As Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh made her way off the pitch, Kerry and Galway fans rose to their feet and the applause spread around Croke Park. She finally had her All-Ireland.
Widely regarded as one of the most gifted players in the history of the women’s game, the story of Ní Mhuircheartaigh’s career looked destined to be book ended by chapters on All-Ireland final heartbreak.
Having made her senior intercounty debut in 2008, the 33-year-old was running out of time to claim the game’s biggest prize. But at Croke Park on Sunday Kerry ended a 31-year wait for glory and Ní Mhuircheartaigh got the medal her talent has deserved.
And so with three minutes remaining of the All-Ireland final, Kerry joint managers Darragh Long and Declan Quill handed the instruction for Ní Mhuircheartaigh to be subbed. But she wasn’t being called ashore, she was being hailed ashore. Because the substitution had nothing to do with getting fresh legs on the pitch, the Kingdom led by 14 points at the time.
“I’ll always remember Geraldine O’Shea saying, if you can look up at the clock and there’s five minutes left and you’re home and hosed, that’s a beautiful place to be,” said Quill. “When we could take Louise off to get the standing ovation she so richly deserves after 16, 17 years playing with Kerry, I think that’s a really special thing to do.”
Ní Mhuircheartaigh had experienced the pain of losing finals in 2012, 2022 and 2023. She was voted Footballer of the Year last season but the four-time All Star has been chasing the Brendan Martin Cup her entire career.
“It means absolutely everything,” she said on the pitch afterwards. “This is what we have dreamed of for years and years. Just to do it finally after having heartbreak last year and the year before, what a group, what a crew, they are unreal.”
Unreal, indeed. Kerry dominated this All-Ireland final and from early on it was clear the county would be celebrating a first triumph since 1993. The defeats to Meath in 2022 and Dublin in 2023 almost derailed this Kerry project and as the group stood on the pitch watching Carla Rowe lift the silverware last August, Quill and Long felt their window of opportunity had closed.
“We were in the middle of the field looking up at Carla getting the cup and there was blue everywhere,” said Quill. “I remember we shook hands, and he (Darragh) said, ‘that’s it.’ And I said, ‘that’s it for me too.’
“He has kids at home, I have three kids at home as well. It is hard to keep everything going. We have put a lot on the back burner over the last number of years. Home life is important too. I think we shook hands with everyone in the management team and they all agreed that that was it for them as well.”
But the fire within couldn’t be quenched. They had come too close to walk away. Calls were made, players were sounded out, and it was agreed there would be one more charge for the summit.
Niamh Carmody was the captain leading that expedition this season, and she made history by raising the Brendan Martin Cup on Sunday.
“It’s a fantastic honour. After the blows of the last few years it was just phenomenal to get up those steps,” said Carmody. “It’s going to be the greatest day of my life – I’d say forever! It’s just fantastic. I can’t put it into words what it means for us.”
When Danielle O’Leary entered the press conference room she asked to borrow a phone to call her mam. Having spent the last two years enduring the pain of losing All-Ireland finals, the outpouring of emotion from the Kerry camp on Sunday was unmistakable.
“It is a dream come true,” said O’Leary. “Just pure relief as well at the final whistle. There are always doubts in your head. It’s such a dream of yours, you’ve been dreaming since you were eight years old, that it’s actually hard to believe that it has finally come true. I think it was just pure resilience, time and patience. Of course you have doubts from time to time but you’ve just got to believe at the end that you’ll get there.”
And when they did get there this group of Kerry players didn’t fall over the line, on their day of days they delivered a swashbuckling, bullish and commanding performance. They removed any doubt.
When Ní Mhuircheartaigh made it to the edge of the pitch she stood for a moment in a tight embrace with Quill and Long. The game was still on, but the job had been done.
“Every box is ticked, so we won’t be coming back next year,” smiled Long. “We’ve said it from the get-go, this isn’t a panel of players, this is a family, that’s what we’ve built over five years.”
In the end they all got their All-Ireland.
