Cork queens’ medals hauls outshine a king

King Henry of Kilkenny may have 10, but dual stars Briege Corkery and Rena Buckley have 14 apiece, lest anyone be in any doubt as to who has the higher senior All-Ireland medal count.

It was this little piece of information that elicited the loudest cheer from the crowd that gathered last night to welcome home Cork’s peerless senior football team.

For the second time this year, the women stepped up to the mark to bring home another All-Ireland title, their ninth in the last 10, all under ‘The Master’, manager Eamonn Ryan.

Captain Briege Corkery, hoarse from Sunday’s exhortations and celebrations, told the fans outside the Imperial Hotel on the South Mall that while they “may be an ageing team” — nine of the current squad played in the 2004 All-Ireland-winning team — “what people don’t realise is when you go over the hill, you gather speed on the way down.”

Their management team had trained them hard all year, “dirty, rotten training sessions”, she said, “but that’s what it’s all about in the last 10 minutes of an All-Ireland”.

Marie Mulcahy, mother of Valerie, one of the team’s stalwarts and player of the match on Sunday, said the crowd was “a good bit better than other years”.

Marie was delighted with her daughter’s win on Sunday. “I told her last year to give it up, but she said she had a few more left in her yet,” she said.

And no one was left in any doubt as to just how special it was. As one punter pointed out, Europe may have won the Ryder Cup because of “heart, conviction, and grit” but Briege and her team were every bit as dedicated as the golfers who are paid multimillions to swing a club.