Séamus Callanan: the slow developer who has won it all and still wants more
Declan Bogue
THE VERY FIRST time a child walks through the gates of the Drom and Inch GAA club to play hurling or camogie, it is Paudie Butler who meets them and shows them how to hold a hurley.
There are many fitting metaphors for having the former National Director of Hurling showing your children the way to begin their hurling journey, but the most apt comes in a practical sense when you point to Séamus Callanan.
At 37, Callanan could be grouped in as one of the auld boys still doing it for his club. That’s before you take into account exactly what he has done as Drom and Inch prepare to take on Nenagh Éire Óg in this weekend’s Tipperary senior semi-final.
Callanan got 2-11 the last day in the quarter-final win over Moycarkey-Borris. One of the goals came as he was haring in on a pick-up, was flattened by an incoming challenge and yet still managed to do an Eskimo Roll before dispatching a shot to the net – still lying on the floor – past the potential All-Star goalkeeper, Rhys Shelly.
Another look at Séamus Callanan's two top class goals from yesterday's @TipperaryGAA County Quarter-Final 👏
The 2019 Hurler of the Year was named #ClubberMOTM after scoring a whopping 2-11 for @drominch! 🟢
All four Quarter-Finals are available on-demand on #ClubberTV 📺 pic.twitter.com/x3CHeunZGF
— Clubber (@clubber) September 29, 2025
That he is still doing so owes everything to his devotion to the skills as a child and his late maturation, insists Butler who was Callanan’s Primary School principal at Inch National School.
“Séamus, from a very young age, he was very keen. But so were all his group. They were really good and really fond of hurling. I was the principal of the school, and they hurled day and night,” Butler recalls.
“Seamus was living beside the school and when the long evenings would come, himself and his pal would go into the school yard and hurl away under the street light.
“And then he began to grow. The county training really started to suit him and he developed strength.”
By the time he was adding his strength, his basics were sharp as a lance. His co-ordination, his eye for the ball were perfect and he was showing evidence that athletically he would reach his peak.
In an U12 mid-Tipperary final, he scored 5-5. Watching from the sideline, Butler knew that Callanan possessed the kind of hunger for goals that is rare and practically impossible to coach.
He had a flair. He would take on a shot that others would not have. He would be likely to double on a ball than take it into his hand to make sure. And of course, he got spectacular goals then that way,” adds Butler.
“He was just the man who saw an opportunity before others saw it. There are great forwards everywhere, but only a few see the chance before others might see it.”
His development was slower than others who immediately sprang out of minor team. With the Tipperary minors his role was reduced to coming off the bench and showing some class.
Under Liam Sheedy and Eamonn O’Shea in the Tipperary senior set-up, he grew into one of the Big Four of dream target men with contemporaries Patrick Horgan, TJ Reid and Joe Canning.
He is one of four players left over from Drom and Inch’s only county title in 2011. Matthew Buckley is now the manager, and Matthew McGrath is a selector, helped by Paul Collins in an in-house management.
“It’s all local people. It’s a lovely element to it and they are all so dedicated to it. It’s special to us that we produce our own and everybody has responded to them,” says Butler.
Their last final was in 2012 when they lost to Thurles Sarsfields. They also lost finals in 2005, ’07 and ’09.
The closest they came in recent times was two semi-finals in 2020 and 2022, both of which were lost to Kiladangan. The first was a heavy defeat but they were only four points off in 2022, on a day when Callanan scored a personal tally of 1-9.
“Wasn’t he lucky that he was a late developer, rather than an early developer?” Asks Butler.
“His development came slow. But I would rather see that. I prefer to see players coming one bit at a time than early developers.
“They keep adding to their game and then maturity kicks in when they are at their peak. The slow developer is the best for me. And to play intercounty, your body has to be strong.”
He adds: “He is totally dedicated that way. And he was lucky in some ways that he avoided big injuries. A lot of lads later on, once they get into their 30s, they get injuries. That kind of finishes them.
“But he showed last Sunday that he has the speed that he had ten years ago. And his reaction speed is amazing. To get that ball, roll over on the ground and still put it away, it was a remarkable achievement for anybody.
“A remarkable, humble person in the parish and in the county. And the people in the neighbouring parishes all admire him; which is unusual when there is local rivalry.
“But you’d never find an opponent saying a bad word about Séamus Callanan.”
In many ways, the split season suits him. He is now coaching Offaly alongside manager Johnny Kelly and helping with their development.
In Adam Screeney, the young Offaly hurler hasn’t the size of Callanan’s frame, but he can learn an awful lot about maturing physically while retaining an awesome hurling ability.
From being the young lad who could not nail down a starting spot for the Tipperary minors, to the man who broke records; three All-Irelands, four All-Stars, four nominations for Hurler of the year, captain of an All-Ireland winning team, Man of the Match in an All-Ireland final and most goals scored in a championship campaign.
And still doing it.
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