Unsurprisingly, Mark rates Limerick’s win against his native county in the Munster championship in 1996, by a 16-point margin, and in Cork, as being one of the most memorable moments of a career that he is determined not to finish without Limerick winning something.

“And by winning something I mean the Munster and/or the All Ireland. Success in the League would be nice, but it would not be a priority,” he frankly admitted

“My first school was Adare CBS and while there I played hurling with the likes of Tony Houlihan, Paul O’Keeffe, Marcus Doran, John Duggan and Declan Reidy, whose brother Tommy was an Olympian at badminton,” he said.

While there, Mark helped the school to success in the county U12 championship, and also the West Divisional title a couple of times.

“I was centre forward in those days,” said Mark, who subsequently moved to Limerick CBS to start his secondary education, helping them reach the Rice Cup final in which they were beaten by Templemore, whose ranks included Tommy Dunne, now a star with Tipperary. “Tommy was over-age but in that competition, two over-age players were allowed to participate,” he recalled.

When Mark’s father, Vincent, a lifetime supporter of Gaelic games, was appointed principal at St Clement’s College, Mark moved to that school after completing his Intermediate Cert.

He continued to play hurling and, with St Clement’s, won a Limerick Colleges B title when the team beat St Munchin’s in the final. Also on that winning team were Paul O’Keeffe, Marcus Doran and Keith Downey as well as Paul Lynch whose mother, Noreen, “was a great help”.

Noreen, for many years, was head of sport at Mary Immaculate College, and that was where all the St Clement’s teams trained.

While at St Clement’s, Mark played a bit of rugby with the school and also the Garryowen club as a fullback or centre.
But Mark’s main interest was always in hurling and with his local club Adare he won numerous titles including the County U12  and U16 championships and the County Minor title in 1990. He also went on to win three county senior hurling championships with the club.