KATE Wall couldn’t stay away. The pull of home and the Barrs was too strong to resist.

On January 19th, two nights after being honoured as one of the monthly award winners at the West Cork Sports Star Awards, Kate swapped Kilbrittain for Australia.

Two weeks earlier, she was part of the St Finbarr’s team that lost the All-Ireland senior club final replay to Athenry, so the break came at the right time.

‘I spent almost 10 months in Sydney and had a great time,’ she says.

‘I was nursing, having fun and playing a bit of GAA over there. It’s a really active, healthy place. Everyone is fit and active, so you have to keep yourself in some bit of shape.

‘I loved it and had a really good time, but the draw to come back was too much. My mother was delighted, but when you’ve a team like we have, it’s very hard not to want to be involved and to stay away from it.’

It was never a certainty that Kate would come home.

‘To be honest, I think I was nearly seeing if the place would convince me to stay rather than the other way around. I went out there not knowing how long I’d be there, but I wanted to give it a go,’ she admits.

‘I’m a nurse, my boyfriend’s out there, and there were a lot of opportunities for me. I probably would have kicked myself if I didn’t try it. But I suppose we all know the hold the GAA has on people. People who aren’t in it don’t understand it, but it’s addictive, I suppose.’

Given how close St Finbarr’s came to All-Ireland glory last season, Kate knows how good this team is. It’s packed with talent but, more importantly, friends. The chance to make more memories with this group saw the West Cork woman fly home in September, just in time for the Barrs’ county quarter-final win against Ballincollig. Home sweet home.

Kate Wall in full flight.

‘I have such a good team to come back to that it’s very difficult to miss that opportunity. I’m happy now that I did come back, and I’m happy I’m playing with them again.’

Kate’s dad collected her from the airport on a Wednesday morning, and she went to training that evening, eager to get started.

‘They were all saying, “Please don’t train, we don’t want you getting injured.” But I was like one who had been starved of it, so there was no way they were keeping me from training!’ she laughs.

Kate had put in the hard work Down Under. In August, she and her boyfriend Johnny went to Airlie Beach in Queensland for a month.

‘He nearly put me through a boot camp, to be honest! So I was actually flying fit.’

The Kilbrittain woman, who transferred to the Barrs four years ago, slotted straight back into the Togher team that is on a mission. They retained their county title, beating Blackrock to complete the three-in-a-row. They are back in the Munster final again after victories against Clare club Truagh Clonlara (4-10 to 1-12) and Thurles Sarsfields (1-17 to 1-10). Next, it’s Waterford club Gailltír in the provincial decider this Saturday in Thurles.

‘It’s really exciting, and you have to be excited for things like this. I said it last year: people play sport their whole lives and don’t get to finals or achieve what we’ve achieved. You have to look forward to it and try your best to enjoy it,’ Kate explains.

‘In saying that, enjoyment can sometimes be quite difficult in these Munster games we’ve had. They’re so tough and ferocious, and coming out the other side of them, you’d nearly be so tired from the game that it’s hard to be happy!

‘I said this to one of the girls the other day: you have to have a bit of daftness in the group. I remember at the West Cork Sports Star Awards earlier in the year, Graham Canty said something about there being a bit of madness in the people of West Cork. There’s definitely a bit of madness in this Barrs team, because the games just take on a life of their own.’

Kate Wall has made a huge difference for St Finbarr’s. (Photo: INPHO/Dan Sheridan)

Kate takes it all in her stride. She is hugely experienced, having been involved with Cork before deciding to step away this year. She came on in the Rebels’ All-Ireland final loss to Galway in 2025, so was there or thereabouts in terms of a starting spot.

Given the turnover in the Cork squad this season, the opportunities that arose and the Rebels’ run to All-Ireland glory in August, Kate could be forgiven for having a few what-if moments. But she doesn’t – she’s happy with the path she chose and the adventure it became.

‘It was 4am or something when I was watching the girls win the All-Ireland final. Honestly, without a word of a lie, I was thrilled for them. I wanted them to win more than anything.

‘A lot of them are some of my best friends. I lived with Sorcha (McCartan) last year, and I was so thrilled for her to perform like that. Méabh (Cahalane) being captain, I’d be really close with them, and all of the team – I was thrilled for them.

‘Personally, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t disappointed you weren’t there yourself. But that’s life. You make decisions, and you have to get on with them and stand over them.

‘I’ve had loads of joy within the last year, but I don’t think anything will ever beat winning an All-Ireland final in Croke Park. That’s something I’ll have to get on with and live with, but you never know what will happen in the future.’

The immediate focus is on the Munster final this weekend, where victory would take the Barrs back into the All-Ireland series.

There’s no point denying that losing the All-Ireland final replay hurt. Because it did. Just two points separated Athenry and the Barrs in the end. That disappointment lingered.

‘I wasn’t really able to just play a league game and move on. I felt that, coming into June and July, I was still itching to try to get over the loss. The best way to get over something is to play more games and try to win again. That probably was an extra motivating factor,’ she says.

‘I don’t think our team needs motivation, but people always say, “You either win or you learn”, and that used to drive me mad. There are things you can take from losing, though. You can either give up, throw in the towel and think about all the things that went wrong and all the bad parts, or you can say, “Let’s give it another go.”

‘I think our team has done that. We’ve picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off and gone at the championship with everything we have.

‘I’m really lucky I was able to come back in, be a part of it again and drive them on, too. It’s very exciting.’

Kate has adjusted to life at home very quickly. Camogie gave her a sense of purpose and routine. She’s back working as a nurse with Dr John Crowley in Ovens and is loving it.

‘It’s a fantastic clinic. They’re hurling mad, him and his dad. They’re Éire Óg, but his dad, Paddy Crowley, would be well involved with UCC GAA Club, and they were well involved with Cork hurling back in the day.’

On and off the pitch, life is good for Kate. She’s glad she didn't resist that pull of home.