So much to admire about the Na Piarsaigh success story

The memories came flooding back to me in Thurles yesterday from all angles. It was almost 20 years to the day since we, Clarecastle, won our only Munster title in 1997. We had beaten Ballygunner in the semi-final. There was a Limerick team in the final again yesterday, just like there had been when we met Patrickswell.

I have some great memories of the match but the clearest images in my mind are of coming back to the village that evening. The place was electric. It was a beautiful feeling but, at the time, I was nearly getting complacent with homecomings after the two All-Irelands, and two Munster titles (by that stage). I was thinking: ‘This is great, this could stay going forever.’

Of course it didn’t. The Clare championship was like a bearpit at the time, and we didn’t win a county title again until 2003, but our great team broke up at the end of the decade, when many of our greatest warriors left the stage.