by Daragh Ó Conchúir

“This was undoubtedly the most special yet,” said a beaming Niamh McGrath. McGrath is a highly decorated player with multiple All-Irelands for both club and county, so the words carry weight.

Perhaps the hint was in the ten-month-old bundle in her arms that goes by the name of Ruadhán. Resplendent in a tiny Sarsfields geansaí, McGrath’s son was attending his second All-Ireland final.

His mother was still expecting him 12 months ago and her absence from the field in terms of general play and leadership was keenly felt as the Galway queenpins lost their title to Dicksboro.

Her baby boy is obviously the apple of her eye but she was heavily motivated to be back in the thick of it, as quickly as possible.

Under two months, the manager, her father, Michael – or ‘Hopper’ as you might know him – related afterwards.

Anyway, what made it so special was not her own personal absence last year. No. It was all about the collective.

“It was just losing,” the midfield powerhouse explained. “You want to come back from that. It’s great to be here and it was awful watching it though obviously I had a very good reason, but losing hurt and we all wanted to be back. It really drove us on.

And she was imperious in helping to make that happen, scoring six points, including some outstanding efforts from prodigious distances from play. Her striking was so crisp and pure and wherever the sliotar went, she seemed to be there. The player-of-the-match gong was merited.

Meanwhile, as we have become accustomed to, in green of Sarsfields and maroon of Galway, her younger sister Siobhán was doing damage, scoring another All-Ireland final goal to mark the beginning of the end of Truagh/Clonlara’s aspirations.

That came in the 21st minute and Siobhán had three points on the board from play within the first ten.

It meant a 50 per cent return from an eighth All-Ireland final appearance in nine seasons, a coveted fourth All-Ireland title.

“This year, after last year, was really, really special. There was a lot of talk that maybe we were an aging and a tired team, and to be fair, there was. But the oldest girl on that team is Niamh at 31 and you see how she played.

“She’s a fitness fanatic. She was back hurling at seven and a half weeks after having the baby. Mighty.

“The experience counts but you look at Dicksboro came from nowhere last year and won the All-Ireland. It can often be on the day but our girls were very hungry for this.

“We won our first senior county championship in October ’16 but they’re very self-motivated. There’s a different carrot in front of them every year, they treat every year as a new year but they’re a special bunch.

“Since camogie went 15-a-side in the mid-90s, we’re the first team to win four All-Irelands. Millford, Oulart-The Ballagh, Slaughtneil and Granagh-Ballingarry all won three so it’s nice to say that. For a small parish. We’ve won five All-Ireland semi-finals by a point. They’ve dug many games out. They’re a great bunch.”

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