LET’S hear it again, lads.

‘There’s no hurling west of the Viaduct!’ is a tongue-in-cheek expression we’ve all heard at some stage.

Time to change that tune, lads.

Get out your maps, or Google it – there’s a small village by the name of Kilbrittain, nestled in the south-east corner of West Cork, situated about 10km south of Bandon, with Kinsale about 15km to the east. It’s well west of the Viaduct.

You can’t miss it as they have the skeleton of a whale on display there.

Among the handful of clubs to play in the first hurling championship in West Cork in 1905 and a founder member of the South-West Cork division in 1925, they like the small ball in Kilbrittain, despite being part of a footballing division.

This club has produced some outstanding players and hurling teams during the past 120 years. Now they can put up a new sign entering that small village, ‘Home of the All-Ireland Hurling Champions 2025/2026.’

And, yes, lads, it’s west of the famed Viaduct.

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)

So, never tell us Carbery men again that there’s no hurling west of the Viaduct. At a time when Cork hurling teams, with hardly a West Cork hurler to be seen in their ranks, are struggling to find a way past the final hoodoo in Croke Park, a team from humble West Cork has gallantly shown the way.

Good on you, Kilbrittain, you have struck a real blow for hurling in Carbery.

But now is not the time for revenge for all those times we have heard Carbery hurling dismissed as irrelevant by those in charge of hurling in this county. Nor is it the time for boasting. But this win was really sweet.

It comes at a time when our only representative on the Cork hurling panel, Luke Meade, is no longer a member of the squad. Also, there is no indication of Ben O’Connor looking west for potential Cork players.

It comes at a time when Cork hurling needs something different to get it over the finishing line in Croke Park if we are to see the Liam McCarthy Cup paraded through the streets of Cork any time soon.

It comes at a time when the game of hurling needs to be promoted properly all over the county, not just in Imokilly and the city, when young players from all corners must be encouraged to catch hurleys and develop their skills with a genuine chance of wearing the red shirt of Cork.

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

It was always said that for a West Cork young hurler to be included in the Cork minor panel, he had to be twice as good as the young lad from the east of the county. Time was when players from the West had the opportunity of attending the boarding school in Farranferris, a nursery for Cork minor hurlers and we even had Cork minor hurlers from as far west as Ballydehob and Bantry.

Players like the great Tim Crowley, Mark Foley, Noel Crowley and Barry Harte all used that avenue to the Cork minor team, but when Farna closed down, that avenue disappeared. Since then, good young hurlers in West Cork have been out of sight and out of mind – and Cork minor hurlers from the division have been as rare as hens’ teeth. This fantastic win for Kilbrittain must change all that.

One swallow does not make a summer, you might well argue, but this achievement by Kilbrittain shines a new light on Carbery hurling. There was nothing exceptional about these Kilbrittain hurlers coming up through the grades. They didn’t dominate West Cork hurling, didn’t win county titles by the sackful.

The reason Kilbrittain are now All-Ireland hurling champions is because they created a situation for themselves that put them on the path to achieving glory.

By progressing unbeaten through the Cork championship, they improved with every outing. Wins over Barryroe, Cloughduv and Nemo Rangers put them straight into a semi-final. Wins over favourites Ballygarvan, by two points in the semi-final, and over Glen Rovers by a point in the final showed that not only was the team improving in leaps and bounds but that they had acquired the happy knack of winning close finishes.

From there on, the rest is history and that knack certainly showed in Croke Park on Saturday. If they could only bottle it and sell it to our Cork hurling teams.

But the point we’re making is when the Kilbrittain lads got a proper chance to play at a higher level this season, they grabbed it with both hands, improved with every outing and proved themselves good enough to win an All-Ireland title.

Players in West Cork who played against those Kilbrittain lads in recent years – especially from Newcestown, Bandon, Barryroe, Argideen, etc. – and who more than matched them, will now see there is a pathway to success for all West Cork hurlers, if they create the proper opportunity themselves.

Create the chance, win, and the Cork hurling mentors at all levels will have to sit up and take notice. There’s hurling west of the viaduct after all.