‘The time was right’ – Ollie Bellew

Ollie Bellew speaks to Niall Gartland about his decision to step down as Cavan hurling manager

ONE thing the former Cavan hurling manager Ollie Bellew won’t miss is the commuting. The Belfast man recently stepped down after a lengthy spell in charge of the Breffni hurlers, a period that by its very nature entailed a considerable amount of personal sacrifice.

15-hour days were par for the course for the St Gall’s clubman between work, travel and training. Regular pit-stops at a cafe in Augher helped break the journey, but it was still a considerable undertaking over a period of years.

Bellew was first appointed as Cavan hurling manager in December 2019. He stepped down after two seasons in charge before returning a year later. In total, he spent six years at the helm. During his tenure, they reached two Lory Meagher finals (2021 and 2025) but last year’s defeat was completely overshadowed by the controversial inclusion of New York, who won the competition having been parachuted in at the semi-final stage. That’s a story in itself and a batch of seasoned Cavan hurlers opted out of the 2026 season, so demoralised they were by the saga.

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Bellew felt duty-bound to stay on in the wake of that Croke Park defeat, but it was always going to be a case of one more year.

He said: “I just think now’s the right time to go. Basically, I think teams always need a bit of freshness and a new voice, something to stimulate things again.

“I just felt this year, after the New York debacle last year, a lot of the boys were really disheartened by the handling of it. They’d given everything to try to win that Meagher over a long period. I think that last final was the nail in the coffin for them, and a few boys decided to go.

“It was a year of transition. I think it would’ve been very unreasonable of me to walk away when I knew that was coming. I think I needed to stay and steer the ship until somebody else was found.”

Bellew remains confident that good times are ahead for the Cavan hurlers. This season there was an understandable dip in form and they finished second-from-bottom in the Lory Meagher group stages, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

“It was going to be a difficult year, but the lads who hung in there gave a great account of themselves, gave it a real go, and hopefully there’ll be somebody exciting to come in and revitalise it again. I’ve no doubt there’s a Lory Meagher win in that group. We could have won it last year with a bit more luck, but it is what it is, and I just hope we get somebody worthy of that group of players.”

New York, by contrast, stepped up to the Nickey Rackard ranks – again bypassing the group stages altogether – and ended up with another national title. Bellew says the GAA need to realise the demoralising effect it has on the less established hurling counties. The cynic in him says that they do realise but just don’t care.

“People sat on their hands a bit when it was only Cavan and Monaghan being affected by it last year. Now that it went up a level into the Nickey Rackard, people started becoming a bit more vociferous, and no doubt if the same happens at Christy Ring, there’ll be more questions asked.

“It has had a damaging effect, but I need to state clearly that we’ve no umbrage with the New York players or management. They fulfilled the championship they were elected to play in. I’ve no issue at all with those guys. But I think the handling of it led to a lot of damage to lower-tier counties that are supposed to be protected. We’re always hearing about promoting the game and making sure it isn’t damaged, but there was a lot of damage knowingly done then.”

Progress

Regardless, there’s no doubt that a great deal of progress has been made under Bellew’s watch. He recalls their first training session with his players – and there was a very obvious area of concern staring him in the face. It didn’t take long to start moving the ship in the right direction.

“The first night we arrived, 15 players showed up and only 12 could train as three were injured. I don’t like giving my word on something and then going back on it, but that first night, if I had got in the car and driven home, it wouldn’t have been a surprise.

“But within a month of that, when people found out that Tom [Mannion] and I were serious, we were having in-house games with 30-odd names there – two full teams with subs – and we were able to get a look at everybody.

“I think years of probably not experiencing success or victories meant every day was a difficult day early on, and players could be excused for sticking to club football or other interests. But once they found out Tom and I were serious about what we wanted to do, there was massive buy-in and the rest became history. Silverware followed, and trips to Croke Park followed so it was an amazing journey.”

It seemed like Bellew’s time with the Cavan hurlers had come to a permanent stop after the 2021 season. He stepped down with no intentions of coming back, but after witnessing their struggles in the 2022 season, he felt like he had to do something.”

“We’d done two years back to back, all that long driving. Tom’s trip from Castlegar is the exact same as from Belfast— two hours down, two hours home.

“After the second year we thought we’d maybe done what we were asked to do – make the boys competitive, take them to Croke Park, and light a fire under Cavan hurling. We thought we’d probably done a good job and maybe it was time to step aside.

“But I can honestly say we questioned ourselves a lot in the months afterwards. We stuck to our guns, but the lads didn’t exactly have the best season the year we went out and the county board gave us a call.

“We just said we’d come back in, and it was an easy decision, because I remember early on Tom saying these guys could win a Lory Meagher. So I suppose the ego in you a wee bit wants to go after that and be part of it.

“I think, had it not been for New York being in the final, we definitely would have won one. Seeing what’s there, I still believe they will win a Lory Meagher, and I just hope they get someone in who’s deserving of that group of players.”

For now, Bellew will take a period of relative rest. He’s working with St Gall’s minors at the moment but has no set plans for 2027. Basically, he’ll take it as it comes.

Whatever happens, he won’t lose touch with a tight-knit group of players whom he oversaw for most of the last seven years.

“If I’m in Dublin, I’ll be tying in with the Dublin-based lads. If I’m in the west of the country, I’m still getting messages from boys over there studying in Sligo and working in Galway. I’m still in touch with 90 per cent of the panel. Only yesterday I was chatting to Shane Briody and Mattie Hynes, and it’s lovely to stay in touch with absolutely everyone.

“We built a family unit and a real bond. We’d all chat quite regularly – if anybody’s in Belfast they’d seem to end up in my house having a bite to eat or a beer or whatever. It was a great time and experience together, and there were a lot of tight bonds made in those years. It’s good they haven’t fallen by the wayside just because we’re not managing anymore. There’ve been loads of weddings, funerals, christenings and parties.”