Deirdre O’Reilly: ‘People will think I’m absolutely mental when they’re reading this’

Deirdre O’Reilly first began to notice the pain in her hip two years ago. Having made her senior championship debut as a 15-year-old, 14 seasons in the Cork shirt had finally caught up with the St Mary’s defender.

Surgery was required, but that also meant a premature end to her summer. Instead she opted to play through the pain.

No individual comes before this Cork team and so O’Reilly kept the head down and the corner-forwards frustrated. By September, an eighth All-Ireland was pocketed.