Cathal Barrett would go back to Tipp setup 'in a heartbeat'

The Holycross-Ballycahill defender was axed by Liam Cahill this year but remains a devoted Tipperary fan and goes to every game.

Tipperary's Cathal Barrett after the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat by Galway. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

“I’ll work away myself...” 

So were the words Cathal Barrett uttered after founding out he was surplus to Liam Cahill’s requirements last October.

And so he has. In the absence of injured Bryan O’Mara, he has spearheaded Holycross-Ballycahill’s defence as the venerable club this weekend make a rare recent appearance in the knockout stages of the Tipperary senior hurling championship.

The two-time All-Ireland and All Star doesn’t give the impression he is confident of returning to county colours as he did after a falling out with Michael Ryan in 2017. When Cahill dropped another multiple All Star corner-back in Waterford’s Noel Connors in 2019, there didn’t appear to be any way back either.

Aged 31 when he received the news, Barrett can’t say he has yet reconciled with his departure but he chose to be proactive and not just on the pitch. If he could no longer be Tipperary’s best player, he was going to be their best fan.

“It’s not my form to go out and bash and say whatever. It has been a very difficult time in regards to it. Ironically, I went to every single Tipp game. I just decided to go away and do my thing and keep my mouth shut but I’m still a Tipperary supporter and a Tipperary man no matter what. I was determined to go support the boys and the team.

“I was born and raised on the blue and gold irrespective of my opinion on management or whatever whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. That doesn’t come into it and I will never comment on that.

“I texted the boys before and after games and there was nothing but sincerity in them. These guys play for Tipperary and they’re my mates and I just wanted them to do well.

“But obviously yeah it was very hard. It still is hard. It still gives me a bit of a lump in my throat when I talk about it and I don’t really talk about it too often. I just chose to be constructive and offer any advice to my team-mates if they needed it.” 

Unprompted, he adds: “I’d go back in a heartbeat, obviously. There’s no point in saying any different. I’d love it and Jesus who wouldn’t? That jersey means an awful lot. I don’t say that too often but it does and look it, just one of those things.” 

Barrett looks back and wonders if injuries played their part in his departure. A scapula fracture held him back in 2023 only to later suffer a concussion, while a hamstring issue early the following season meant he was playing catch-up.

“I find sport can be very humbling. When things are going great, life can give you a kick in the arse to knock you down, but I’ve always had the mentality to carry on and drive on through and deal with it. I’m fortunate at the minute to be injury free.” 

Not just as a supporter but as a hurler Barrett has basked in the glow that July’s All-Ireland victory has brought the county. The numbers turning up for club games have been sizeable.

“To be straight, the Tipp team hadn’t been going great for a couple of years. In a county like Tipperary, results are everything and when they are there you see the buzz. You see the parents bringing their kids to the matches and the kids want to see their Darragh McCarthys and Ronan Mahers.

“When you’re representing Tipperary and playing at such a high standard and giving that jersey the respect it deserves, people will follow you and people will love you for it.” 

To much surprise, Holycross-Ballycahill topped their group. “If you were to be trufhful about it, no-one would have said that. You would said Kiladangan and Toomevara would have been one and two in whatever order and ourselves and Clonoulty fighting for third. But we had two very comprehensive victories over Kiladangan and Toomevara.

“I don't think we've ever been in that position before, like. I can't remember the last time we won club games back-to-back, so we got over a couple of big barriers this year and you can't shy away from the fact that the young lads are absolutely superb.” 

Before O’Mara, Barrett had been the club’s sole regular Tipperary representative. That heaped expectations on him to deliver for a club that might not have won a Dan Breen Cup since 1990 but was the home of giants John Doyle, Michael Maher and Pat Stakelum.

“There’s no point saying otherwise,” Barrett admits. “I would have always felt more pressure hurling for Holycross than I would have for Tipperary. Because before me, there wasn't a Tipperary hurler really since Declan Carr and Declan captained the All-Ireland team in 1991.

“I arrived on then 23 years later, like. It's a big gap. I was on my own then for many a year then up until only a couple of years ago when Bryan O'Mara came on the team. So, I would have had a small bit of pressure on me to perform with the club.

“It's the one place you want to perform because there's no place like it being with your own. It brings you back down to earth. You’re living in Holycross, building in Holycross, your future will be in Holycross. You don’t want to let those people down.” 

Saturday’s quarter-final against Cashel King Cormacs is a derby in more ways than one for Barrett whose coffee shop 65 Degrees is in the town as his place of work, Cashel Boys National School.

“Cashel is a really nice town and I’m very fortunate with the people I work with in the coffee shop and the school. The students are chirping away at me this week. They're coming out of the woodwork, so they are.”