Jamie Burns staying grounded ahead of Barrs double bid

A defender on both teams, Burns started and finished eight of the nine Barrs games across the two codes en route to securing double county final appearances

DOUBLE DREAM: St Finbarr's senior hurler Jamie Burns. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

Jamie Burns’ medal haul with the St Finbarr’s hurlers is zero.

In his 14 seasons playing senior hurling for the Barrs and time spent in the juvenile ranks before that, he’s won nothing. Nada. Zilch.

There’s no U14 Féile, minor, or U21 county medal gathering dust on a shelf at home, as is the case for a lot of his younger teammates. All Burns has in his possession are tales of barren times, of having to twice fight relegation.

He is, it must be said, not alone. The 30-year-old mentions teammates Eoin Keane, Damien Cahalane, and Glenn O’Connor as being in the same medalless boat.

“A good few of us have never won anything in the hurling, not even at underage, so that has been in the back of our mind for a long time now,” the full-back opened.

“We have had a few difficult years in the Barrs, a few of us have played in relegation finals. To turn it around and bring the club back to a county final, from where we came from, is a massive achievement.” 

Those relegation play-offs came about at the end of winless campaigns in 2013 and 17. The dreaded drop - unthinkable for a club of the Barrs’ stature and storied past - was staved off by a single point in 2013, Ballinhassig beaten by 1-13 to 0-15. Four years later, it was Youghal they sent down.

From those vantage points near the bottom of Cork’s senior hurling ladder, county final involvement was impossible to envisage.

“They were tough times. We were down about it. You don’t want to see a club like the Barrs fighting for their senior status. It was something we were very conscious of. It was something we were very determined to turn around.

“Every club has a transition period. Sometimes you just have to hang in there, keep training away, bring through the young fellas, and make small progress every year. You can see over the last three or four years, we have been making that little bit of progress.” 

Central to the turnaround in hurling fortunes in Togher has been the seamless integration into the senior set-up of U20s Jack Cahalane, Ethan Twomey, Ben Cunningham, Ben O’Connor, and William Buckley.

“I am a teacher in Coláiste Chríost Rí. I had a few of them in there and you could see the talent was coming through.

“A lot of us too have been involved in the club’s underage section. Nearly everyone in the senior team helps out with the Street Leagues. There is a good culture of giving back. We could see things were happening and players were coming through.

“We are very appreciative of being able to represent the Barrs in a county hurling final. It is something that hasn’t been done in 29 years. It is something you dream of; representing your parish and your club in a county final.” 

We should probably mention at some point that Burns does have in his possession two county senior medals. No, we didn’t mislead you earlier. These are football medals, won in 2018 and 2021.

We reference the football medals as a means of introducing Burns’ dual status. He, along with Billy Hennessy, Twomey, O’Connor, and Brian Hayes, is one of five starters on both Barrs teams.

A defender on both, Burns started and finished eight of the nine Barrs games across the two codes en route to securing double county final appearances.

“In terms of bouncing from one weekend to the next, it can be challenging. But, at the end of the day, all the hard work is done. You are just fine-tuning midweek.

“No matter how big your win or loss is on any given weekend, it’s brilliant that you have something else to focus on straightaway for the following week.” 

Barrs legends Donal O’Grady (1980 only), the late Christy Ryan, John Allen, John Cremin, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, and John Meyler (1982 only) are the players to have started both county final victories in the double-winning seasons of 1980 and 82. It would be some list for Burns to tag his name onto.

“[The double] doesn’t mean a whole pile at the moment. All I can think about is the next challenge. There is no double possible if you don’t take care of the hurling, so that is all I am focused on.

“The hype about the double went back to when both teams got out of their group. Straightaway, we put it to bed. If you were to be getting excited about something like that, it is just wasting energy.

“We are not in a position to get a tiny bit arrogant or cocky when it comes to a double because we have won nothing in hurling. We have no medals.

“We’d be very grounded that way. We wouldn’t be getting ahead of ourselves. We have waited so long to get to a hurling final, never mind win one. It is not worth thinking about.”