![\"Colm](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5155088_8_articleinlinemobile_EOHCrossmahon02.jpg\" "\\"Colm")
Colm Lyons ties the boot laces of Crossmahon NS’s Se\u00e1n Prendergast during the Allianz Sciath na Scol DF4 final at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh in 2023. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\nAs soon as a team wins a major trophy, the challenge will be laid down for them to \u2018go again\u2019 in order to underline their quality.<\/p>\n
For referees, there is a same hunger, but one with major difference: performances alone cannot guarantee them a place on the pitch on All-Ireland final day.<\/p>\n
Cork\u2019s appearance in the hurling decider for the past two years prevented Colm Lyons being considered for the whistle but the Nemo Rangers man will be the man in the middle for Sunday\u2019s clash between Limerick and Galway. He will have fellow Cork Philip Mackey and Finian Mullane \u2013 both Nemo \u2013 along with Ciar\u00e1n Hanley of Brian Dillon\u2019s and the current Cork County Board referees\u2019 administrator Jim McEvoy (Blarney).<\/p>\n
It follows on from his taking charge of the 2022 final, when Limerick beat Kikenny.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll year, that\u2019s all you\u2019re looking for, that if your own county isn\u2019t involved in the All-Ireland final, you want to be in the mix,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, it’s all it’s up to those in charge to decide who gets to referee the final. I was hoping that I might have a chance and I\u2019m delighted that my name has come out of the hat, thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants to be involved in the biggest day on the hurling calendar. Ultimately, there can only be two county teams involved in the game and there can only be one team of officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phone went into absolute meltdown on Wednesday, with really great wishes, not just from the four corners of the county but from all over the world, really \u2013 people in America, people in Australia, people in Europe, people out in the UAE that I\u2019ve met through refereeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very lucky that I have four extremely loyal umpires who have travelled the length and the breadth of the country with me over the last number of years. It\u2019s just reward for their effort as much as my own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colm Lyons ties the boot laces of Crossmahon NS’s Se\u00e1n Prendergast during the Allianz Sciath na Scol DF4 final at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh in 2023. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a journey that began a decade and a half ago, with Colm taking up inter-county duty in 2011 and doing his first senior championship match in 2012.<\/p>\n
That same year, he reffed the All-Ireland minor final while he oversaw the Allianz Hurling League and Leinster senior finals in 2017, All-Ireland Club SHC finals in 2018 and 2020 and the 2024 Munster final.<\/p>\n
Now holding a developmental role on the Cork County Board referees’ committee, Colm can appreciate how vital it is for a young referee to receive guidance as they take their first steps in what can be a trying role.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all comes back to the club and to Sciath na Scol, that\u2019s where I got my first opportunity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was a teacher in St Anthony\u2019s, the away school always provided the ref and that\u2019s where I got my first bit of feeling for it. I remember then going out to junior hurling training one day and there was an U15 game that was going to be postponed because no referee had turned up and I happened to have a whistle!<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, then, I went on and did the course and the likes of Bernard Corcoran in the old City Division Bord na n\u00d3g would have given me great opportunities and then I would have got some great games through the minor board with Jim Healy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Seand\u00fan, Donal O\u2019Conor put me on the right track and he challenged me with some fairly feisty rivalry derby games in the junior championship. You get tested in those and you move on to county level then.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe likes of Michael Keane and all of the referees\u2019 administrators after him, up to recent times with Niall Barrett and Jim McEvoy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to develop referees all the time and I think that\u2019s an amazing thing that Cork GAA are doing, they\u2019re trying to encourage and support referees, to ensure that that third team \u2013 the officials \u2013 are able to do their best.\u201d<\/p>\n
And of course the principal of Crosshaven Boys\u2019 NS is fully aware that none of his progress in refereeing would have been possible without the assistance of the team at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI rely on a huge support structure of family and friends,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s my own great wife Aine and two girls, Cathy and Aisling, and then my parents and brothers and sisters too \u2013 my father John umpired with me for the All-Ireland minor final in 2012, which was a great experience for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As soon as a team wins a major trophy, the challenge will be laid down for them to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[187774,24,18,19,17,132],"class_list":["post-586798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-echo-instagram","tag-cork-gaa","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116923702470002283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}