While talking to the owner of the B&B where he was staying, the conversation naturally came around to hurling and, to his surprise, the owner informed Jesse that two of the team managers from the County Clare senior team would be in Kilfanora the following day with the McCarthy Cup from their championship win.
Switching back to his tourist role, Jesse spent the next morning at the majestic Cliffs of Moher. Towering some 650 feet above the Atlantic coast, the cliffs are the highest in Europe and a popular tourist spot. Not far from the cliffs is the bare limestone landscape of the Burren where Jesse stopped to explore some of the historic caves before heading to Kilfanora to see the Cup.
“I stopped in Kilfanora and got to meet these guys from the Clare team. They invited me to the match that Sunday (Clare vs. Galway) in Ennis. They gave me their number and told me when I got there I should call them.”
On Sunday he did just that, and Rapkin was brought into the stadium and given a seat at mid-field where he could enjoy the match.
“It was amazing, talking with Davy was great. We obviously talked hurling,” said Jesse. “All of the guys on the team were great. A lot of them were younger than me though, which was a little weird.”