Bubbles O’Dwyer: ‘I tried to go back but the body just won’t play ball’

Former Tipp hurler won his first county football medal with Killenaule a fortnight ago, kicking a two-point free in a windy Semple StadiumTipperary's John O'Dwyer left intercounty hurling in 2023, but his life is as busy as it's ever been. Photo: Bryan Keane/Inpho He was a footballer, always. When he was an All-Star hurler, when he won two Celtic Crosses, when he was on the shortlist for Man of the Match on All-Ireland final day, all the while Bubbles O’Dwyer was a footballer too. Hurling made his name, but football was always there, somewhere.And so, when he stood up to kick a two-point free in the Tipperary intermediate final a fortnight ago, there were no misgivings and no worries from anyone in the Killenaule set-up. No other kicker made sense. Life and age and injuries have made him a goalkeeper now, but when he was an outfield player, he was a sharpshooting, point-scoring centre-forward or full-forward. A two-point free in front of the posts? Meat and drink.“I came up for a few last year,” he says. “I think I kicked one out of the hands last year. I took a 45 in the semi-final against Fethard this year and I put that over. The last day, it was the fact that it was in Semple Stadium as well.“It’s hard to judge the wind inside the stadium, because it’s so open and the wind is all over the place, so our free-taker probably wasn’t too confident to get the distance. I just said I’d come up and give it a shot. And then the surface in Semple Stadium is perfect for it. There’s a lot of grass there and you can actually get under the ball. READ MORE“We were maybe doing a small bit of time-wasting as well! We were a bit on top at the time, so it was just a good time to settle things down a bit. I was pleasantly surprised – it actually had a good bit left on it when it went over the bar.”O’Dwyer turned 35 in September and though it’s not exactly old for an ex-intercounty club player, there are days when he feels every minute of it. When he called time on his Tipp hurling career in 2023, it was because injuries didn’t leave him a lot of choice in the matter. Between his groin and his Achilles, he’s had four operations in the past three years. He reckons he’s played a total of five championship hurling matches altogether since he left the intercounty scene behind.John 'Bubbles' O’Dwyer firing a goal past Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy. Photo: James Crombie/Inpho “I’m just not able to get on the pitch,” he says. “I’ve had huge problems with the injuries and they’ve come against me. I tried to go back training and tried to get myself right to play several times, but the body just won’t play ball.“So I’m more or less just kicking around, doing goals for the football team. I’m sort of doing it as a favour to the management and the selectors. But we have a young fella coming up who’s a very good goalie, so I’d say now next year I might get out of the way. I don’t think I’ll be there too much longer.”All of which means the win over Golden/Kilfeacle two weeks ago couldn’t have come at a better time. Having made his senior hurling debut for Killenaule all the way back in 2007, this victory brought O’Dwyer his first county medal in either code. There have been medals in divisional competitions, and Killenaule have been to county finals in his time all right, but for all he’d done, he’d never done this.In part, getting up the mountain in 2026 was a byproduct of falling down it in 2025. They had a desperate time in the football championship last year, losing all their games in the group stage and going down to Grangemockler-Ballyneale in the relegation final. Killenaule are a dual club and, like most dual clubs in Tipp, the football end of things occasionally gets back-burnered. Nobody’s fault, just what happens.“Traditionally, going way back, it would have been a football club, but I suppose for the last 40, 50 years, it would have been predominantly hurling. We’ve been senior in football for a long time but got relegated last year, we’d a poor year, so to bounce back straight away is a testament to the lads.Kilkenny’s Paul Murphy locking horns with John O'Dwyer in 2019. Photo: James Crombie/Inpho “I would have always played football. I made my debut as a hurler when I was 16 and I played senior for the footballers when I was 17. I’d say I’ve played every year since, more or less. We got to a senior county final in 2017 and lost to Commercials. But there’d be a huge crossover between football and hurling in the club.“From the time I started playing senior 19 years ago, every one of the players would have played both. Maybe one or two here and there but basically everybody. This year, apart from me in goals, the starting team was the exact same in the hurling and the football. “We lost the intermediate hurling final the week before the football so I was delighted for those lads. Losing two finals in back-to-back weekends would have been a tough one.”The life of Bubbles these days is a hectic one. He’s an accounts manager for a building firm in Carlow. He’s a goalkeeper for the Killenaule footballers. He can’t hurl any more with the injuries, but coached Fethard to a Tipp junior title a few weeks back, meaning he’s on the trail of a Munster title in both codes. Last Saturday, Fethard edged past Ennistymon in the hurling. This weekend, Killenaule have Na Piarsaigh in the football. The winter won’t let go of him yet.When the summer comes, he’s dug out a niche for himself in the punditry ranks. It happened half by accident – GAA+ had someone drop out on them at the last minute before Cork v Clare in 2024 and he got a call on a Friday night asking would he be up for filling in. He figured he had nothing to lose by saying yes. Now he’s one of their mainstays.Tipperary's Willie Connors with John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer. Photo: Leah Scholes/Inpho “I find it enjoyable. It’s probably not something that I would have seen myself getting into, but I love the atmosphere at the games. I just try and say it as I see it. With the Tipperary lads, it’s hard talking about lads you have played with. Trying to be critical of them is hard because you’ve been in dressingrooms with them and you know what goes into it.“But other than that, it’s enjoyable. I don’t know how long it will last, but as long as people are asking me to do it, I couldn’t see myself not doing it. But I know everyone has their time too. Someone else will come along and that’ll be that.“But I enjoy watching games and being straight up about them. I find some people are very selective about what they say and they’re afraid to upset people. Not that I go out to upset people, but if I see something that needs to be spoken about, I’ll speak about it. I won’t hide behind producers or anything like that. If a fella does a bad tackle, or if a fella is pretending to be injured, I’ll call him on it. The feedback seems to be good enough, for now anyway.”John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer can't imagine turning down pundit opportunities any time soon. Photo: Tom Maher/Inpho So on he goes. Na Piarsaigh are coming down to Clonmel on Sunday and he’ll have a good look at the pitch beforehand to see if he’ll take a swing at repeating his long-range kicking of the Tipp final. Even at this time of year, Semple Stadium has a lush covering of grass, the better to get his toe under the ball for a healthy strike. When your groin and Achilles aren’t what they were, you need all the help you can get.He can’t expect conditions to be as agreeable in Clonmel, so he reckons it’s not really on the cards. You never know though. If and when the moment comes, Bubbles might be the best man for the job. Wouldn’t be the first time.IN THIS SECTION