It has been a hectic few days for Cork captain Seán O’Donoghue, but the new dad hopes to be welcoming even more arrivals to Leeside this weekend.
O’Donoghue and fiancee Aoife Daly became proud parents to a baby boy in the days after Cork’s semi-final win over Limerick. Aoife is originally from Kilmallock and her brother, Brian, played under-20 hurling with Limerick – so the build-up to the All-Ireland semi-final a fortnight ago was certainly interesting.
“She watched it at home,” smiles O’Donoghue, for fear in all the excitement the baby could arrive mid-match.
The 28-year-old Inniscarra clubman could make history on Sunday by becoming the first Cork hurler in almost two decades to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
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Few would have backed Cork for a place in the All-Ireland final after their lacklustre start to the Munster campaign, but O’Donoghue always believed the squad had the potential to compete for the game’s biggest prize.
“No, it’s not a shock at all, we knew we had it in the locker; it’s just a case of putting the performances out [there],” says O’Donoghue.
“It took a while to get going in the Munster championship but we kind of found our bit of form now and we know what we need to do to bring that performance out.”
The fact Clare are in the opposing corner offers O’Donoghue a personal shot at redemption as well. The tight-marking corner back was sent off on a second yellow card midway through the second half when the sides met in April.
O’Donoghue had just made a superb diving block to deny Mark Rodgers a goal, but when he hopped back to his feet the Cork defender stepped across Shane O’Donnell’s run and knocked the Clare forward to the ground. Cork led by the minimum at the time of the sending off, and Clare ultimately won the game by two points.
“Yeah, to be honest I found it hard to watch [the rest of the game] because I knew there were 14 fellas fighting against 15 out there and it was my fault,” recalls 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 felt I let the team down on the day. I don’t think I had ever got 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.
“And 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 and stuff for a few days because I felt I had let the boys down. But my family and my fiancee and stuff, they’re always there to talk to.”
Sunday will not be O’Donoghue’s first rodeo in terms of captaining a team at Croke Park in an All-Ireland final. In 2014, he led Coláiste Choilm from Ballincollig to a 1-11 to 1-10 victory over Scoil Aodháin from Whitehall, Dublin in the All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior B Football final. O’Donoghue was a forward and scored 0-6 in that final.
“Yeah, 10 years ago, time just flew by,” he says. “That was obviously a huge day and I was like, ‘I wouldn’t mind getting back here again’. I think we went up the other stand that time so hopefully I’ll be up the Hogan Stand the next day.”
Cork’s last three All-Ireland-winning captains are Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Ben O’Connor and Mark Landers. The 1999 side, captained by Landers, will be celebrated on the pitch this Sunday as the jubilee team, so captaining the Rebels is not something O’Donoghue treats lightly.
“It’s a huge privilege. It was always something that I wanted to get. Having captained teams I knew it was within my power, I suppose, to drive it on and try and improve and keep trying to lead but I think this year we have developed more and more leaders.”
O’Donoghue is one of the Cork survivors from the 2021 All-Ireland final. He lined out at corner back in that defeat to Limerick three years ago. Having experienced that disappointment, he hopes the lessons from 2021 can help the Rebels in advance of Sunday’s decider.
“We were here in 2021 and it might have gotten to lads’ heads,” says O’Donoghue.
“We might have enjoyed the two weeks, all the red flags and everything around the place rather than just kind of enjoying it in training and in the gym and just enjoying it as the group.
“So, I think it’s about keeping the feet on the ground now and making sure that we’re just building up to that performance that we know is in us.”
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