Séamus Harnedy put St Ita's on the map. He was and is their man in red. This tiny junior club nestled between Youghal and Killeagh will forever be known for producing the ever-dependable, two-time All-Star half-forward.
Soon to become three-time All-Star half-forward, surely. For those looking in from outside, Harnedy is St Ita's and Ita's are Harnedy. He is not, however, their sole man in the red and white stripes of Imokilly.
He is not the sole man to put and keep Ita's on that particular map. Ciarán O'Brien joined the Imokilly set-up in 2013. It wasn't much of anything back then.
It certainly wasn't as fashionable as it is now or as it became in the years after 2013. When Imokilly won the division's third county title in 2017, there was O'Brien at No.5.
Beside him in the half-back line were former and future Cork hurlers John Cronin and Niall O'Leary. This was the company Ita's were keeping. A year later, Harnedy shot 1-6 in their successful title defence.
There in the half-back line holding his own once again was O'Brien. He's still there. Still showing up and ensuring a second Ita's name on the team sheet.
For a 2024 campaign now at the county semi-final stage, the corner-back from little Ita's is the divisional captain. The holder of three county senior medals, albeit he was injured for the 2019 three-in-a-row win, and hailing from a club hell-bent on improving their sixth-tier, divisional junior status, O'Brien could easily have wrapped up his East Cork commitments.
