Gardaí in Laois honour All-Ireland winning Tipp captain
Garda Ronan Maher with Little Blue Heroes, at the reception in his honour in Portlaoise. Photo: An Garda Síochána Laois/Offaly
IT’S not often an All-Ireland senior hurling winning captain is feted in Laois but that was the unlikely scenario at a joyful celebration this week.
Portlaoise-based Garda Ronan Maher, who captained his native Tipperary to victory in the 2025 final, held the Liam McCarthy cup aloft to tumultuous applause from garda colleagues at a special reception on Wednesday.
The Little Blue Heroes were guests of honour at the event in the Midlands Park Hotel, which was also attended by Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman and other senior gardaí.
Guest speakers at the celebration included Pat Critchley, Laois/Offaly Chief Superintendent Anthony Lonergan and AC Hilman, with Ken Hogan as MC.
A member of the Community Policing team in Portlaoise, Garda Maher was honoured for his role in an unforgettable win by colleagues from across the Laois/Offaly garda division and beyond.
A native of Thurles, he has three All-Ireland senior hurling medals, having also played with the winning Tipperary teams in 2016 and 2019, but it was his first time to lift the cup as captain. He is a brother of legendary hurler Pádraic Maher, a six-time All-Star and three-time All-Ireland winner, who never got to captain his county to national glory.
Paying tribute to Ronan on social media, gardaí said: ‘An Garda Siochána Laois/Offaly were delighted to welcome our colleague Garda Ronan Maher and the Liam McCarthy Cup to Portlaoise.
‘Ronan is a valued member of our Community Policing team in Portlaoise, who captained Tipperary to victory in the 2025 All-Ireland hurling final. We were also delighted that so many of our friends from the Little Blue Heroes were able to join the celebrations. We wish Ronan continued success, both on and off the pitch.’
A hurley maker by trade who plays club hurling with Thurles Sarsfields, Ronan was mentioned in post-match speeches by GAA President Jarlath Burns as being “from hurley maker to history maker”.
Ahead of the final, Laois/Offaly gardaí described the 29-year old defender as a man of ‘humility, grit and no shortage of skill’, as they said: ‘Wearing the Tipp jersey with pride and the Garda uniform with integrity - it doesn’t get much better than that.’
