PHILIP Wall is rarely caught for words, but none were needed in the moments after Kilbrittain’s greatest triumph.

After a quick embrace with Seán Sexton, Philip spotted his older brother Jamie, working on the All-Ireland final for TG4, along the Hogan Stand sideline. He ran towards him.

Falling into his big brother’s arms, he didn’t need to say anything. The embrace said it all.

‘It’s really special to have that moment with the person you are closest to in the world,’ Philip says. It was a moment frozen in time – two brothers holding one another, juggling a rush of emotions, almost in disbelief at what had just unfolded at GAA HQ on a super Saturday evening. A small West Cork club had scaled its Everest, a summit so high that many probably felt it was never possible.

Charlie Kenny and Luke Griffin celebrate with the cup. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

One man did: Jamie Wall.

A former manager of the Kilbrittain hurlers, Jamie told the group back in 2020 that an All-Ireland title was a possibility. Aaron Holland’s initial reaction? ‘I remember thinking he was mental!’ he laughed. But Jamie saw something in the Black and Amber that very few others did. Six years later, with Jamie on the sideline in a different role and Philip captaining the team, Kilbrittain reached the Promised Land. Together, they shared those exhilarating moments after the final whistle – there is more than a touch of destiny about this particular sporting fairy-tale.

‘What Jamie has done for me as a person and what he has done for me as a hurler – I wouldn’t be the hurler I am today without him and I wouldn’t be the man I am today without him,’ Philip admits. At 26, he is six years younger than Jamie.

‘To have him on the sideline – I’m choking up even talking about it – it was incredible.

‘Today’s success is as much his as it is mine. The work he has put in… we went back training in 2020, when Jamie was manager, the night before the Tipp hurlers because that is what he told us!

‘We needed tough love and he gave us tough love. He is a good man to give it, if you need it. To have him there at the end, I can’t describe it.’

From Oasis to Manchester United, Philip and Jamie share so many of the same passions. And then there is Kilbrittain. The Black and Amber. Their club.

Kilbrittain's Bertie Butler on a solo from Easkey's Fionn Moylan during the AIB All-Ireland junior hurling final at Croke Park. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

‘It’s not even something you dream of, because it is so far in the distance that it doesn’t even seem like a possibility,’ Philip says, recalling the walk up the Hogan Stand to lift the All-Ireland junior cup and deliver his speech. ‘I really tried to take it in as I went up. It’s something I’ll have for the rest of my life. It was something that was so nearly gone. I can’t believe we’ve done it.’

Philip also realises just how close Kilbrittain came to missing out, with Easkey pushing the West Cork men all the way and never allowing them to find their rhythm. Just one point – scored in the 62nd minute by match-winner Mark Hickey – separated the sides in a junior final played at a remarkably high standard.

‘We looked like we lost it two or three times. We looked like we won it two or three times,’ he admits.

‘Being critical, it was probably one of our worst performances of the year, because Easkey were so good.

‘I probably didn’t think they were going to be as physical.’

Easkey set the challenge, and Kilbrittain had to respond. They did, by sticking rigidly to their game-plan. Take a bow, Joe Ryan, and his management team.

Kilbrittain manager Joe Ryan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

‘Joe has been incredible. He’s a GP by trade and I couldn’t describe him any better – he is so calm in the face of everything,’ Philip explains, referencing the half-time team talk as Kilbrittain trailed by one, 0-11 to 0-10, having been five down earlier.

‘Jesus, if there was ever a time to lose the head at a team, it was half-time. But he didn’t. He came in and it was the same message again and again.

‘To be honest, we probably needed a kick up the backside. We finished the first half well but really underperformed.

‘Joe kept telling us to stick to our plan and it paid dividends.

‘He has been incredible all year and I think he would acknowledge himself that he hasn’t come in and ripped the thing up, but has added his own unique style. He has been phenomenal.  I think he has even improved as the year has gone on.’

Joe Ryan is just one piece of a huge jigsaw that was finally completed in Dublin on Saturday. There are many, many pieces – players and management past and present; families and friends; club members; the wider community; and those no longer here. It has been a local success story years in the making, with countless fingerprints all over it – and that is why this means so much. Pride of the parish.