PHILIP Wall will break new ground for his clan in Croke Park this Saturday – he’s the first to captain a team at GAA HQ.

That fact carries extra weight. His twin sister Kate and older brother Jamie have played there almost ten times combined, while his first cousins in Clare include the Cratloe trio of Podge, Sean and David Collins. All of which makes Philip’s first appearance all the more notable, even if he’s quick to provide some perspective.

‘Sean texted me after the All-Ireland semi-final to say I’ll be the first one in the family to captain a team in Croke Park. I said I’m also the first to play junior hurling, so I won’t get too carried away with myself!’ Philip quips. Still, he appreciates just how special this Saturday will be for this Kilbrittain hurling team. The stuff of dreams has crossed the line into reality.

He remembers the call from manager Joe Ryan early last season, telling him he had been selected as captain. First reaction? ‘Delighted.’ Second thought? ‘I definitely thought we could do something, though my older sister Ellen thought I was deluded!’

A dash of delusion in sport is no harm, Philip laughs, but his instinct proved spot on. Kilbrittain have powered to Cork and Munster junior titles and are now one win away from the most glorious moment of them all: an All-Ireland triumph. This is what every club dreams of, but only a handful ever experience – and Philip knows it.

FINAL TOUCHES: Strength and conditioning coach Mark Eaton at work on a frosty Sunday morning in Clashavanna, Kilbrittain. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

‘I was speaking to the lads about this – we say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it’s not really. There are so many great lifetimes that don’t get this chance,’ he explains.

‘I’m good friends with Gearóid O’Donovan from Newcestown, and we were chatting on the way home from Kate’s drawn All-Ireland club camogie final last month. Newcestown are the standard bearers for everyone in the county, never mind just West Cork – and they haven’t got the chance yet.

‘I don’t think it’s lost on us how big a deal this is. It’s class. But we know we have a job to do. The main thing is to get the win.’

Beating Easkey is the job this Saturday. Do that, and Kilbrittain will party like never before. The village has hosted homecomings after the county and Munster successes, but this could enter the realms of lore, if the Black and Amber can make it nine championship wins in a row this Saturday.

The hurlers’ odyssey has been the lift the parish needed, rocked after the passing of two local teenagers, Anne Enright and Oisín Gillain, within seven months. Oisín, who died from SADS (Sudden Adult Death Syndrome), was a part of this Kilbrittain team, and is on this journey too, named as No. 8 in every match programme.

‘Losing Anne Enright and our boy Oisín Gillain, it’s been a tough time for their families, for the parish, and the young people,’ Philip says.

‘In the grand scheme of things, sport is the most important thing of the unimportant things, but this gives a real lift. It was really needed in the parish. Everyone is in such a good mood, excited.’

The looming All-Ireland final added an extra crackle in the festive air over Christmas, the lure of an extraordinary gift waiting to be unwrapped in January. Beating Leinster champs Davidstown-Courtnacuddy in the All-Ireland semi-final on December 20th meant Christmas was upon this Kilbrittain squad before they realised it.

It also meant a Christmas like none other. Training on St Stephen’s Day. Another session on New Year’s Day on Bishopstown’s 4G. Not the norm for club players. Contrast Philip’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2024 to the most recent one.

‘It was definitely quieter than last year when I was in Dingle!’ he laughs.

‘My girlfriend Clodagh is home from Australia so we went for a meal. So, it was a bit quieter this time.

‘New Year’s Eve comes around every year, but things like this don’t come around too often.’

Philip knows the memories made on this campaign will endure. Each of the eight games has been a step towards Croke Park this Saturday. And each game has its own story. Take step one: a local derby against Barryroe in Clonakilty on August 1st. Kilbrittain won a game they had drawn the previous year. This match sticks in Philip’s head because his grandmother passed away the week of the game.

Captain Philip Wall in action.

‘That’s what I think of from that game,’ he notes.

‘There was a storyline for each game – look at the county final against the Glen and we were in black jerseys. The last time we played the Glen in black jerseys we lost on penalties,’ Philip adds, and the county final date of October 17th was also the late Oisín Gillain’s 19th birthday.

The All-Ireland semi-final was one of Kilbrittain’s hardest – and most physical – games ever. Philip carried the scars of battle in the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery the day after, as his twin Kate picked up a West Cork Sports Star monthly award. He won’t forget that war, and how Kilbrittain stood up.

‘That was probably one of the toughest games any of us will ever play,’ he admits.

‘With the conditions as they were, maybe the quality wasn’t as high as we would have liked. They were really tough, in fairness. You are delighted to come through games like that, especially for the younger lads like Luke (Griffin) and Ronan (Crowley). Conor Hogan was brilliant, he really stepped up – and you might have been thinking that a pitch like that wouldn’t suit a speed merchant like him.’

The rise of the young guns suddenly means Philip, at just 26 years old, isn’t one anymore. His role has changed, but that’s the evolution a team needs – the new kid on the block in his first year of adult hurling in 2017 has matured into a leader. It suits him. He will need to lead again in Croke Park on Saturday.

‘We know that task gets harder and harder every time,’ he says.

‘The job is Easkey,’ he repeats. ‘They have won four Connachts in a row, six Sligos in a row – they have won a lot so this is not new to them.’

But the first from his clan to captain a team in GAA HQ is relishing the chance to cross the white line this time, having gleaned as much info as he can from those around him.

‘I remember Jamie saying it to me about scoring into the Davin End, and Podge (Collins) as well – about the first time you’ll shoot into that end. It’s the only GAA pitch in the country that has seats rather than a terrace. That’s something small, but all that helps,’ he says.

‘I was asking Kate what boots did she wear, and I’ll wear the same then. I know she says it’s not a big deal, but she has played there six times so she is well used to it!’

All it takes is a grain of rice to tip the scale, and Philip, like his team-mates, is primed to uncoil and go again one more time.