St Finbarr's found out the hard way how tough it is to land big prize according to Conor Cahalane

BLUE WAVE: Conor Cahalane celebrates after scoring of St Finbarr's second goal in the county final against Blackrock in 2022. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

A blue world. Such was the local state of affairs on Leeside in October 2022. 

And given the age-profile of the famine-ending Barrs kids, the logical presumption was that the blue world would continue for a while yet.

The Barrs brought 29 years of waiting to a sensational stop in October 2022. An 11-point semi-final stroll and 10-point decider thumping of city rivals Blackrock.

Brian Hayes and his 4-16 was their runaway top-scorer from play during the '22 campaign. He was 21 at the time and only a year gone from the U20 ranks.

Of the 2-9 the Barrs struck from play in the decider win, Ethan Twomey assisted 1-4. He was 20 at the time, as was Jack Cahalane. Both contributed 1-8 over the course of the championship.

Ben Cunningham, then just 19, enjoyed a dream finale. Fired over five placed-ball efforts and four more from play. The Man of the Match crystal went home in his gearbag. 2-50 (0-30 frees, 0-6 65s) was the teenager’s impressive lot for the campaign. Midfielder Ben O’Connor and impact sub William Buckley were a year younger again.

Back in 2019, Hayes, Twomey, and Cahalane were part of a Barrs U21 team that won the Premier 2 county. A year later, O’Connor, Twomey, Cunningham, Cahalane, and Buckley were instrumental in ending the club’s 23-year wait for a county minor crown.

When senior ribbons followed so soon after, maybe even ahead of time, it was confirmation of the kids arriving. It delivered the expectation of further ribbons.

That expectation was not met. Sunday’s showpiece represents their first final since. Brion Saunderson and Midleton ended their reign at the semi-final stage in 2023. Injuries and Sars ended their season at the same stage 12 months ago. In between was the humbling group stage exit following back-to-back defeats to Blackrock and Fr O’Neill’s.

“When I first started playing with the Barrs, we were a long way off competing in semi-finals and finals. So when it did happen in '22, with a new crop of players, you maybe half thought to yourself that this could be the start of something special. And maybe it was. But we failed at the semi-final, group stages, and semi-final again,” recalls Conor Cahalane.

Grounded

“Particularly in '23, after winning in '22, we maybe got ahead of ourselves a bit and thought we were going to conquer the world. But look, beaten by a brilliant Midleton team on the day.

That just shows you, you can get serious reality checks in this championship. 

"We've been under no illusions the last couple of years that there are huge challenges in the championship and thankfully we have got through them this year. To get back to a final is massive for us.” 

St Finbarr's Conor Cahalane battles Conor Noonan of Kanturk in the semi-final. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady

Conor was a half-forward starter during Cork’s run to the 2021 All-Ireland final. In the first year of Pat Ryan’s tenure, in 2023, he was used off the bench in their opening two Munster round-robin games and started the third.

Minutes decreased thereafter, though, and when he wasn’t included in the panel for the 2025 League, he moved straight into the Cork football dressing-room.

From his first minor call-up in 2014 right through to his last senior appearance in the 2025 Canon O’Brien Cup final, it had been hurling all the way at inter-county level. The other code didn’t get a look in until early summer or whenever red commitments had drawn to a close.

This season and last, thus, saw significant departures. The hurley sat largely idle until June.

How did he adapt?

“It is tough, getting the touch back in can take a number of weeks, so I just tipped away with the hurling once a week, out at the wall ball, when we were training with the football this year. I kind of got ahead of it this year whereas the last couple of years, I left it slide a small bit,” he continued.

Conor Cahalane. Picture: Noel Sweeney

“You are coming back into such a high-performing environment in the Barrs where you'd lads playing league games who are chomping at the bit to get their chance in the championship, so you have to keep on top of yourself. 

You don't want to let anything slide, so that was one area of focus for me this year, to keep on top of the hurling.” 

Although Conor and his two brothers were kept silverware-sated in Castlehaven colours since the Barrs’ 2022 hurling triumph, the four-year wait to return to the hurling final still weighed heavily.

“It does because we do have a good crop of players at the moment, and it is just trying to squeeze every last drop out of them. Every year then feels like a lost opportunity, so we'll be hoping to rectify the last couple of years on Sunday.”