Méabh Cahalane bidding to uphold family honour: 'You’d be delighted to see them doing well'

Cahalane's involvement at Croke Park brings to five the number of All-Ireland finals contested by members of the Cahalane family over the past two and a half months

Cork’s Méabh Cahalane breaks away from Kilkenny’s Grace Walsh and Mary O’Connell in the semi-final. She is set to become one of five Cahalane siblings set to contest an All-Ireland this season. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach

Barring a replay, Sunday will bring the curtain down on the busiest of summers for the Cahalane siblings in red.

Lining out at corner-back on the Cork camogie team in this weekend’s All-Ireland decider will be Méabh Cahalane, her involvement at Croke Park bringing to five the number of All-Ireland finals contested by members of the Cahalane family over the past two and a half months.

A hectic summer in red for Meabh, younger sister Orlaith, and brothers Damien, Conor, and Jack began on a winning note, Jack getting among the scorers when introduced in the second half of the county’s delayed All-Ireland U20 hurling final win.

The dual star collected a second All-Ireland U20 hurling medal some six weeks later, these two victories sandwiching Munster U20 success with the Cork footballers.

No different, it must be noted, were his two sisters in juggling both codes at inter-county level.

A “nightmare” was Meabh’s description of their All-Ireland football semi-final defeat to Meath, with Orlaith and the Cork minor camogie team also coming off second best in last Sunday’s All-Ireland decider.

Damien and Conor endured similar final disappointment with the Cork hurlers and so it’s left to Meabh to sign off as Jack started.

“There has been something going on the whole time, whether it is Jack hurling or playing football, Orlaith out with the minors, or the lads with the seniors. It is just great to see everyone getting to play in these big games because we all see the work that each puts in,” said the 25-year-old. 

“Obviously, it would be a big topic in the household each week of what games are on this week and who is playing who. It is a bit of enjoyment too following all the games the others are playing in.”

Following, mind you, on Twitter or on TG4 given their respective training schedules doesn’t allow much time for spectating.

Case in point was the Sunday of Meabh’s All-Ireland camogie semi-final at Croke Park. Cork’s penultimate round encounter against reigning champions Kilkenny fell on the same afternoon as Damien, Conor, and Jack pulled on the Castlehaven colours for the 2020 Cork senior football decider against Nemo in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Orlaith, back up the road in Mallow, in Munster minor football final action.

“You’d always have something on, so a lot of the time not all of us would get to each other’s games, but we’ll try to tune in somewhere.

“You’d be delighted to see them doing well. Jack has come from the Cork minor set-up and Conor was with the U21s in recent years, it obviously takes a while to transition to the next level and so it has been great this year to see Conor get a good run with the seniors. Every game you could see his confidence getting better.

“You would be proud every time they go out, no matter if they win or lose, just once they are performing to their best and once they are enjoying it.”

For all the provincial and All-Ireland medals to cross through the front door in recent weeks, the constructive criticism dished out at the Cahalane table means there’s no fear of any of them losing the run of themselves.

“We would talk away after games, reflecting on what more you could have done yourself,” explained Meabh, before quickly adding, “you wouldn’t want to be too sensitive with some of the feedback that you might be getting!”

Having joined the Cork senior set-up in 2015 as a teenager, Cahalane finished her debut season as a first-team regular and an All-Ireland medallist.

Any notions this would become the norm were flattened by Kilkenny in the following season’s decider, with this Sunday’s final against Galway representing Cork’s first in three years.

“To get over Kilkenny in the semi-final was a massive boost to the group. With some very, very big players for Cork having moved on in the last year or two, young players such as Saoirse McCarthy and Laura Hayes have come into the team. And so for us to weather the Kilkenny storm and then for Linda Collins to come off the bench and get the winning score, it gives us a lot of confidence going into the Galway game.”