Caroline Currid's return 'massive positive' for Limerick's young players

Apart from 2017, every season in which Caroline Currid has been off-field consiglieri to John Kiely has concluded with with Limerick winning the Liam MacCarthy Cup

Caroline Currid has been described as a "mother figure" by Limerick players. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

The conventional belief is that Caroline Currid has the Midas touch and is Limerick’s missing link.

The first part is most certainly true. There has never been a more successful performance psychologist in Gaelic games than the Sligo native. Cathal Sheridan may have achieved an unprecedented double with Kerry and Tipperary last season but he has some way to go to match Currid, who has worked in eight All-Ireland winning senior groups (Limerick SH 2018, ’20-23; Dublin SF 2011; Tipperary SH 2010; Tyrone SF ’08).

The missing link would be pushing it, though, and for a person in a non-playing capacity she would hate to consider herself indispensable. Nevertheless, news of her third stint with Limerick, which this newspaper reported in November, having been away from the group these past two years, was greeted with fanfare in the county.

Apart from 2017, every season in which she has been off-field consiglieri to John Kiely has concluded with the Liam MacCarthy Cup residing in Limerick. Sources close to the panel would argue one or two things that occurred the past two seasons would have been done differently had she been on board.

Kiely has never shied away from speaking about her importance, nor have the players. “Mother figure” is the phrase that is used by current players like Cathal O’Neill and former ones like Tom Condon. “Sure, you can't replace her,” responded former captain Declan Hannon when asked who was filling her shoes for the 2024 season.

From the Hogan Stand rostrum, Hannon and Cian Lynch have been effusive in their praise for Currid. Currid rarely missed a training session and hardly a game where her role was almost as reactive as prescribed. No sooner had Gearóid Hegarty been sent off against Waterford in the opening round of the 2023 Munster SHC that Currid was speaking to him in the dug-out.

Condon tells of how Currid and Kiely were instrumental in him turning his own sending off against Clare in their final provincial round game into a positive.

“Straight away, there was no hiding it or feeling sorry for myself. I sat down with herself and John after the game in the Greenhills (Hotel), while the lads were having a bite to eat.

“It was addressed straight away – 'Look, Tom, it is what it is. We’re only human at the end of the day. We make mistakes, but it's up to you now to drive the standards in training and to put yourself in a position that, when the time comes, you're ready to come in and do a job.’ 

It was always about the bigger picture and the team going forward.

“There was their belief in me. That’s what Caroline and the whole management team did, especially 2018. They made sure that you had the belief and that we had a job to do. And no matter how bad things are going, once you stick to your standards and our processes that we had in place, we'll eventually attain the outcome.” 

That manifested itself in Condon emerging from defence with the ball at the final whistle of the 2018 All-Ireland final. The Knockaderry man says Currid was brilliant helping players break down misconceptions and perceptions of themselves and the team. 

“She used to address what would be out there in the general public or what's been said about certain events or things and break it down.

“Like, if you were coming up to a certain match and if the general perception was out there that Limerick should be winning this game by so much points or, when we were coming through in 2018, Limerick would be doing well to keep it pucked out.

“Fellas would have had a bit of fear in them, she'd talk it out and go through it, and I suppose make you realise that, you know what, why would you think this way when that's not true?

“Going into games, fellas would have doubts about coming up against a better opposition. So, what sets them aside from us and what's the difference between them and us? She’d address it straight on instead of it bearing away at us.” 

Condon was one of the many who benefitted from her one-on-one conversations too. 

“It wasn’t just sport but she’d asked, ‘What’s going on in your life? How are things? Is there anything we can do to improve it or that can make things easier for you to go training or to improve your life?’” 

Condon celebrates Currid’s return to Limerick as much as the next supporter. He also sees it as vital for the young players who haven’t yet been able to lean on her expertise.

“Maybe it was grand there for a couple of years because the lads kind of knew the story and would have learned from Caroline what to do themselves.

“But I think it's a big thing now because you're basically starting with half a fresh panel coming through in that day. Some of them mightn't be used to dealing with pressure. So, it is a massive positive.”