Truagh Clonlara's Begley excited about Croke Park appearance

By Cian O’Connell

“To be honest, the Clonlara hurlers always say they've looked at us, how we've carried ourselves because we've had more finals than they've had in recent years,” Róisín Begley explains about Truagh Clonlara’s journey to Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Camogie final against Sarsfields at Croke Park.

During the past decade, Truagh Clonlara have dealt with defeats and significant injury setbacks, including five players suffering ACL tears last year. The constant, though, has been Truagh Clonlara’s passion and refusal to wilt. “In Clonlara, everyone is absolutely stone mad for hurling and camogie,” she adds.

“You'd go down in the summertime with two pitches there, it is absolutely thronged with kids, teams, players. You can barely get a slot in the summer to have a few shots because every goal is always being used. So, it is absolutely central to our community.”

Sport simply matters. “Kids go to the pitch to meet their friends, parents go to meet other parents,” Begley adds. “It is where people socialise. We've a good bond between the Clonlara team and the camogie team. We had John Conlon coaching us for years, he brought us to another level, too.

“This year we've other senior hurlers doing the water for us every day at all of the matches. Everyone gets behind the camogie players and we all get behind the hurlers too. It isn't something you get in every place, and it is really, really special.”

The upcoming national decider in Dublin has captured the imagination. “It is excitement that we've never experienced before,” Begley acknowledges. “It is an absolute dream come true, to be able to go to Croke Park with a club team. So, it is amazing and we're so looking forward to it.”

In 2024, there has been drama and draws along the way. “We don't make things easy for ourselves,” Begley laughs. “Before we got out of Clare, we had extra-time in our semi-final against Scariff-Ogonnelloe, who we would have played in the previous three finals. So, we're well used to going to extra-time, replays, things like that.

“We had a really tough match against Clonoulty in the Munster semi-final, that was at home. We were delighted to come out of that because we had been beaten by Sarsfields of Cork the previous year. We were delighted to make a Munster final, and once we got there, Gaultier were a really, really strong and good team.

“Obviously, it took two days, and extra-time and extra-extra time, with it eventually being decided on 45s. It has been absolutely manic, I'm not used to playing camogie at this time of the year, but it is a dream come true, really.”

Training and preparing for matches in December with Christmas edging closer brings a different challenge, but Begley wants to embrace this stint. “It is all about soaking it in on the lead up to Croke Park,” she says.

“We'll just take it in our stride, try to perform the best we can. It is all new territory for us. The Munster final was new, the All-Ireland semi-final was new, and obviously playing in Croke Park is new for the majority of our team. We just have to enjoy it as best we can, enjoy the lead up to it, and hopefully we can put in a performance on the day.”

That several of Begley’s underage colleagues are still heavily involved in the team is important, too. “I think underage my age group, a lot of us came from that team, through U14, U16, even back to U12,” she says.

“We had a really good Féile team, a lot of those girls, we've retained which is obviously key in women's sports. So, we've played together for years and years and years, I think someone said this is my 10th year playing senior along with Aine O'Loughlin, Laura Foley, and Louise Egan.

“We've come from not being able to make semi-finals in Clare to eventually getting to a final. It took us three attempts to get over the final. We've had a lot of injuries over the last couple of years, so it has been a lot of hard work from both players and management has got us to where we are today.”