Walter Walsh: ‘You have to cherish when your club makes Croke Park’

Not quite Four Weddings and a Funeral, but the days after last year’s All-Ireland SHC final certainly carried the heavy air of a wake around Kilkenny.

Walter Walsh was groomsman at Cillian Buckley’s wedding on the day before that loss to Limerick last July, while the weekend after it was Walsh’s turn to get married.

Two further Walsh family weddings followed soon after as both of Walter’s brothers tied the knot with their significant others. Four weddings inside a couple of months.

So, it has been nice to swap the aisle of a church for a dressingroom tunnel in recent months as Tullogher Rosbercon carved a path towards Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland club junior hurling final in Croke Park.

Joe Canning: Calling out the Tipperary players in public wasn’t smartest move by Liam Cahill

---

Clare’s Shane O’Donnell finds trimmed-down season is just the right fit

---

Ciarán Murphy: Of course the Connacht final is worth winning - just to beat the other shower

---

Liam Cahill’s Waterford years back in focus ahead of crunch clash for Tipperary

---

And having lost an All-Ireland final at the same venue last July with Kilkenny, and more significantly the 2009 All-Ireland club junior decider in what was the club’s only previous appearance at this stage, Walsh is taking nothing for ... Hugh Granted.

“When you lose an All-Ireland final you don’t want to see anyone,” says Walsh. “You just want to avoid people.

“I got married the Saturday after the final last year. It was strange in a way. Obviously you were disappointed probably until the Wednesday but then you kind of realise that you have a big day coming up on Saturday so you start building yourself up for it.

“Myself and Vicky had a great couple of days. It was brilliant, I’d say there wasn’t a word about the All-Ireland final, maybe my brother might have slagged me a bit in his speech but aside from that it wasn’t mentioned.”

Buckley’s wedding was somewhat trickier as it took place on the eve of the Limerick showdown.

“We went to the church and that but Cillian was keen for me to get out of the place as well,” recalls Walsh.

“I’d say I was back at home at five o’clock, even four that day. We skipped the reception, he was just keen for me to get myself right for the following day. The following day didn’t work out but that’s just the way it happened.”

Walsh was only 17 when he lined out in the 2009 junior club final, a game Tullogher Rosbercon lost to Dripsey of Cork, 2-15 to 0-18.

A lot of hurling, and a lot of hopping up and down between the grades in Kilkenny has taken place since then, but the road has finally led Tullogher Rosbercon back to a junior club final at GAA headquarters, where on Saturday at 5pm another Cork side will be waiting in St Catherine’s.

“I appreciate it’s not that normal playing with your club in Croke Park,” adds Walsh. “So you just have to cherish it.

“Thinking back to 2009, we wanted to win the game. It was a great occasion for the club but you want to leave with the cup. After doing it once, you want to make sure you leave with it.”

Word of the Kilkenny club’s fortunes might well be relayed to some Hollywood heavy-hitters at the weekend too, in the form of Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, as former Tullogher Rosbercon hurler Tom O’Connor is a striker for the Welsh side.

Indeed, his two brothers, Donncha and Anthony, will be playing for the Kilkenny champions at Croke Park on Saturday.

Wrexham are at home to AFC Wimbledon in a League Two fixture at 3pm on Saturday so O’Connor – who scored his side’s goal in a 1-0 FA Cup win over Shrewsbury Town last weekend – should be able to tune in as the action in Croke Park unfolds later in the day.

O’Connor flew home to take in Tullogher Rosbercon’s All-Ireland semi-final win over Castleblayney in December, while Walsh and several other club colleagues went over to Wales before Christmas to see Wrexham in action.

“It would be no harm to have him back, he was a savage hurler as well,” adds Walsh. “Myself, Donncha and Cian O’Donoghue, we went over to see them playing against Newport and they won.

“That was my first time over to see him as well so it was great. He’s flying it. We’d absolutely love to have him but unfortunately he’s caught.

“He’s still very much interested in it, I suppose he has two brothers playing as well so it’s a big thing for him. He used to love hurling and he still follows it. There’s a fair few of us following him now even more so.”

Whatever way it pans out on Saturday, Walsh has committed to Derek Lyng’s Kilkenny squad for 2024. Following the retirements of Richie Hogan and Pádraig Walsh, there were fears the hero of the 2012 replay would follow them out the door.

“Yeah, that’s the plan. We had a meeting, I think it was in November, and I had a phone call with Derek beforehand. So yeah, I’m going back for another year anyway so we’ll see how it goes,” he says.

“I tried not to think about it too much, I tried to just focus on playing with the club, winning with the club and not making any drastic decisions. The body felt good.

“I recovered well and I just felt like maybe I’m not ready to hang up the boots just yet.”

Walsh hasn’t poured over that 2009 loss to Dripsey too often over the years, but three-time All-Ireland SHC winner with Kilkenny admits it has crossed his mind more in recent months.

“When the dust settled a bit after the county final celebrations, you were kind of thinking it would be great to get to Croke Park and go one step further this time.”

• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
• Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here