Her comeback was delayed by pregnancy but Briege Corkery has always longed for a return to Cork and Camogie.
The 17-time All-Ireland winner came off the bench for Cork’s semi-final win over Tipperary earlier this month – following the birth of her newborn son Tadhg in March – and she will now have a chance to tie Rena Buckley’s all-time record of 18 All-Ireland medals should the Rebels defend their All-Ireland title against Kilkenny next month.
A late Julia White point was the difference between the two sides in last year’s final and Cork captain Aoife Murray has said that Corkery’s return to the panel has given everyone a lift heading into another meeting with the Cats in September.
“She came back and we all had a smile on our faces because she probably did something funny on her way back to the dressing room,” said Murray.
“For every one of us there, when she sounded out that she was going to come back, I don’t even think most people got to the end of the sentence and they were smiling.
“She has 17 All-Ireland’s. If we ever held a grudge about her coming back I don’t think it would say a lot about us as fans of the sport and how much we respect her as a teammate.
“She has come back and made us laugh more than we have in a long time. A lot of us have been going for a long time and sometimes it just comes down to enjoyment. You never know what might happen tomorrow so why not make the most of it today.
“Seeing a young mum come back just shows that it’s doable.”
Murray and her teammates were holidaying in Malaga when Corkery’s son Tadhg was born and she believes it was good for her longtime teammate to take a break from the game.
The 31-year-old has been a frequent traveller over the past few seasons and has managed to find the time to holiday while winning All-Ireland’s, but Murray, who is a clubmate of Corkery’s at Cloughduv and St. Val’s, said her desire to play is so strong that it can at times defy logic and sense.
“Briege could train four times for you and milk 500 cows,” added Murray.
“I remember going to the garage one night because she had broken her wrist. We were playing in a Munster club final, our first time ever getting to a Munster club final, and she was trying to get an angle grinder to cut her plaster off.
“I refused to drop her home. I said I’m not going to be responsible. She would look at you as if to say ‘why not?’.
“There’s a lot of medical reasons why not but it’s great to have her back, even for the older one’s.
“She’s on the older side of 30 and it helps a few of us. Losing Rena on that front it’s been nice to have Briege back in to, not step into that area, but to see someone that has 17 All-Ireland’s work so hard, really hard, sometimes you can be going along in life on a straight line and to have Tadhg in her life is a welcome distraction.”
While some of Cork’s seasoned campaigners are bringing new kids into the world Kilkenny captain Shelley Farrell can clearly remember being one of many young Kilkenny girls sitting in the Hogan Stand watching the Cats on All-Ireland final day.
She was about 12 or 13 when she first thought that she could play in the game instead of watch and after succeeding her sister Anna for the captaincy this year she says that her side are spurred on by last year’s defeat.
“There was huge disappointment when the final whistle went last year,” said Farrell.
“After winning the year before there was huge excitement but when we came into the dressing room there was no one talking. We couldn’t talk to each other. We were all just so disappointed and so upset.
“I literally don’t know how [Julia] she scored the point. There was three girls around her. It was great skill to come on and score that point. We didn’t get a great start and we only came into it in the second-half.
“I think with the loss last year it brought us all closer together. With the win there was a few new girls that came on the panel and everyone gelled so well together it was great to see it.
“It’s been a very long year to get back here, people don’t understand how hard it’s been, but it would be great to do it for the people of Kilkenny because they’ve been so great for us.”
Kilkenny will play Cork in a replay of last year’s final on September 9 while Down will play Cork in the intermediate final with Dublin and Kerry set to play off in the junior final in what should be a great triple header at Croke Park.
For more information visit www.camogie.ie.
