It arrived as no shock and yet still managed to land like an unexpected gut-punch. Patrick Horgan is a Cork hurler no more. A Rebel now without a cause.
That cause, of course, had been trying to chase down a Celtic Cross. It is a crude benchmark on which to measure such a full career, nonetheless, when people spoke of Horgan they tended to speak of his search for that elusive All-Ireland title.
And yet in time it will come not to be the measure of him. They’ll talk of ‘Hoggie’ the hurler, those wrists, those goals, those points, those days when he made the improbable look effortless.
He retires as the top scorer in championship history. From his debut in 2008 until his final appearance for Cork, last July’s All-Ireland final, the Glen Rovers clubman scored a staggering 32-683 in the championship.
Whether TJ Reid hangs around to try reel in that total remains to be seen, but on the day Horgan walked off the stage, he did so with a lorryload of scores more than anybody else ever accumulated in the history of the game. It’s certainly not nothing.
Horgan, who turned 37 in May, won four Munster titles, the most recent of which arrived this summer.
In what is now his last championship campaign, Horgan started all seven games: 0-9 v Clare, 1-9 v Tipperary, 1-9 v Limerick, 1-8 v Waterford, 0-7 v Limerick, 0-8 v Dublin and 0-4 v Tipperary. That’s 3-54 in total, comfortably Cork’s top scorer. Again.
But the season ended in despair. Again. The All-Ireland final loss to Tipperary was Horgan’s fourth taste of defeat on hurling’s biggest day. He was there in 2013, 2021 and 2024 as well. Pain upon pain.
With Cork taking on water against Tipperary last July, Horgan was hauled ashore just before the hour mark. Another chance had come and gone. The hurt locker can only store so much.
The departure of Pat Ryan as stationmaster last month had heightened the possibility of Horgan’s exit following swiftly down the track. Ben O’Connor will want to put his own stamp on the Cork squad for 2026. A new broom and all that.
Still, when the announcement emerged on Tuesday, there was no escaping the air of melancholy it brought to hurling.
“After careful consideration having focused on playing for my club Glen Rovers in recent weeks, I have made the decision to step back from intercounty hurling,” a statement from Horgan read.
“Firstly, I would like to thank my family for their love, support and encouragement over the years – my wife Ashley and son Jack, my father Pat, my mother Ann, sisters Ann Marie and Audrey, my brother Johnny, my nephews, niece and my in-laws. Without you all I wouldn’t be where I am today.
“A huge thank you to my friends and teammates past and present who have always had my back, and to my club Glen Rovers who have backed and supported me throughout the years.
“Thank you to my employer Dulux Paints Ireland, who have always been understanding and supportive of my hurling career. Thank you to Blackwater Motors also for their incredible support and generosity over the years.
“I would also like to thank Jimmy Barry-Murphy, Kieran Kingston, John Meyler and Pat Ryan in particular, as well as all the men and lifelong friends I played with in the red and white. I wish them and the new manager Ben O’Connor the very best in the coming season.
“I have worn the red jersey for eighteen years and it has been the privilege of my life to represent the people of Cork during that time. I will always be grateful for the support the Cork people have given our team in good times and bad. They are truly the greatest supporters in Ireland. Up the Rebels.”
At half-time in this year’s All-Ireland final, it seemed that chapter in Cork’s hurling history set aside for the glorious day Horgan finally won his Celtic Cross was ready for the printing press. But one barely believable half of hurling later it was sent to the cutting board instead, never to be published.
How so much changed in so little time. Ryan and Horgan didn’t get their moment down the Páirc, striding out on stage with big dreams-fulfilled, smiles stretching across their faces, each clutching a handle of the Liam MacCarthy Cup, a sea of red and white acclaiming their arrival. That was meant to be how it all ended, not on a grey Tuesday in September.
News of Horgan’s retirement arrived just hours after the selection committee for the 2025 All Stars met in Dublin. His contribution to Cork’s season was discussed at that gathering. A four-time All Star, he was nominated again. One last time, it now turns out.
Speaking at Cork’s media night just days before the 2024 decider against Clare, Horgan was asked what it would mean if he was to win an All-Ireland.
“Obviously, it’d be unbelievable if we could get across the line, but it can’t be just about that,” he replied.
“In your hurling career, it’s lovely to get it and everybody wants to have it and I’m no different. But I’d look over a long time and did I enjoy it or didn’t enjoy it? And I did.”
For those fortunate to see him play, it’s fair to say that enjoyment flowed both ways.
In their statement on Tuesday night, Cork GAA wrote: “His departure will cause much sadness on Leeside but will also prompt an outpouring of pride in the wonderful memories and great days that Patrick’s exploits inspired.
“He will perhaps remembered best as the embodiment of the aspirations of a new generation of Cork supporters.”
The measure of Patrick Horgan’s career will not be in silverware, it will be in the impact he had on the game. Hurling won’t forget Hoggie.