by Daragh Ó Conchúir

There may be a perception that Waterford have the advantage of more familiarity with Croke Park than Clare, ahead of today’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland quarter-final (2.30pm, live on RTÉ 2), but enough of the Banner crew have played at the Broadway of Gaelic games for it not to be an issue.

Sinéad O’Keeffe, Niamh Mulqueen, Caoimhe Cahill, Jennifer Daly, Ellen Casey, Cliodhna Queally and Grace Carmody were among those to be involved when the juniors won the All-Ireland just two years ago.

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 Áine O’Loughlin, Róisín Begley and Michelle Powell in the context of today’s outing.

Clare Hehir’s memories are from further back. Thirteen years ago.

“Myself and Andrea O’Keefe would have played in a Féile final there when we were 14,” Hehir reveals. “We played De La Salle of Waterford. So it’s funny to be meeting them again.”

She doesn’t 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’Regan would probably have been involved too.

Funny indeed, the way the big wheel keeps on turnin’.

While there isn’t the big unknown people might think, there remains an acknowledgement of what it means to play in the country’s 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 down the south west.

And the importance of managing that.

“It’s not like no one has ever kind of touched the grass there before and that’s a help. At the end of the day, it’s the same as any other field in terms of dimensions, but it does hold that special place. So it’s 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.”

The Déise are favourites, regulars in the knockout stages now for a number of years, 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’Loughlin she reckons, with a decade served at senior level in the saffron and blue having been introduced to the squad in 2015.

Clare’s last quarter-final, against Cork in 2020, took place at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Apart from Hehir and O’Loughlin, Ciara Grogan is the only other survivor from the 20 that got on the pitch during that game in today’s squad.

Having been relegated from Division 1A of the Very League last year – when Hehir was absent after taking a year out to go travelling - Clare showed the benefit of that steep learning curve and the return of their defensive bedrock by reaching this year’s 1B final, which they lost to Antrim.

Getting to the last six of the Championship is another indication of their gradual improvement.

“The League was good, a lot of girls got a lot of game time. You’re 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.

“I think there was a lot of learnings from the League final. There would have been a lot of us who wouldn’t make finals too often with Clare camogie. And I think maybe that occasion might have got to us, or we didn’t turn up on the day. So that’s something that we definitely want to rectify and we want to put in a good performance.”

The 27-year-old is a bit envious of the neophytes.

“You look back on your first years on the panel, you’re kind of so young – I don’t know was it naïve – but you’re just taking it game by game. But when you’re playing a few years, you nearly think about it too much! Sometimes you’d want to go back to those days where you’re playing for the fun of it. So you try and remind yourself that while you’re there to play and to win, you want to enjoy it too. And we’re trying to do that now, because you’re not going to be there forever.”

Watching the Inagh-Kilnamona stalwart play, you don’t 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.

“In the last few years I’ve just kind of had it as part of my game. I don’t know, maybe I do it too much these days, but if it’s on, it’s something I like to do. As long as the legs can keep moving forward. Tracking back afterwards is different!”

Hehir’s 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.

“Definitely. 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.”

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.

“It’s probably a few years since I’ve 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’t be sitting back and admiring them come Saturday.

“Their 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.

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