There’s a distinct buzz on the morning of a county final. The nerves, excitement and anticipation put homes around the parish on tenterhooks as players go through their matchday rituals.
Eimear Hurley and her sister Ciara, team-mates with St Finbarr’s in Cork, had long shared those pre-match rituals. But on county final day in 2024 there was three hours and two throw-ins separating the siblings.
“It’s not something I ever considered an option,” Eimear says of transferring club when she first moved to Dublin for work in 2023. “The goal was to find a club to train with, and I did that with Cuala.
She linked up with the Dalkey club through a work friend and spent the summer training with the senior camogie team while she continued to line out for the Barr’s.
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“I suppose I was hit with the reality of travelling. I think I spent eight weekends in a row going up and down the road, which just took a lot out of me,” she says.
“And you’re missing training during the week, and the Barr’s were performing at such a high level that it’s very hard to be missing two sessions during the week. It just made things tough.”
The Barr’s 2023 campaign came to an end at the county quarter-final stage, and while Hurley would have loved to see their championship draw on, her newfound free time opened her eyes to the toll of her commuting.
“I would have done it for another eight weeks if it meant we were going to go and win a county [title] and progress further into Munster.” But facing into the year ahead and the prospect of another season spent clocking up the miles on the M8, she says: “I kind of looked at it then and I was just like, it’s actually not feasible to do from January to August.”
Training with Cuala the previous summer made Hurley’s full transfer to the Dublin club all the easier, with her new team adding to her enjoyment of life in the capital.
“I found in my first year living in Dublin that I was probably more working in Dublin rather than living there. And then it was about September 2024, I actually moved down to Dalkey and I moved in with four of the girls from the camogie team, so once I did that, it honestly changed my life.
“I was so involved in the community then, because I was like a two-minute drive from Hyde Road, Cuala’s grounds. I was around for coffee after training, I was there for weekend plans. Suddenly I wasn’t even just like a team member, I was part of the community.”
And even the success of the club’s senior footballers that season held a special nod to home for Hurley, with Cuala joining the Barr’s in becoming only the second club in the country to win senior All-Ireland titles in football and hurling.
“My life just changed once I stopped [commuting] to Cork and just focused on Dublin. It just gave me such a new lease of life. I met loads of new people, loads of friends. It probably was a big step to break free from all the Cork commitments to give like Dublin a go, [but] it’s one of the best things I ever did.”
And Hurley made the jump in the knowledge she could end up missing something special with her home club. The Barr’s had been coming for a few years, and 2024 proved their time of arrival. The same was true of Cuala.
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On October 13th, Eimear helped her adopted club to a first Dublin Senior 2 title, while her sister was part of the St Finbarr’s side that ended the club’s 18-year wait for a Cork senior crown.
“It was mad,” she says of both clubs reaching county finals on the same afternoon.
“Obviously my whole family stayed at home for Ciara’s game. I didn’t even think twice [over] would they come to mine or would they go to the Finbarr’s game.
“I was chatting with them in the morning, and it was so weird, because me and my sister would travel to matches together and suddenly we both have matches in different counties.
“We got to a certain time and I was like, ‘all right, goodbye, I’ll talk to you afterwards’.”
The day ended in double celebrations for the Hurleys, the Barr’s seeing off reigning Munster champions Sarsfields as Cuala secured promotion to the top-flight division with their win over Erin’s Isle.
Her showing for Cuala even saw her receive a call-up to the Dublin senior squad, going on to line out in goal for the Sky Blues for the 2025 intercounty season.
However, her work contract finished up last September, bringing her back to Cork. Perfect timing considering the championship run St Finbarr’s were about the embark upon, one which would see them all the way to Croke Park.
I think coming back in July and August, we’ll probably sit down and reflect on where we went wrong
— Eimear Hurley
After going back-to-back in Cork, the Barr’s charged through Munster, beating Waterford’s De La Salle in the provincial decider before their All-Ireland semi-final win over Antrim’s Loughgiel Shamrocks.
The title ultimately went to Athenry, the Galway club edging the Barr’s after a replay.
“It was really tough, to be honest,” she says of the defeat. “It was probably the week or two afterwards when you have to go back to normal life, suddenly your evenings are a bit freer and you’re reflecting on the game and reflecting on everything that went into it. It’s tough to take.
“I don’t know if we’ve fully processed it. I think coming back in July and August, we’ll probably sit down and reflect on where we went wrong and what we can do better to prevent it this year or to get over the line, but I think it’s probably a cost we’ll have forever.
“I think it really hurt a lot of us because it was so unprecedented and we gave it everything. I suppose that’s sport, sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you hope it to. I don’t know will we ever be over it, but we’ll go again and we’ll try to rectify it.”
Back home, ready to go again.
