It was all a bit "surreal" for Brian Barry-Murphy's after his Cardiff City side gained promotion the Championship on Saturday last.
A 3-1 victory at Reading for the Bluebirds ensured their elevation and with it a notable feather in the cap in the management career of the Cork native.
Brian Barry-Murphy says his 'Corkness' instilled a winning attitude from a young age.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 23, 2026
The manger was speaking to @mariecrowerte on @rteradio1’s Inside Sport after guiding Cardiff City to promotion🎙️📻 ‘I almost felt that when I played soccer it was a chance for me to go under… pic.twitter.com/UbvVD2tjJP
After spells as Rochdale boss and then working with the Manchester City U-21s and academy, Barry-Murphy has achieved instant success in his first season at the helm of the Welsh club.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Inside Sport, it has been a case of taking a lot in in the last week for the coach.
"When you're anticipating something happening you're never quite sure it is going to happen, and then when it actually does happen it felt a bit surreal in the moment last Saturday," he said.
"It has been a pretty indescribable few days.
"The players enjoyed themselves on Saturday and Sunday, some maybe on Monday. We had a game on Wednesday so that was a healthy distraction for us. The more experience you get the more awareness you have that these moments don't come around to often, so you have to appreciate and stay in the moment for as long as possible.
"I'm blessed with an incredible team and some brilliant players which makes me look good more often than not. I feel very lucky and genuinely lucky to be at such a great club.
"It is stressful at times. You know there are no guarantees in sport, so there is an element of stress and anxiety at the end of the season.
"For me in a strange sort of way, the game last night (against Port Vale) was healthy for me."
Mention Cork and the name Barry-Murphy. And you get Jimmy. A folk hero on Leeside and has All-Ireland football and hurling medals to illustrate that. And then as a manager he guided Cork to a somewhat unlikely Liam MaCarthy triumph. We can't forget that Jimmy was also a handy soccer player.
His son also went down the GAA route but ultimately concentrated on one code and headed for a professional career in the UK in 2000, a move that gave him a kind of anonymity that would not be the case, he felt, on home soil.
"I always felt I was pretty good at hurling, and not as good at Gaelic football or soccer. I had some relative success in soccer and that's what influenced me to go down that path. I was 15 or 16 and you had to pick one or the other," he remarked.
"There was always an expectation I was going to play hurling because of my father and I loved everything to do with Cork hurling and Cork football. I always felt when I played soccer it was a chance for me to go a little under radar and do my own things. That manifested itself when I came to England, I was very much an unknown. Then people would find out about Jimmy and you're back into hurling talk."
Barry-Murphy went on to add that a career in management was something he "fell into by chance" and that "once I fell into it I found I had a real passion for it.
His playing career ended at the age of 30, so allowing him to embark earlier than most on the next phase: coaching, where credited the influence of Pep Guardiola.
"I got a chance to work with the biggest team in world football, the greatest coach that ever coached. And how much help he gave me. He was extraordinary in terms of much involvement he gave me, even when I left. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today. I could not thank him any more."
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