Miltown Malbay, deep in the heart of west Clare, is the homeplace of Banner full-back Conor Cleary.
As the small town returns to some normalcy after last week’s Willie Clancy Summer School, an Irish traditional music festival, its inhabitants have something else to look forward to as one of their own takes to Croke Park on All-Ireland final day on Sunday.
Conor and his twin brother Eoin line out for the local St Joseph’s football team while Conor, a dual player, plays his club hurling with nearby Kilmaley.
Speaking of how he copes with the schedule of games as a senior inter-county hurler and as a club dual player Cleary said: “Up to recently it was a task, but last year when I dislocated my shoulder I kind of got an appreciation of getting back on the field and playing.
“I was happy to play both codes and being from Miltown Malbay, it being a football club, it’s great to go back to Miltown and play with the people I grew up with and my brother.
“It does freshen you up playing different sports. When you are playing hurling all year it’s nice to go back and play a bit of football as well.”
After losing three Munster finals in-a-row to Limerick and two All-Ireland semis on the bounce to Kilkenny, what has kept Cleary and his colleagues coming back again and again?
“In fairness to [manager] Brian [Lohan], any games we lost, his big thing was always to get better every time, every session we went to. It’s all about getting better and better.
“Coming back from the Munster final losses, the whole thing was that we have a chance to advance and to keep doing better. That’s really what he has driven within the group.
“Even during the off-season, it’s always about working on your own game, be it strength and conditioning, your hurling or fitness. We never saw any of those games as the final destination. We are always of the mindset that we can get better and compete at the top table.”
Cleary says the baggage of those previous defeats to Kilkenny wasn’t an issue as Clare prepared to face the Cats earlier this month.
“In 2022 and 2023 we got beaten by a better team,” he said.
“The first year they destroyed us really and the second year, even though we played a bit better, we still didn’t get over the line.
“So I think if we had dwelt on those defeats it probably would have been a different story but it was all about ‘the last day is done’.
“You know, 2022 and ‘23 haven’t been mentioned at all this year. It’s been about the ‘24 performances.”
Clare beat Kilkenny by two points in the semi-final having trailed by five at half-time after a lacklustre 35 minutes in which the Banner struggled all over the field.
“When you are on the field yourself and in the moment it’s very hard to put your finger on it,” said Cleary, who won U21 All-Ireland medals in 2013 and 2014 captained Clare to National Hurling League honours earlier in the season in the absence of the injured Tony Kelly.
“But in fairness to the lads – and the way things are now with analysis and stats – it was clear to see that our use of the ball wasn’t good in the first half.
“I suppose with the six forwards and two midfielders we have, the quality of ball that we were getting to them wasn’t good and there’s no better team than Kilkenny to eat it up and play it out the field.
“That was a big focus coming into the second half – our use of the ball.
“We were very grateful to our goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan who pulled off two or three great saves in the first half to keep us in the game and we knew it then that we had a chance at half-time being only five points down.
“The game wasn’t gone from us by any means. So we went back to what we could control. Our use of the ball wasn’t good and we knew that we had to use the ball a bit better.
“The introduction of fresh legs in the second half helped. Ian Galvin and Ryan Taylor and a few more brought it to a new level again. So that pushed us over the line really.”
