By Daragh 脫 Conch煤ir Irishexaminer.com
Last December, Truagh Clonlara were the first Clare team to reach an All-Ireland senior club final and while Sarsfields were too strong, it was an invaluable experience for 脕ine O鈥橪oughlin, R贸is铆n Begley and Michelle Powell in the context of today鈥檚 outing.
Clare Hehir鈥檚 memories are from further back. Thirteen years ago.
鈥淢yself and Andrea O鈥橩eefe would have played in a F茅ile final there when we were 14,鈥 Hehir reveals. 鈥淲e played De La Salle of Waterford. So it鈥檚 funny to be meeting them again.鈥
She doesn鈥檛 recall a whole lot from it, but remembers a little redhead named Beth Carton, who she is likely to encounter at close quarters again at HQ later on today. Brianna O鈥橰egan would probably have been involved too.
Funny indeed, the way the big wheel keeps on turnin鈥.
There remains an acknowledgement of what it means to play in the country鈥檚 premier stadium, with all its history and tradition. And to do so on TV, as part of a double-header with an All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Cork and Dublin, even if it means tickets are scarce.
And the importance of managing that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like no one has ever kind of touched the grass there before and that鈥檚 a help. At the end of the day, it鈥檚 the same as any other field in terms of dimensions, but it does hold that special place. So it鈥檚 just about not letting the occasion get to you, as much as you do want to enjoy it as well, because not everyone gets to play there. You definitely want to enjoy it.鈥
The D茅ise are favourites, regulars in the knockout stages now, while John Carmody started a major rebuild in Clare last season that involved introducing almost a full panel of youngsters.
Hehir is the longest serving member of the squad along with O鈥橪oughlin, she reckons, having been introduced to the squad in 2015.
Apart from Hehir and O鈥橪oughlin, Ciara Grogan is the only other survivor from the 20 that got on the pitch during Clare鈥檚 last quarter-final, against Cork in 2020.
Having been relegated from Division 1A of the Very League last year 鈥 when Hehir was absent travelling – Clare reached this year鈥檚 1B final, which they lost to Antrim.
Getting to the last six of the Championship is another indication of their gradual improvement.
鈥淭he League was good, a lot of girls got a lot of game time. You鈥檙e facing into competitive matches every week, which is good. And you can see the experience from last year. Two championship wins was great. You saw a lot of girls stepping up to the plate who would be leaders on the team this year.
鈥淚 think there was a lot of learnings from the League final. There would have been a lot of us who wouldn鈥檛 make finals too often with Clare camogie. And I think maybe that occasion might have got to us, or we didn鈥檛 turn up on the day. So that鈥檚 something that we definitely want to rectify and we want to put in a good performance.鈥
The 27-year-old is a bit envious of the neophytes.
鈥淵ou look back on your first years on the panel, you鈥檙e kind of so young 鈥 I don鈥檛 know was it na茂ve 鈥 but you鈥檙e just taking it game by game. But when you鈥檙e playing a few years, you nearly think about it too much! Sometimes you鈥檇 want to go back to those days where you鈥檙e playing for the fun of it. So you try and remind yourself that while you鈥檙e there to play and to win, you want to enjoy it too. And we鈥檙e trying to do that now, because you鈥檙e not going to be there forever.鈥
Watching the Inagh-Kilnamona stalwart play, you don鈥檛 get the impression that she is short on joie de vivre. She may be full-back more often than not, tasked with shackling the opposition sharpshooter, but the swashbuckler comes out every now and then and she tears up the field to grab a score.
鈥淚n the last few years I鈥檝e just kind of had it as part of my game. I don鈥檛 know, maybe I do it too much these days, but if it鈥檚 on, it鈥檚 something I like to do. As long as the legs can keep moving forward. Tracking back afterwards is different!鈥
Hehir鈥檚 long-distance freetaking is a huge advantage also and overall, it adds to a package that has produced player of the match performances go leoir over the years, including in the vital first round Championship win over Wexford, that set them up to qualify for the last six.
Much and all as she gets a great kick from landing a bomb, or supplying a decent ball to a forward, it is the challenge of going toe-to-toe with the elite of the sport that really gets the juices flowing.
鈥淒efinitely. We pride ourselves on playing from the front, going out and attacking the game, as opposed to sitting back and kind of letting the forwards dictate the play. So as much as we can do that, we like to take on that challenge.鈥
That speaks to an environment of proactiveness, positivity and empowerment, which is a credit to Carmody. Sometimes it will go wrong, but the philosophy of not playing with fear has been at the root of the Clare resurgence.
The draw gave them a chance of getting this far but no one would have said with any firm degree of confidence that it would be Clare over Limerick or Wexford to emerge. That they took care of business, albeit on score difference over their Shannonside neighbours, was significant.
Now Waterford stand in their way of an All-Ireland semi-final.
鈥淚t鈥檚 probably a few years since I鈥檝e played Waterford myself. We would have only watched on at their success over the last few years, getting to an All-Ireland final (in 2023). They really kind of pushed on and drove those standards, which is something that we can say we admire, but we definitely won鈥檛 be sitting back and admiring them come Saturday.
鈥淭heir improvement over the last few years is something that we would obviously have liked to have done ourselves, but I suppose this could be the day to start that.”