clubs battle it out in the business end of championships, schools are preparing for their competitions.

‘If more of a window can be created in September for schools to get ready, then you have a chance of putting an S&C programme in place, doing a pre-season, play a few challenge games – and you also have no interruptions from development squads at the stage of the year,’ O’Sullivan says.

So, do we need to look more closely at the club structure here in Cork? Again, and looking over the wall next door, how Kerry approaches the concept of regional teams should be noted.

At U14 and U16, the county championships are regionalised competitions; for example, players from Dr Crokes in Killarney would be eligible for the East Kerry team. Eoghan Ruadh is another regional team within the East Kerry area, made up of players from Kilcummin, Rathmore, Glenflesk and Gneeveguilla. Bottom line: more young players are being exposed to the highest level possible in games, training and preparation. St Kieran’s, a team made up of seven clubs in and around Castleisland, have won the last two Kerry minor football titles; at minor clubs can go out on their own. Young footballers in Kerry play a higher standard of football on a more regular level, yet here in Cork, even the senior divisional/college championship has lost its shine in recent times with teams pulling out.

‘All Kerry’s best minor footballers are playing in the same championship, and that’s something we can learn from,’ Micheál O’Sullivan adds.

‘The divisional structure in Cork has been diluted over the last ten years. Look at the county squads (U20 and U17), the number of players from junior and intermediate clubs that when they finish with the county, if they don’t play with their division they have no shop window to show what they can do.’

Cork GAA are making positive moves. An increase in full-time coaching staff, as Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan noted in his address to the 2025 County Convention, has seen the number rise from ‘just seven to well over 20’ and allow ‘a complete overhaul of coaching structures.’

O’Donovan explained: ‘With a GDA previously having had to cover roughly 25 clubs, this number has now more than halved, forming far more concentrated clusters. Such clusters now represent more coherent groups in terms of preferred code and centralisation around the major towns, thus allowing greater integration with post-primary programmes.’

He added: ‘With a much-increased coaching presence across all post-primary schools thanks to increased coaching staff levels, the future looks bright for all schools who wish to elevate our games within their areas.’

But while there might be more coaching advice for schools, what’s crucial is the buy-in from all relevant stakeholders: the school itself, the local clubs and its members.

Let’s look at Clonakilty Community College again – it’s the most successful West Cork school right now. As well as support from within the school and local clubs, it can lean on the football IQ of quality people coming in from outside like Pat Gilmore, Mike Haulie O’Neill, Dan Murphy and Niall Twomey. There are many pieces to the jigsaw.

‘On top of that you need that bit of quality, and at the moment we do. We have been in two Frewen finals and that talent is starting to come through now at senior. I’d expect we’ll have a pretty strong team again next season,’ O’Sullivan predicts. Whether Clon can take a step forward next season remains to be seen, much like whether Cork inter-county football teams can improve too. The two – colleges and inter-county – are linked. But while Cork fielding U17 squads in the Leinster Minor Football Development League feels like another step forward, it’s worth noting that both Tipperary and Limerick competed here too in 2025. Instead of being proactive, is Cork just reactive?

Another point of interest: two Tipp schools qualified for the finals of Munster’s U19A (High School Clonmel) and U19B (Abbey CBS) finals. While Cork strives to improve, so too are other counties.

So, are Cork any closer to ending that barren Corn Uí Mhuirí run? The jury remains firmly out. Recent changes should help, like the new calendar and improved coaching presence, but until the county commits to a model that will fully improve school structures – does Brian Cuthbert’s hub idea needs to be explored more? – this will continue to be a game of catch-up.

Last summer when Cork GAA held its own review into the five-year Cork Football Plan (2019-2024), the report said: ‘The lack of success at post-primary school level was highlighted. The dual ethos of schools was also referenced in comparison to competing counties. The possibility of school mergers was raised, as was the changing demographics in schools, particularly in some of the traditional strongholds. There was agreement that schools would benefit from quality coaching either internally or externally.’

There was no plan to inject new life into schools football, or propose new thinking and fresh ideas. Instead, more words. Instead of following, Cork need to lead. Do that, and then a Cork school beating Kerry in the Corn Uí Mhuirí won’t be a shock, it could become the standard.