St Finbarr's: Cork hurling's sleeping giants looking to end 29 years of hurt

Many of Cork's great successes down through the years have been backboned by its great city institutions.

A common belief on Lee-side is that when the big city clubs are strong, the county team will be well placed.

However, the 'big three' of Glen Rovers, Blackrock and St Finbarr's - who have won a combined 85 Cork Hurling Championship titles - endured fallow periods throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

In recent years, the records have somewhat reverted to type. 'The Glen' ended their 26-year wait in 2015. 'The Rockies' broke their own barren spell after 18 years in 2020.

On Sunday, 'The Barrs' will be bidding to bring their 29 years of hurt to a close.

City hurling appears to be back in a healthy state.

"In fairness to those clubs, you reap what you sow," says John Cremin, a selector with the current St Finbarr's senior team, and a mainstay of the great Barrs teams of the 1970s and '80s.

"If you go back long enough, a lot of work would have been done in the schools and clubs would have capitalised on that. Whereas now, clubs themselves must do a lot of the work at underage level. In fairness to the Glen and the Rockies, they've done a lot of work at this level and they're seeing the fruits of it. The Barrs are now seeing the fruits of their work at this level."

Not that the recent successes of Glen Rovers and Blackrock would have raised spirits around Togher.

"Yeah," Cremin smiles. "But nonetheless it wakes you up and inspires you!"

And a great deal of work has gone into the club's resurgence at the top level.

"This is the culmination of a number of years of work," he details.

"What we have seen in more recent times that the Barrs representation at Cork minor hurling level and U20/U21 level, we've had very good representation at intercounty level, that we wouldn't have had for a number of years.

"You've had the likes of Brian Hayes, Jack Cahalane, Ethan Twomey and Ben Cunningham all playing at U20 and U21 level. And then you have the likes of Ben O'Connor, William Buckley playing at Cork minor level.

"And at senior level, Damien Cahalane and Conor Cahalane.

"In more recent years, the underage success is a culmination of a lot of work that's been put in at street leagues and underage level over a number of years."

29 years of hurt

It has been a long wait in Togher for silverware. And a fallow period did not look likely when they claimed their last triumph in 1993.

Between 1990 and 1994, the club won four U21 championships in the space of five seasons.

Although the future looked bright, senior success did not materialise.

"The Barrs won a county in '93, that was a very good time for the club," Cremin recalls.

"Nobody at that time would have envisaged the barren spell that materialised thereafter. And I don't think anybody would have said it would be close on 30 years that we would be in a county final again. It has been tough for the Barrs club not to reach a county final. We've reached a number of semi-finals, but not a county final.

"You were always there competing. And maybe you weren't at the business end of the season. It's very difficult to keep it going when you're not reaching the business end of the season. Some clubs can lose heart and fizzle away. But in fairness to various people in the Barrs over the years who have kept it going.

"When you didn't have the number of players that we currently have. And it was hard enough to keep it going. And many great club men have kept it going during this barren period.

"And I've no doubt they too are delighted to see the Barrs back in a county final."

The latest servant to answer the club's call is Rebels legend Ger Cunningham.

The former Cork shot-stopper, who has amassed significant sideline experience on the intercounty stage, has returned to manage the club's senior team.

"Ger is a first class operator. Very organised. Very structured. Great knowledge of the game. Very measured in his approach to each game at a time. And he has put great shape and structure about the Barrs' efforts this year," Cremin said.

"He's had many great successes over the years, both as a player and a coach.

"It was great for the Barrs when Ger took up the role this year. And if we're all very honest, at the outset we would have envisaged that this would take a couple of years to get us to where we want to get to. But with that very considered and measured approach to training and to each game, this team has got better game by game. And we now find ourselves in the situation, we are in a county hurling final. Much of the credit for getting us here has to go the Ger for the infrastructure and the mindset he has put in place this year.

"The players have responded very well to Ger's initiatives and his approach."

A dual club through and through

The run to the county final this year is all the more remarkable considering the fact that the club is battling on two fronts.

Success has come to the footballers in recent years. And their county title in 2021 was used as a platform to claim Munster honours, before pushing eventual All-Ireland champions Kilcoo all the way at the semi-final stage.

Later this month, they face Nemo Rangers as they bid to defend their crown.

The big ball success has raised spirits around Neenan Park and spurred the hurlers on.

"The success of the Barrs footballers has lifted the club," Cremin outlines.

"Last year was a phenomenal year with the Barrs club, with the winning of the Cork county senior football championship, great victory and a nail-biting finish against Clonakilty. And then you had two of, for me arguably, the greatest occasions in the history of the Barrs club where you had the Munster club final against Austin Stacks in Thurles and you also had the All-Ireland club semi-final against Kilcoo, the eventual winners. But they were two magnificent days for the Barrs club.

"They really did energise our club, our players and our supporters. And that really has fed through into this year, and it has fed through into the hurling section of the club. They have taken heart from it, inspiration from it, and that has put us on a good footing this year. There is no question about it, the tremendous success of the Barrs senior footballers, they have been cornerstones for the position we find ourselves in this year, where we are now competing in both the county hurling final and the football final."

It is one club, all pulling in the one direction. The only distinction is that while the hurlers wear white shorts, the football kit is all-blue.

Enabling the dual players is central to the club's ethos.

"There are a number of dual players," Cremin adds. "But the hurling club and the football club have to work closely when organising training sessions, to make sure that those dual players are not being over-trained and that they're given appropriate recovery times. That has worked well with us. There has been good cooperation and good organisation between Ger Cunningham and Paul O'Keeffe (senior football manager).

"It's nearly every week that you're playing. You need the working partnership, hurlers and footballers, you need to protect players.

"You might have a situation that some nights, you just say to the dual players that 'you don't train tonight'. Sometimes less is more, when rest rather than training is the correct answer. And it isn't always easy to get those calls right. But if the two managements work together, they can work together to get it right."

But this week, all focus is on the small ball.

On Sunday, old rivals Blackrock provide the opposition in the 'Little All-Ireland' final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The Seán Óg Murphy Cup has not been paraded up Barrack Street for more than a generation. The current crop of Blues will be looking to set that record straight this weekend.