'What else would I be doing?': Shauna Healy ready for All-Ireland camogie final after giving birth

Her second child, baby Pippa, will be four months old on Thursday and it is an achievement in itself that Healy has rejoined the All-Ireland title holders and is pushing to feature in Sunday's final against Cork.

MOTHER'S DAY: Galway's Shauna Healy is ready for the All-Ireland camogie final. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie.

Shauna Healy is asked to consider Galway's Glen Dimplex All-Ireland camogie championship defeat to Cork back in June and presents her get-out-of-jail-free card.

"Wasn't there, can't answer it, sorry!" she shot back with a grin.

The reason the decorated defender and multiple All-Star missed that game is because she hadn't yet returned to the panel after giving birth.

Her second child, baby Pippa, will be four months old tomorrow and it is an achievement in itself that Healy has rejoined the All-Ireland title holders and is pushing to feature in Sunday's final against, of course, Cork.

"I'm back around seven or eight weeks, loving it!" she reported.

Naturally enough, it hasn't been plain sailing, reintegrating into a high performance group.

"It's all about the pelvic floor, lads!" she said. "It's all about trying to get the core engaged again properly and just getting your muscles to work properly.

"That's the most important thing, and just doing basic weights. Very basic stuff. I stripped it right back and I was never much of a gym bunny anyway, to be honest. I just went right back to basics and I found it made a huge difference."

The Ardrahan icon is married to St Thomas' hurler Darragh Burke. And, wouldn't you know it, they both train on the same nights.

"The grandparents have been roped in so we're lucky to have them," said Healy.

It sounds like a hectic schedule but Healy is surprisingly matter-of-fact about it all, pointing to the example set by numerous female rugby and soccer players who returned to activity relatively quickly after childbirth.

"What else would I be doing?" she shrugged, noting too that Roscommon footballer Laura Mannion won an All-Ireland IFC title at Croke Park last Sunday seven months after having her baby.

"It's like anything, when you're so used to it, and when you're so used to being in a routine, it's really hard to kind of, I suppose, be at home all the time.

"When the opportunity arose, I was like, 'Sure, why not?' I have good support around and when I got the backing of them at home I said, yeah, 'Why not?'"

Whether she plays or not this Sunday remains to be seen.

"I wouldn't say so, now," she replied, when asked about her chances of starting. "The girls are mighty and flying it. Look, I'm there anyway."

At the very least, she has vital experience to call upon. Galway and Cork are the best of enemies at this stage. This weekend's decider will be the seventh time that the counties have met in national finals between 2021 and 2026, three League deciders and three All-Ireland so far.

For the record, Galway won two of the three League finals and two of the All-Ireland finals.

Although the fact that it took a 63rd minute Carrie Dolan point from a free somewhere down near Finglas to win last year's All-Ireland final for Galway tells you all you need to know about just how little separates the teams in reality.

"I turned around and I just said, 'I hope to God she sticks it over the bar'," said Healy, recalling that game-clinching score. "Ah she's brilliant, she's class."

Cork's Ashling Thompson and Galway's Shauna Healy. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie.

A year on, a lot of the same players will pitch up again at Croke Park but retirements have hit Cork hard while Galway appeared to be suffering from an injury crisis immediately after their semi-final win over Kilkenny.

Aside from Sabina Rabbitte, who is definitely out after thumb surgery, Aoife Donohue, Niamh Mallon, Dolan, Dervla Higgins and Niamh McPeake have all been mentioned as concerns in various injury reports.

"They're fine, yeah," assured Healy. "Clean bill of health, no worries there."

Meanwhile, Camogie Association President Brian Molloy is hoping for a bumper crowd of over 30,000 at Sunday's triple header of finals. The semi-final double header in Thurles drew a record crowd of 10,311.

"I think the full house will take time," said Molloy. "I think somewhere between 30 and 40 (thousand) is where we're hoping to get up to. Mid-30s hopefully is where we're going for."

Speaking at the launch of the finals, Molloy lamented the fact that capacity crowds are anticipated for men's All-Ireland finals, but not for women's.

"The value for money proposition is extraordinarily strong," he argued. "It's €30 for an adult to see three games - it's €100 for an adult to see one GAA final."