This used to be our playground: 'In Croke Park, you either express yourself or go into your shell'

After Clare won the 2013 All-Ireland title, a young team was expected to have tenancy rights in Croke Park but five years went by in a blink. It took Clare until the 2018 drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Galway for them to return to Croke Park. And they haven’t been back there since.

CROKER DREAMS: Peter Duggan, right, and Mark Rodgers of Clare. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Shortly after Clare defeated Wexford two weeks ago, Derrick Lynch of Clare FM interviewed Diarmuid Ryan, who was the station’s man-of-the-match. Ryan was swarmed and congratulated by supporters on the Semple Stadium pitch, but his answers to Lynch’s questions were loaded with references to Croke Park.

“It’s a dream,” said Ryan. “We said at the start of the year that we wanted to get to Croke Park. It’s a dream for all of us to play up there. Not many of us have been there. Kilkenny in two weeks is going to be another massive, massive battle, but Croke Park is where you want to be on those days.”