Walsh: 'I have said to the players that this is the best time of my life'

Denis Walsh and the impressive backroom team he brought together this time last year ain’t bringing no fifth-tier standards to the table.

UNITED IN JOY: St Catherine’s manager Denis Walsh and his backroom team celebrate at the final whistle after their win over Feenagh-Kilmeedy in the Munster Club JHC final at Mallow. Picture: Picture Dan Linehan

The wheel has come full circle for Denis Walsh. He has returned to his roots and is returning to Croke Park.

Now, there are many in Ballynoe who will read the above and respond that their favourite son never vacated his roots in the first instance. And neither would they be wrong to argue such a point of view.

Walsh returns to Croke Park this weekend. He last stood on the Hogan Stand sideline 14 years ago. It was the Sunday afternoon of the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final. Old friends Cork and Kilkenny came to thrash and timber.

He won’t thank us if we drag up the scoreline or size of defeat. Best to leave it off as a bad day at the big office.

This weekend is again Cork and Kilkenny, albeit with a far more local flavour.

This weekend won’t carry the same crowds or hysteria. No harm in that. The voices and roars that will flow out past him from 5pm onward will be familiar and recognisable.

Getting there with Cork was a prerequisite. Bringing St Catherine’s there in search of All-Ireland junior glory was never on his or anyone else’s radar.

To get there with your own brings a different sort of pride.

Before Walsh ever ascended to the top of the Cork hurling tree, there was time spent as St Catherine’s manager. And there was never any doubt about his returning to the Catherine’s post when time with Cork was over.

This season of theirs that will finish either looking down from or up at the Hogan Stand is his second stint in the local chair since finishing with Cork in the summer of 2011. And that’s just the club hurlers. He brought the Catherine’s women to the Cork senior camogie final in 2012 and ‘15.

Forever giving back.

This, after all, is a man who three months shy of his 40th birthday helped carry the club to senior promotion from full-forward. Withdrawn 51 minutes into the 2004 county final against Courcey Rovers, he never actually reached the dugout. Instead, he patrolled the sideline for the remainder of the decider. Urging and cajoling right to the finish.

A season later, he made the move permanent. 40-year-old manager instead of 40-year-old full-forward.

Good and hearty times. None as good, mind, as those currently being enjoyed.

“I have said to the players that this is the best time of my life,” Walsh begins.

“You can think back all you want, but sure tis all in the past. Tis all history. Now is now. I am a fierce believer of living in the present.

“You couldn't ask for a better time to be a St Catherine's member. We have an outstanding club in every regard, be it administration, facilities, players.

“We have two championship pitches and are looking to develop a third field. We ran a Strictly Come Dancing fundraiser last weekend and there were almost a thousand people at it. We have everything going in our favour.

“Every club will probably say the same thing, but we take fierce pride in our own.” Catherine’s operate in the fifth tier of the Cork championship. Having lost the county premier junior final to Erin’s Own’s second team in mid-October, they will again operate in the fifth tier this summer.

Walsh and the impressive backroom team he brought together this time last year ain’t bringing no fifth-tier standards to the table. They wouldn’t be allowed to either. Winging it went out of fashion a long time ago, even below in the junior ranks.

He has Tadhg Óg Murphy of Sars renown in as coach. Adrian O’Brien, who was with the Clare hurlers last year, is their S&C man. Former Cork hurler Kieran Morrison is there too, among others.

For a young group, whose average age is 23, the foundations are being put down to enable continued growth next season and the season after that and the one after that.

“The club scene now is a fair commitment. You have to be organised,” Walsh continues.

“Once upon a time you could turn up and just play the match, and on you go. If I go back 40 years, there wouldn't have been much communication, but you have to now, you have to look after the whole group. You have to keep in touch with your players.

“There's time consumption in that, but it is pleasing then when we have something to target like Saturday. That makes the whole job way easier.” Tell us, how do they compare: the Cork job and the Catherine’s one?

“Giving you a quick answer, you'd want to be winning all the time anyway to keep everyone happy,” laughs the All-Ireland dual winner. “That's the bottom line, for county and for club. The only currency is winning.

“It is not easy to keep everyone happy if you are not doing well, but the fact we are doing well, and you had the Strictly fundraiser last weekend too, there's great momentum. The positives grossly outweigh the negatives in that regard.

“The inter-county scene, even in the 12 or 13 years since I was there, has changed dramatically. Everyone has an opinion online, everywhere. That's not an easy ride for anyone getting involved in an inter-county set-up.

“Hopefully we can get an East Cork double this weekend and that’ll keep everyone happy.” Neighbours Castlelyons take to the stage after them. They are literally over the road from one another.

Castlelyons have been threatening Cork premier intermediate success this four years. Catherine’s, on the other hand, didn’t win a championship match in 2022 and only escaped a relegation play-off on account of their score difference.

“You'd be pinching yourself, like. Did you ever think your club team would be preparing for an All-Ireland final? That's the million-dollar question.

“Personally, I wouldn't have ever anticipated that our own club would be involved in an All-Ireland final, so from that point of view, it is kind of a strange feeling in a way.” And a wondering feeling in another.