Rosscarbery may not be on the Rubicon but for Italian Riccardo Rinaldi there was no turning back the day he drove into the west Cork village to begin a sporting rollercoaster ride.
It is one that has seen him experience the highs and lows of being a Cork hurling fan as much as any native Leesider.
“We were on vacation in Rosscarbery in 2009. We had hired a house, and we were staying at home one day, it was pouring rain, so we turned on the TV because we had nothing else to do and we saw what looked like a funny game of football and we’ve been hooked ever since.”
The “funny game” was Gaelic football and it piqued Rinaldi’s curiosity to the point he went googling Gaelic games. He visited Cork’s GAA site where, among the many photos, he spotted Cork County Board chairman Ger Lane.
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“He was the friendliest-looking guy on the panel of photos so we just wrote to him and that’s how we made contact. And he was kind enough to let us know that if Cork got to the final, he would find us three tickets.”
That was back in 2009 and Lane was as good as his word, finding tickets for Rinaldi, his wife Cristina and their son Roberto for that year’s final. They travelled to Ireland to see Cork go down to Kerry in the football decider.
But they had got the Cork bug and a year later they were back to see the footballers beat Down to win the Sam Maguire. However, 16 years on from their Road to Rosscarbery moment and discovery of Cork GAA, they are still waiting to see the Rebel hurlers win an All-Ireland.
Although his GAA introduction came via Gaelic football and he initially found hurling more difficult to follow, Rinaldi, who is now planning to learn Irish, has become a big fan of iománíocht – hurling. He marvels at the wristy skills of Cork stars such as Patrick Horgan and Alan Connolly.
“The skill is awesome. They are almost magicians at times the way they can control the sliotar with their hurleys and their striking is incredible.
[ The frenzied search for All-Ireland hurling final tickets in CorkOpens in new window ]
“I mean, Alan Connolly’s goal against Dublin where he smashed it into the net one-handed, it was like something you would see at Wimbledon.”
So what does he think of Cork so far this year?
“I was very happy with their first half against Clare. They were really good, but the second half, they were poor and their first game against Limerick was a disaster, so I had some doubts. But for the rest of the Munster campaign against Tipperary and Waterford, they were very good.
“They were very good, too, against Limerick in the Munster final and their display against Dublin in the semi-final was fantastic. I don’t know if Dublin had expended the best of their energies against Limerick, but Cork were magnifico – I had never seen a team score seven goals before.”
Rinaldi says Cristina and Roberto are well used to him screaming at the screen at their home in Mantua when Cork are playing, especially in tight games. He thinks Sunday’s clash with Tipperary could be one of those days when “they will want to send me to the asylum”.
“I think Cork will do it and hopefully I will watch Rob Downey finally lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup.”
