There was never going to be any way that Lisbellaw and Fermanagh star Ciaran Duffy (26) was not going to wield a hurl like a wand.

For, he comes from Fermanagh hurling blue bloods.

His father Sean Duffy was one of the county’s greatest ever players and won an All-Ireland junior medal with the Erne County in 1994.

Ciaran’s older brother John is a huge figure in Fermanagh hurling and another brother, Barrie Duffy is a most skilled exponent of the fastest field game in the world.

Ciaran is also a twin brother of Caolan Duffy who is also a most skilful hurler.

These are great days for the Duffy clan as on Sunday, Ciaran, Caolan and John will be lining out for Lisbellaw in the Ulster Intermediate Hurling Championship against St Eunan’s in Healy Park, Omagh on Sunday.

And it was a goal eight minutes from time from Caolan Duffy that was the key score in their 1-17 to 0-18 win over Eoghan Ruadh Dungannon on November 1..

Asked about the Duffy dynasty, he said:

“A lot of my memories growing up were of hurling whether it was outside the house or going to the field.

“We always had hurls in our hands and we would be always be playing together and dad (Sean) would sometimes join in.”

As twins Ciaran and Caolan are very close.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t talk and we instinctively trust each other on the field.

“And we know each other’s style of play and that is an advantage.”

So do they often mark each other in training.?

“We used to a lot years ago at underage but we know have an unspoken rule not to march each other to avoid arguments “ he quipped.

Ciaran added that hurling is “central to the family.”

Reflecting on the ‘Law’s narrow win over Dungannon, he said:

“They are a big physical side who can hurl as well and it was touch and go.

“But when Caolan got that goal it set us up for victory and we never looked back.”

But St Eunan’s will present a formidable challenge at the weekend.

“We have not played them very much but they have a number of Donegal players and they are a very strong team.”
The Donegal side is backboned by charismatic captain Conor O’Grady, while the vastly experienced Sean McVeigh, Kevin Kealy, Brian MacIntyre, Ryan Hilfertuy, Peter Kelly and John Kealy are all top notch players.

Eunan’s just edged out Setanta in an epic county final and beat Castleblayney by five points in the quarter-final of the Ulster Intermediate Club Championship.

“They have a lot of physique and they have savage pace a

Andnd they can run at you all day.”

Ciaran looked at some of their game against Castleblayney and was impressed by their firepower up front.

“Fearghal Delaney and Kevin Kealy got their goals and they look to be a big physical team.”

Lisbellaw reached the provincial final but were well beaten by Carrickmore in a disappointing display.

But the ‘Law have considerable experience of hurling in Ulster and players like John Duffy, Sean Corrigan, Danny Teague, Ryan Bogue and Mark Slevin were Ulster Intermediate champions back in 2012.

“Yes that defeat to Carrickmore was a pretty sobering experience and we intend to make up for it.

“We feel we are peaking at the right time and are hoping to get back into another final.”

And the Duffy clan will have a big say in that scenario.