Focus on James Stephens: Keith Duggan talks to manager Adrian Finan about the club's success and how some of his players are following in the footsteps of their fathers.

For those protesting against the expansive scholarship programme which has powered UCD's impressive advance to the Leinster club hurling final, defending champions James Stephens offer a perfect example of the traditional parish club.

UCD are understandably dismayed their successful run has been overshadowed by the diverse make-up of their team, which flies in the face of the accepted notions of what constitutes the GAA club, with its coda of locality, traditional and family bloodlines.

The Kilkenny city club has all those qualities in abundance but the controversy surrounding the rise and rise of UCD is not a subject that interests them right now. For the second year in a row, James Stephens face UCD in the provincial showdown and that is their chief concern. "I think that whole debate is for another forum and another day," says James Stephens manager Adrian Finan.

"To be honest, it's not something we would even use our energy on thinking about. It would be foolhardy. But I will say is I know there are excellent hurling men in UCD like Dave Billings and Tony Woodcock doing a lot of fine work for the game there. And after we beat them last year, we would have had a lot of texts and messages of goodwill from Davy and others involved in that team wishing us well and giving us advice in our semi-final and final."

Finan is one of those GAA people who exert immense influence on his locality through quietly persistent trojan work. Although a Thomastown native, his teaching post in St Kieran's and the reputation he developed there as a hurling coach led to an invitation to coach James Stephens. The "Village" club and the famous hurling nursery are bound by Patrick Street to the same parish and while there has always been a strong connection between the school and club, the same family names echo through generations of Village teams.

Founded in 1887, it took several decades for the club to make an impact on the county championship, in 1934, when they bought green and red jerseys from Erin's Own at the price of 30 shillings for the final.

The club has had its shining years but such is the intense nature of the Kilkenny championship that back-to-back local championships are rare feats. By the time they won the All-Ireland final against Athenry on St Patrick's Day last March, the perilous nature of their local games were almost forgotten. But they fired two goals in the last three minutes to overturn a five-point lead against O'Loughlin Gaels.

And they faced a familiar and threatening situation in the county final against Gowran when DJ Carey, in vintage form and just after landing a penalty, squared up to bury a 21-yard free with his team two points down and time almost up. Carey's delivery was vicious but high and the Village survived. To some, it was a sign they were fated, to the less charitable, it was proof of a lucky championship.

"I mean, there is no question, when DJ had the penalty, it was out of our hands," remembers Finan. "And the whole All-Ireland championship run might never have happened. We did get a few lucky breaks last year. Maybe things even themselves out because James Stephens went home empty-handed many years as well.

"And I think that's what was so satisfying for us about retaining the Kilkenny championship this year. Our form was very solid and consistent throughout and there were no last-minute dramatics. Even in the final against Ballyhale, who a lot of people rightly fancied, that stood to us. And we were also conscious of trying to achieve a back-to-back title, which no Kilkenny club had managed since that great Shamrocks team back in the 1980s. So the manner of it was very pleasing."

The Village did return to the high-wire acts in the early stages of the Leinster campaign, leaving themselves alarmingly little time to recover a three-point deficit against Carlow champions Naomh Eoin.

Like all prodigious club teams, they have had an extraordinarily long season. After last year's All-Ireland triumph, Finan decided it was wisest to take a full month off, except for the club's county representatives, who reported for league duty. The league system that forms the early part of the Kilkenny club championship suited the Village and by the time the knock-out stages arrived, they were fresh and animated once more.

And despite their pedestrian route through Leinster, there is the sense the re-emergence of UCD will hasten the return of their A game. When the teams met last year, the match was ruled by a strong gale which helped the Village to a 1-10 to 0-3 lead at the break.

"But I remember saying at half-time that UCD had hit something like 10 wides against the wind and we had only three. So we were prepared for the comeback. The alarming thing was they just whittled it away in a matter of minutes and it was a real case of digging in and then Dave McCormack landed a wonderful score for us. But the fortitude we showed in that game really brought us along and stood to us when in winning the All-Ireland.

"This year, our team has changed very little really. Paddy O'Brien is probably playing more at midfield. And I suppose there is the fact that you do develop a certain confidence from winning games and you keep learning as you go along. It's such at thin line - a point last year against UCD - that every game is different."

Significantly, a number of the present Village team have emulated the deeds of their fathers in achieving back-to-back Kilkenny successes. Donnacha Cody's father Brian was centre-half on the illustrious 1975/'76 James Stephens team that went on to claim the All-Ireland championship against Blackrock of Cork. Phil Larkin's father Fan was captain and full back that year on a team that had featured the McCormack name along with those of Crotty, Tyrell and Morrissey. They were stopped on the brink of a second consecutive provincial success against Camross of Laois in the winter of 1976.

"It is a fantastic thing to think of all these guys hurling now and trying to replicate what their fathers did almost 30 years ago. I suppose it is a major feature of an old club like James Stephens that you do have generations of families playing. But that so many of the same names are hurling with such distinction for the club does reinforce the sense that there is a cyclical nature to all sport but to the club scene in particular."

James Stephens have only won the Kilkenny championship eight times (1935, '37, '69, '75, '76, '81, 2004, '05) but managed to land three All-Ireland titles from those chances. Brian Cody was captain when they were successful again in 1982, a title that was somehow achieved despite Ballyhale having reigned supreme the year before. Liam "Chunky" O'Brien had retired before that success but he remains one of the most decorated Village players ever.

Current captain Peter Barry has also collected a formidable range of honours over his long career and the blooming of James Stephens into an All-Ireland calibre team has added to his honours. Barry's fortunes were mixed last year, his St Patrick's Day joy contrasting to the tough days he weathered with Kilkenny last summer. Not for the first time in his life, Barry featured prominently in the criticism after a disappointing year for Kilkenny. That James Stephens are still hurling in late November is the perfect response.

"I can't remember how many leading performances we have had from Peter over the years," Finan says. "After the club All-Ireland last year, Peter went back to Kilkenny and he got a nasty injury against Wexford - a complete accident but it still knocked him back. And people forgot about the fact that that curtailed his training. And when Kilkenny had a bad day, people said Peter Barry was getting two old for it or this or that. But Peter has given such outstanding service to Kilkenny over the years and he has comeback to the club and now that he is fully fit, he is hurling 100 per cent again and he remains a huge figure for us."

Village fans will be hoping Barry's habit of lifting silverware stays with him for another few months. After a sobering year for Kilkenny hurling, another winter march by James Stephens might be a welcome tonic for the entire county?

"Well," says Finan delicately. "I hope so. In fairness, Kilkenny people love their hurling. And I suppose the nature of the local championship, where we would be seen as a big city club going up against country teams means there is an intense rivalry. And it would be naïve to think that somebody won't be unhappy that we are still about. I do think a lot of Kilkenny hurling people will be behind us and the atmosphere around the city has been amazing in the past few weeks. As long as we can keep it going, we'll be happy."