AS Aaron Holland stood outside the Kilbrittain dressing room, with the celebrations lifting off, he remembered a bold call former manager Jamie Wall made back in 2020.

It feels prophetic now, given how this dream season unfolded, but Holland admits he didn’t share Wall’s optimism at the time.

‘Jamie (Wall) said it back in 2020 when he came in that he saw an All-Ireland in this team. I remember thinking he was mental! I was thinking, let’s get a county first!’ Holland laughed.

But the groundwork laid by Jamie Wall, and then John Considine, helped to create this season where Kilbrittain won the lot: county, Munster and All-Ireland titles.

‘When Joe (Ryan) came in this year he laid out a plan for us – there are so many games to a county, so many games to a Munster and so many games to an All-Ireland. It was game by game, and it’s been an unbelievable run,’ the Kilbrittain back said.

‘It’s going to be very hard to top this. It’s the stuff of dreams,’ he added, noting the impact this has had on the local community.

‘It means everything to so many people. To see the lift this has given people around the village has been incredible, and to be a part of the reason for that lift feels even better.’

Aaron Holland defending against Finnian Cawley of Easkey. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The minutes immediately after winning an All-Ireland feel surreal. A dream has been realised, but there’s little time to process it all. Still, the smile on Holland’s face said it all.

‘It’s unbelievable, it doesn’t feel real, but it will hit us after the high. An incredible feeling,’ Holland added, that sense of achievement steeled by Kilbrittain’s need to dig deep to hold off Easkey in this Croke Park classic. In the end, just one point separated the West Cork men from the Sligo side.

‘That was the toughest game we had all year. Davidstown were tough in the semi-final with the conditions, but Easkey really put it up to us today. Even when they went down a man they came at us harder, so we had to stand up – every one of our fellas fought for everything and left everything out there.’

So, what got Kilbrittain over the line on Saturday?

‘It was more stubbornness than anything!’ Holland quipped.

‘It’s been this way all season. Maybe in other years this is a game that we could have lost, but there’s a belief in this team – if our backs are to the wall, we’ll go all out and fight back. It’s been that way since the first league game against Midleton. It’s not over until it’s over. We play to the very end.’

That belief in their own ability to find a way to win was evident again at half-time. Kilbrittain trailed by a point, but didn’t panic. The experiences of an eight-game winning run to the All-Ireland final have created confidence within the group.

‘At half-time in the county final against the Glen we were down a point as well, so we’ve been here before. We know what we can do and what we are capable of,’ Holland explained.

‘Easkey had their purple patch in the first half but we battled back and stuck at it. We didn’t panic, didn’t stray from our plan, and we knew we had more in us – and that showed in the second half.’

By the end of an epic encounter, Kilbrittain had their hands on the All-Ireland cup. Jamie Wall’s prediction had come true.