AT the foot of the Black Mountain there lies a GAA club steeped in history. A club which boasts the most Antrim Senior Football titles, a club with a magnificent pedigree in Antrim's senior hurling.
Sunday, October 19, 2025, is a date which will echo through the halls of Corrigan Park for a long time to come after St John's did what looked to be the impossible and beat the best of North Antrim hurling royalty on their route to their first Senior Hurling Championship since 1973.
Long gone are the playing days of the heroes of that team, but their names remain etched in the annals of a club to whom winning is a passion.
Michael Bradley struck an important goal to swing the tie against Rossa
The final whistle on Sunday was the most emotional that Johnnies fans who were there will have seen in all their aggregate years following and loving Gaelic sports. A rainbow of emotions hung over rain-lashed Ballycastle as men, women and children celebrated. Tears of joy fell on the already soaked pitch in a moment which tingled the spines of all present – yours truly included.
St John's forward Michael Bradley shared his thoughts on the full time whistle, believing Sunday's victory was a long time coming.
"I don’t even know how to put it into words." said the St John's stalwart.
"We had it in our minds all week and really thought about this feeling, but you also did not want to say anything just in case it scudded it.
"People talk about these boys being on this journey for the last decade, and they have been. It was never about just beating Cushendall in a semi-final. From we were underage playing in juvenile, the Volunteer Cup – that was our goal."
Bradley also claimed that Sunday was not only a day for St John's to prove to themselves how good they could be, but a chance to once and for all silence any doubters beyond the city of Belfast – particularly those from in and around a certain set of famous Irish Glens.
"We’ve had hurling pedigree the whole way up at every age, and now those of you who doubted, you are going to believe us – every news article, every media outlet, every condescending voice from North Antrim. This today proves we are a proper hurling club, and we have told you all that.
"We are sick of talking about 1973 being the last time we won it. Boys like Seanie Burns who are legends and heroes in our club, well you can now add Conor Johnston and the likes to that list, because they’ve gone and done it. They have that medal in their back pocket."
A stunned and emotional Bradley looked around him and shook his head.
"I can’t even describe this feeling, I feel numb and overwhelmed, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry."
St John's began their Championship campaign on the back foot as they escaped out of Hightown with a draw against St Enda's in the first group game. Many believed that was a point too many for a performance which boded ill for the coming challenges.
Shea Shannon and Ciaran Johnston receive the Volunteer Cup
And that journey to which Bradley alluded looked likely to end well short of the destination as Johnnies suffered a hefty and well-deserved beating by Dunloy at Corrigan Park. Those underwhelming performances could have broken the men in the blue and white, but it made them. They threw back their shoulders and resolved to change the narrative – and when it mattered most the Johnnies got the job done, overcoming Ballycastle in the final game to earn themselves a quarter-final spot.
A highly anticipated quarter-final match-up with arch-rivals Rossa was next up and St John's marched on to the field full of new-found confidence.
But Rossa had something to say about that and in what was for long spells a one-sided quarter-final, only one team looked destined for that semi with Cushendall – and it wasn't the Johnnies.
But back came that resolve forged out of too many years in the Volunteer wilderness and from somewhere St John's found the grind and the spirit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Michael Bradley's late goal was followed by Ryan McNulty's point, which proved to be the final effort of the game.
Bradley identifies that Lazarus-like win against an up-for-it Rossa side as the key catalyst for ultimate victory.
"Rossa, credit to them, were great in that game, but the game is played to the 65th minute and in the last ten years we ourselves have had that late hurt when going toe-to-toe with teams like Cushendall and Dunloy. All these teams play to the final whistle and we’d have been fools not to learn off those grim days.
"This team strengthened not only in the starting 15, but on that bench too and we can only thank the club for that as they’ve nailed down that youth set-up. We get two or three boys every year coming through the ranks to compete, you look at Enda (McGurk) or Ronan (Donnelly). These guys come through and add to the squad in a huge way and put some of the older boys on the sideline. Boys like myself now sit on the bench," said the St John's forward with a wry smile.
A semi-final match-up with Cushendall could have conjured scary memories of last year's collapse in extra-time. But this year the business got done and the Corrigan Park men pulled through to earn themselves a final with Loughgiel.
Shamrocks were tipped as heavy favourites after showing clubs across the island what they're capable of with a semi win over their rivals Dunloy. Loughgiel had come out on top in the battle of the North Antrim aristocrats and so St John's chances were slim to none in the books of many. The men of St John's didn't get the memo.
As the grey clouds gathered on the Antrim coast, St John's faced into a torrent of rain and history – and they weren't found wanting. The Volunteer Cup was back on the Whiterock for the first time in 52 years.
Sunday's victory was built on a bed of resilience as solid as the granite of the Black Mountain. But while that never-say-die spirit was displayed in spades in this campaign, Bradley says the weekend win demands that clubs take note of St John's hurling class and ability.
"The work we’ve put in the last few years, we tried and tried and never gave up hope and the younger, fresher legs give us older guys the chance to come in off the bench for the final five or ten minutes. We had a point to prove, and thankfully today we got it done.
"Loughgiel are an incredible team, we know that. Look at them, the last time out they beat a Dunloy side which looked set for a double. But people sometimes in North Antrim forget, there are also great players at Corrigan Park. Maybe they’ll take notice now."
Now the thoughts of the Johnnies veteran and his teammates turn to the Ulster Championship in a few weeks time.
"Straight to the Ulster, that is the plan, and, listen, we will meet great teams in there, whether it be the Donegal or Derry champions. But we’ll enjoy tonight and enjoy a few nights this week celebrating, but after that we will drive on. You have to. We firmly believe this is the start of something special."
• St John's will play in the Ulster semi-finals against Donegal's Setanta, details to be confirmed.
