Cork's U20 star Barry Walsh feeling ready to make step up with Ben O'Connor's Rebels

The Killeagh man is aiming to make an impression on two fronts next term.

Wed, 19 Nov, 2025 - 07:24

John Fogarty

It’s from Tipperary in the form of young hurler of the year Darragh McCarthy where Barry Walsh will be taking encouragement as he officially joins the extended Cork senior panel later this week.

The Killeagh under-age star is among a number of current or former U20s called up by Ben O’Connor to the set-up and an informal get-to-know-you has already taken place between the training squad and the new management group.

Since U20 replaced U21 in 2019, there have been fewer players straddling both grades although the likes of Shane Barrett and Alan Connolly, as 20-year-olds in ’21, proved the step-up is possible.

As a 19-year-old, McCarthy was a further example this past year and it’s to him, a man he faced in U20 action last April, that Walsh gleans inspiration as he contemplates a second season at U20 level in 2026 while trying to make the senior cut.

“It’s good that other people have done it,” says Walsh. “I suppose it gives you a sense that you don't have to worry about being too young for this. You just have to be ready when you get the call-up. I'm excited that I did so I'll try and give it my best now.

“It’s definitely doable. It’s obviously going to be challenging apart from conditioning-wise going from U20 to senior. If you want it enough at that age, you can give it a chance and it’s up to the player, really. There were probably people saying about Darragh (McCarthy) ‘too young’ but he was saying ‘no, I’m ready for it’.”

The recent meeting where O’Connor set out the goals for the year was “more of a gathering”, according to Walsh. He hopes to put himself in a position where O’Connor, who brought him into the U20s in 2024, and current U20 manager Noel Furlong have to weigh up how best to utilise the 19-year-old in the coming season.

“The main goal now is to make it to the next stage where they can do that. The panel is not fully picked yet, so hopefully I can get to the stage where I’m playing league games or on the panel for league games and then onto the U20 championship in my last year.”

It's easier for Walsh that he will be joined in the extended panel by a number of players who played U20 under O’Connor in 2023 and ‘24 but he knows it will be daunting.

“I suppose the fact that I have been watching most of the lads that have been playing, growing up watching hurling. I have only known them from being part of the senior panel. Going to train with them, hopefully to play with them, you hope your standards will be as good as them.” Freshers hurling with MTU where he is studying recreation and leisure will also be a consideration for Walsh who despite scoring 1-39 from placed balls in five championship outing for Cork’s U20s this past season only began taking frees in earnest two years ago.

“I only got called to do it the week of championship of minor. I never used to take him with Killeagh or anything. I had an injury – I had a broken ankle and I kind of played on it for a year, so it kind of set me back a lot.

“I was in a boot for about four months and when I came out of it, I couldn't really run fully yet, so I used to just kind of stand there and take frees. It was the only bit of hitting I could really do. The manager [Kieran ‘Fraggie’ Murphy] has just kind of seen me do it.”

* Barry Walsh and Walter Walsh were speaking at the launch of Fulfill’s new three-year deal as sponsors of the All-Ireland U20 championship.