All-Ireland Club JHC final: Denis Walsh and St Catherine's ready for next step in proud history

It couldn’t happen nowadays, of course.

In 1981, 16-year-old Denis Walsh lined out for St Catherine’s in the county JHC final against Milford, scoring a point as they were defeated by 1-10 to 0-11.

It was just the second time that the club representing Ballynoe, Conna and Glengoura had won the East Cork championship, but it was the spark that led to progress over two decades, culminating in them reaching the senior grade in 2004.

On Saturday, the purple and gold will grace Croke Park as they clash with Kilkenny’s Tullogher-Rosbercon in the AIB All-Ireland Club JHC final (5pm). This time, dual All-Ireland senior medallist Walsh will be the manager and he is hoping for a similar springboard effect.

“We lost that final 42 years ago and it was our first time ever reaching that stage,” he says.

“Everyone treated it like an All-Ireland and we commiserated for about a week – you’d swear we’d won the thing!

“But it created something, because two years later we were back in the county final and we won it. It’s amazing how it generated a bit of momentum and you’re hoping for the same now.

“We haven’t had the best of luck for the last few years – and that’s no one person’s fault as everyone is trying very hard – but we’ve hit a bit of a run now, which we knew we were capable of.

“There are a lot of clubs out there capable of doing that and you have to grasp the chance when it comes. This is our time, that’s what I’ve said to the players – I know from being in contact with the Ballygunner lads that they have the same kind of attitude.

“You don’t know when it’s going to stop or start and you’ve got to make the most of it.”

This is Walsh’s third time to don the bainisteoir’s bib for his home club.

“The first time, twice we went to two senior quarter-finals,” he says, “the second time, we got relegated to junior!

“I’ve had the whole spectrum of it.”

He has amassed considerable experience elsewhere, too. He took Ballygunner to two Waterford SHC titles, there were stints with Ballyduff (football) and Carrigtwohill and Walsh was of course Cork hurling manager in 2009 and 2010. That wasn’t his first inter-county role either, as he had been Waterford football boss in 2002 and 2003.

A year after that, he was still playing for St Catherine’s, full-forward as they beat Courcey Rovers in the augural Premier IHC final.

It was a pity that the club’s most decorated son couldn’t line out at senior level but instead he immediately transitioned to manager.

“I was nearly 40 at that stage and within a year and a half, I had a hip replaced,” he says.

“I shouldn’t have still been playing really, I should probably have retired about four years previously.”

Coming back a year ago was a decision that required some consideration but Walsh is naturally delighted at how things have gone.

He gives coach Tadhg Óg Murphy a lot of credit and acknowledges the work of all of the backroom.

“It was a bit of a tough decision,” he says, “because you’re thinking maybe it’s a younger man’s game.

“They opted for my side of it and I suppose the rest is history.

“Tadhg Óg Murphy has been a god-send to us, really.

“We didn’t have him at the start of the year but we brought him in originally to help with a few different aspects. After a bit of a chat, we decided to make it a more formal coaching arrangement.

“He was anxious to get a bit of experience and we were able to give him that without it interfering with anything else.

“The selectors, Eddie Kenneally and Ollie Sheehan, would be very good as well. Colm Molloy does a bit of logistics work and that’s a huge help, too.

“Adrian O’Brien does S&C, John O’Meara is physio and then you’ve Pat Hartigan, Dolores Hartigan, Kieran Morrison and Eleanor Galvin. It’s a good set-up.”

The squad mixes the old and young – midfield Shane Cotter is 36, while the club’s junior football manager, corner-back Liam O’Connor, is 35 and then more than a few are still in school.

“There is a bit of a gap in terms of age-profile,” Walsh says.

“You have a bunch of lads around 18, 19 and then lads in their late 20s, early 30s. There aren’t an awful lot in their mid-20s.

“There are a few lads who are unable to play for whatever reason but, if they were to come back in the next couple of years, they could come into the equation as well.”

With so many young players, the future looks bright for Catherine’s and there is a steely resolve about the present.

Having lost the county final to Erin’s Own, the response has been emphatic, with Ardmore (Waterford), Ballinahinch (Tipperary), Feenagh-Kilmeedy (Limerick) and Easkey (Sligo) all beaten on the road to Croke Park.

As a player, Walsh was a regular visitor to Drumcondra with the Cork hurling and football teams but he is keen to stress that that was the old Croker.

The key thing is not to let it become a huge factor.

“I’ve been saying it to them, they know as much about the new Croke Park as I do!” Walsh laughs.

“You can be playing in Páirc Uí Chaoimh when it’s fairly empty and it’ll probably be similar.

“Don’t forget that, the next day, with all the best will in the world, if Castlelyons and ourselves bring up everyone, we’re still only going to fill a corner of it!”