Club Walsh experienced much success as a
dual player while playing his club hurling with
St Catherine's and his club football with
Kildorrery. He first experienced victory with St Catherine's in 1983 when the club won an Imokilly divisional title. St Catherine's later represented the division in the county championship and defeated
Aghabullogue, giving Walsh a
county junior championship winners' medal. In 1984, Walsh was a key member of the
Imolkilly divisional football team that competed in the senior county championship.
St Finbarr's provided the opposition; however, Imokilly proved too strong and won the game by 1–14 to 2–7. Not only was it Imokilly's first major triumph at senior level but the victory also gave Walsh a
county senior championship title. Two years later, in 1986, Imokilly faced St Finbarr's again in the county final. After a tense game, Imokilly defeated 'the Barrs' by a solitary point, giving Walsh a second county winners' medal in three years. After a drought of success, 1994 proved to be a bumper year for Walsh at the club level. He won a North Cork junior 'A' football title with Kildorrery, before lining out with St Catherine's in the intermediate hurling county final.
Cloughduv provided the opposition; however, Walsh ended up on the winning side with a 3–12 to 2–11 score line. In the twilight of his club career, Walsh experienced success one final time in 2004. St Catherine's reached the final of the premier intermediate championship.
Courcey Rovers provided the opposition; however, St Catherine's won the day with a 1–11 to 1–8 score line. It was Walsh's second winners' medal in that grade and, with that, he retired from club hurling.
Minor and under-21 Walsh first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a footballer at underage levels for
Cork. He won a
Munster MFC medal in 1983 following a 1–11 to 1–15 defeat of
Tipperary. Walsh, however, didn't play in the subsequent All-Ireland final, a game which saw
Derry emerge victorious by just two points. Walsh later joined the Cork under-21 team. 1985 saw him add a
Munster U21FC medal to his collection following an eleven-point trouncing of
Clare in the provincial final. The subsequent
All-Ireland U21FC final saw Walsh play at corner-back against Derry. 'The Rebels' avenged their defeat at minor level two years previously by beating Derry by 0–14 to 1–18. It was Walsh's first All-Ireland winners' medal in the under-21 grade. In 1986, the Cork under-21 footballers continued their provincial dominance. A narrow 0–8 to 0–7 win over Tipperary gave Walsh his second Munster U21FC winners' medal. He later played in a second successive All-Ireland U21FC final with
Offaly providing the opposition. The game was a one-sided affair as the Cork team were the easy winners on a score line of 3–16 to 0–12. It was Walsh's second consecutive All-Ireland U21FC medal, and his last outing in that grade.
Senior By this stage, Walsh's hurling skills had been noticed by the Cork senior
selectors. Cork retained their provincial dominance in 1986 as the county captured a fifth
Munster SFC title in a row. It was Walsh's first Munster SFC winners' medal. Following an unconvincing display by Cork against
Antrim, he lined out in the
All-Ireland SHC final against
Galway. The men from the west were the red-hot favourites against an ageing Cork team; however, on the day, a different story unfolded. Four Cork goals, one from
John Fenton, two from
Tomás Mulcahy and one from
Kevin Hennessy, stymied the Galway attack and helped 'the Rebels' to a 4–13 to 2–15 victory. It was Walsh's first All-Ireland SHC winners' medal. In 1987, Walsh was a firm fixture on both the Cork senior hurling and football teams. The hurlers surrendered their provincial and All-Ireland SHC titles to
Tipperary; however, the footballers were just embarking on a run of success. After a draw and a replay, the Rebels broke
Kerry's stranglehold on provincial football with a 0–13 to 1–5 victory. It was Walsh's first
Munster SFC title. The subsequent
All-Ireland SFC final saw Cork play
Meath for the first time in twenty years. Cork gained an early lead; however, it was Meath who led by a point at half-time. The second half saw
Larry Tompkins kick six of his eight frees wide, resulting in a 1–14 to 0–11 defeat for Cork. 1988 saw Walsh collect a second Munster SFC title with a narrow 1–14 to 0–16 win over arch-rivals Kerry. Cork later qualified for a second consecutive All-Ireland SFC final with Meath again providing the opposition. After three minutes,
Teddy McCarthy scored the only goal of five consecutive All-Ireland final appearances for Cork. Meath fought back and secured a 0–12 to 1–9 draw. Walsh, who was substituted in the drawn game, was not a member of the starting fifteen for the
replay. That game proved to be a tough, controversial affair with Meath reduced to fourteen men after
Gerry McEntee was sent off. Despite being outnumbered, Meath won the game by 0–13 to 0–12. 1989 saw Walsh winning a third consecutive Munster SFC medal following another win over Kerry. The subsequent All-Ireland SFC final saw Walsh dropped from the team again as
Mayo played Cork in a unique pairing. Cork were on top for much of the game; however, a goal by substitute
Anthony Finnerty gave Mayo a brief lead. Cork held on to win the game by 0–17 to 1–11. 1990 proved to be a memorable year for Walsh and for Cork. A key member of the senior hurling team, he won a third Munster SHC winners' medal following a great victory over Tipperary, the reigning All-Ireland champions. Not long after this, Walsh was playing in the Munster SFC final. For the fourth year in-a-row Cork were the masters of the province as they trounced Kerry by 2–23 to 1–11. The subsequent All-Ireland SHC final paired Cork with Galway for the second time in four years. Galway were once again the bookies' favourites and justified this tag by going seven points ahead at the interval. Cork fought back with an expert display by Tomás Mulcahy and went on to win a high-scoring and open game of hurling by 5–15 to 2–12. It was Walsh's second All-Ireland SHC medal. Two weeks after this victory, Walsh was back in
Croke Park as a member of the Cork football panel that were playing in the All-Ireland SFC final. Old rivals Meath were the opponents on this occasion as the two sides met for the third time in four years. Walsh, however, played no part in the game as the fourteen men of Cork won the game by 0–11 to 0–9. Disappointingly for Walsh, he was not eligible for an All-Ireland SFC medal, even as a substitute. He left the Cork inter-county football team following this. In 1991, Cork surrendered their provincial hurling crown to Tipperary; however, the following year brought further success for Walsh. The provincial final saw 'the Rebels' defeat
Limerick by 1–22 to 3–11, giving Walsh a fourth provincial winners' medal, his fifth in all. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland SHC final, where
Kilkenny provided the opposition. 'The Cats' played against a strong wind in the first half and were only two points down at the interval thanks to a goal by
D. J. Carey. Further goals by
John Power and
Michael Phelan gave Kilkenny a 3–10 to 1–12 victory. In 1993, Walsh added to his already impressive medal tally as he collected a
National Hurling League title following a three-game saga with
Wexford. Success in the championship eluded him. That same year, Walsh was also a key member of the Cork junior football panel. He picked up a
Munster JFC title, before lining out in the
All-Ireland JFC decider. Mayo provided the opposition; Cork, however, had a relatively comfortable 0–15 to 0–7 victory. This was Walsh's last major outing on the inter-county scene. He retired from inter-county hurling in 1996.
Inter-provincial Walsh also lined out with
Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He won his sole
Railway Cup medal in 1992 when Munster defeated
Ulster by 3–12 to 1–8. ==Managerial career==