The Rebel star lifts the lid on his inter-county retirement, paying a glowing tribute to former boss Pat Ryan while reflecting on his final days in red.

Seamus Harnedy insists he would have retired from intercounty hurling four years earlier - only for Pat Ryan.

Former Cork boss Ryan quit at the end of the 2025 campaign and was subjected to severe criticism following the Rebels’ second-half meltdown in that year’s All-Ireland final.

But players - notably Pat Horgan - have come out to express huge support for Ryan. And Harnedy, who announced his retirement earlier this month, endorsed that sentiment.

The 35-year-old said: “After this year’s Galway game, I knew that was it. I brought my seven-month-old son onto the pitch that day.

"Anyone who knows me knows I try to stay out of the limelight as much as possible, but I wanted to bring him onto the pitch. He probably won’t remember it, but it was a nice moment to share with him.

“I probably knew straight after the final whistle that it would be my last time playing for Cork.

“I’ll certainly miss it. The lads are very close and, having reached the finals in 2024 and 2025, last year’s semi-final defeat was disappointing. There’s a serious squad there, which makes it even harder to step away.

“But I was never one to hang around if I wasn’t contributing value to a squad. There were a lot of factors to consider, but I knew pretty soon after the Galway game that my time was up.”

And only for Ryan coming in as boss in 2023 - he would have stepped away before now.

Harnedy said: “Pat has helped me enormously throughout my career. Going back to 2017, we had a terrible time in 2016. It was probably the lowest point of my inter-county career. That campaign was incredibly tough and harrowing, and the results speak for themselves.

“In 2017, Kieran (Kingston) brought Pat in as his coach and you could see straight away how important he was. When he came back as manager in 2023, that was hugely influential too. I was going to step away after 2022, and the County Board’s decision to appoint Pat as manager was a major factor in my decision to continue.

“Those were two pivotal moments in my career: 2017 and 2023. We won Munster in 2017 and Pat’s coaching, working alongside Kieran Kingston, was hugely important.

“He’s a wonderful mentor and a wonderful person. Patrick Horgan has spoken about how Pat put Cork before himself during a difficult year a couple of years ago. Some of the leaders in the group thought we were going to lose him, but he stayed with us. We won the Munster Championship as well as the League that year.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Pat Ryan. He’s a brilliant coach who sees the game differently to most people. He’s also an incredibly nice, genuine man who was very important to me throughout my career.”

Now at 35 he knows it is time to go after featuring sporadically under Ryan’s successor - Ben O’Connor in 2026.

Harnedy said: “I’ve been very lucky throughout my career. I wouldn’t be selfish about minutes on the pitch, but last year was a tough time personally and I probably didn’t play as much as I thought I could.

“That’s part and parcel of sport. New management teams come in and have tough decisions to make. I know I’m older now, and that probably feeds into their thinking to some extent.

“But I’d never be selfish if I thought I was contributing in training, working hard enough, adding value and helping younger lads. I’d be very selfless in that regard.

“Last year, I travelled up in the car with Diarmuid Healy and Barry Walsh for most of the year. They were two lads in a similar position to me, and I’d do anything for them to try to make them one per cent better.

“It wasn’t about me. I would have been the happiest man in the room if we’d got over the line last year, but it wasn’t to be.

“I leave with no regrets, although not getting over the line is probably one regret. You can’t control every outcome. You’re one of 30 or 36 lads training hard every night.

“It probably formed part of my decision, but there were a lot of factors to consider before making the final call.

“I leave with no regrets - well, actually maybe one - that we didn’t get across the line and win (the Liam MacCarthy). But I had a great time.”