It’s already been quite the week for Seán O’Donoghue. The Cork captain and his fiancée Aoife Daly welcomed the birth of their first child in recent days and now he is hoping to carry home the Liam MacCarthy Cup on Sunday.
The Inniscarra corner-back began paternity leave from his work as a cloud programme manager at Cloudera last week. Preparations for the new arrival were considered a welcome distraction ahead of All-Ireland final week.
As for a sleep plan? “The room next door,” O’Donoghue quips.
Daly comes from a hurling family as her brother Brian was a member of the Limerick U20 panel but there were no mixed emotions when it came to the semi-final victory over the Treaty.
“She was buzzing,” O’Donoghue reports.
“She’s actually from Limerick but in fairness, she’s Cork through and through. She’d have the flags on the car. She’d have the jersey. She’s enough of Limerick (gear) as well.”
It’s been a whirlwind year for O’Donoghue as he endured his fair share of on-field adversity during a Munster Championship in which Cork toyed with elimination.
The toughest afternoon was against Sunday’s opponents Clare, a game in which he was sent off for a second booking with 18 minutes to go with the result in the balance.
“I found it hard to watch it because I knew there was 14 fellas fighting against 15 out there and it was my fault,” reflects O’Donoghue.
“Rush of blood to the head. Didn’t even think about it. Stepped out in front of him and as soon as I hit him, I said to myself, ‘What the hell did you do that for?’ So it was just frustration.
“I don’t think I had ever gotten a red card before that so getting a red card that day in Championship as captain and I’m meant to be leading the team was tough enough.
“The few days after it were tough as well, just trying to get back in and trying to get my voice going again.
“I was a bit quiet for a few days because I felt I had let the boys down but my family and my fiancée, they’re always there to talk to. Everyone else might think you’re grand but you feel like you let the team down alright.
“I looked at it the week before when Damien Cahalane got sent off. Like, he might have felt the same but, in my mind, I was like, ‘these things happen.’ I wouldn’t have blamed him.
“No one would be on the pitch saying, ‘Ah Damo, what did you do that for?’ You just say that those things happen.
“But when it’s actually you in that position, you don’t think the other fellas are thinking that. You just feel that you’ve put them under a bit more pressure.”
Then came the Leeside classic against Limerick to save their season. O’Donoghue produced some stellar moments but spilled the sliotar for two goals.
“The fact that I dropped the ball and gave them a couple of goals, there was a bit more relief (to win).
“I was waiting to be walking off after losing by two points, people throwing cups at me or something like that. The boys, in fairness, dug me out.
“I gave a ball away in the first half but, to play the way we’ve to play, some days you’ve to take risks like that.
“We have to do it in order to play our gameplan so we’re always going to take risks now and again just to try and keep teams honest.
“If you do make mistakes, it’s about not shying away from the next one. It’s making sure that you’re putting yourself in a position and keep trying to be brave, really.”
They’ve learned from their past mistakes. O’Donoghue noticed when watching back the semi-final against Limerick that Cork led by six points with six minutes to go.
They had an identical lead at that juncture against the Treaty in the 2018 semi-final and lost. It was the exact same against Kilkenny in the 2021 semi-final and they drew. This time, they held out.
He feels the experience of the final defeat three years ago will also stand to them.
“We were here in 2021 and it might have gotten to lads’ heads.
“We might have enjoyed the two weeks, all the red flags and everything around the place, rather than just enjoying it in training and in the gym as a group.
“It’s about keeping the feet on the ground now and making sure that we’re just building up to that performance we know is in us.”
O’Donoghue is aiming to become the first Rebel captain to lift Liam MacCarthy since Seán Óg Ó hAilpín in 2005.
He has raised silverware in Croke Park before when leading his school Coláiste Choilm to the All-Ireland B football title a decade ago.
It was, however, the steps of the Cusack Stand he climbed: “We went up the other stand that day so hopefully I’ll be up the Hogan Stand the next day.”
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