Peter Duggan and David Fitzgerald of Clare after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final between Clare and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
By Paul Keane
Monday afternoon on the Cooley Peninsula and Clare duo Peter Duggan and David Fitzgerald are soaked to the skin.
They've just completed the M Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada final circuit and, like the rest of the participants, have been well and truly battered by the elements. High winds, lashing rain and low visibility for much of the afternoon left even the mountain sheep scurrying for cover.
The Clare men are still smiling though and Duggan, who finished eighth in the final, and fellow All-Ireland winner Fitzgerald, who came 11th, get through plenty of hurley signings and selfies.
Then they agree to squeeze into a tiny marquee together to sit and chat about the competition, about the last few weeks in general and about the good life that follows an All-Ireland triumph.
The best part of that All-Ireland win on July 21, when they beat Cork after extra-time to claim the MacCarthy Cup for the first time since 2013?
"The relief at the final whistle," smiled Fitzgerald. "It's like, you've been training for this for so long. Peter was obviously involved in 2013 but that was my first time to experience it. So it was incredible."
Peter Duggan of Clare during the 2024 M. Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada Finals at Annaverna Mountain in the Cooley Peninsula, Ravensdale, Louth. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Fitzgerald is correct about Duggan being part of an elite crew of Clare players who also won in 2013 but for the Clooney-Quin man himself, it still felt unique.
"I started in 2012 so that would have been only my second year, I was 19 I suppose," said Duggan, who acknowledged that he thought it would be champagne and garlands every year after that.
"Oh yeah, convinced," he nodded.
So did Duggan savour the celebrations that bit more this time, 11 years later?
"Oh 100 percent," he said. "That was the one thing we all said, that whatever happens we'll embrace every single opportunity that comes out of this. You want to enjoy it and make sure that we've done whatever we possibly could to really make the most out of it."
Duggan struggles to identify the best moment or day of the celebrations so far.
"It was surreal really, everything we did for the week afterwards," said the 2018 Championship top scorer and All-Star. "Just going to the parishes, and you could ask any of the players, when you go to your own local parish it's chilling stuff.
"I remember when we pulled into Feakle, all the kids walked with us and as we were going along it was just pats on the back, everyone delighted, signing things, and it was the same everywhere we went.
"There's a few of us involved from Clooney-Quin and we walked up from the bottom of the village all the way up to the top and there was a big cheer when we got up to Malachy's Bar. There must have been a thousand people there, at 3 o'clock on a Friday. People just made the time to come out and visit us."
David Fitzgerald of Clare during the 2024 M. Donnelly GAA All-Ireland Poc Fada Finals at Annaverna Mountain in the Cooley Peninsula, Ravensdale, Louth. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
High performance athletes never truly switch off and Monday's trip to Annaverna Mountain came just 15 days after the All-Ireland win. This Saturday, both Duggan and Fitzgerald will return to club championship action. Duggan's Clooney-Quin are slated to play Shane O'Donnell's Eire Og Ennis at Cusack Park while Fitzgerald's Inagh-Kilnamona will face Scariff in Sixmilebridge.
Given how the summer panned out for Clare, there'll surely be increased interest in the club campaign and both Duggan and Fitzgerald will be ready to perform.
"You're never really off because if you take your mind off it, that's it, you'll fall down the pecking order fairly quickly so you never take your mind off it fully," said Duggan.
Fitzgerald agreed and said he's happy enough to be returning to the coalface of championship activity.
"You want to get back to a bit of reality," said the versatile midfielder. "Obviously it was unbelievable to enjoy the week, just going around to the clubs and stuff. That was brilliant for the fans and the kids but it's good to get back into the club scene now."
As for their efforts to be crowned king of the mountain, they both came up well short.
Duggan, third last year, needed 47 pucks to get around this year's course which was shortened due to the impact of the severe weather on the day. Fitzgerald required two more blows to make it around. Kerry defender Fionan Mackessy, meanwhile, walked away with the title for the second year in a row with just 40 pucks.
If they can, both will be back in 2025.
"The timing of it, we probably didn't get the best preparation in because of the All-Ireland but if we get called up to do it again I think we'll come up beforehand and go around ourselves and try to utilise the different hurleys, change up hurleys maybe," said Duggan. "A lot of the lads used Cultecs, so there are different things we could do to improve and to give us a better chance."
Fitzgerald, reminded that his namesake and former Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald, won the Poc Fada title twice, couldn't resist a dig.
"Duggan is still waiting on his first," smiled Fitzgerald, who got the response he anticipated.
"You're waiting too!" quipped Duggan.
For another year anyway.