*The Harvey sisters, Grainne, Caoimhe and Shauna. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
FEW LINKS remain between the Clare ladies football team which contested the 2016 All-Ireland and this year’s set-up but as ever the involvement of the Harvey family is to the fore.
Back in 2016, Caoimhe Harvey was the youngest player to line out in Croke Park when Clare lost to Kildare by a single point, she was introduced as a half-time substitute for her sister Grainne who will line out at corner back this weekend while Shauna wore number four in 2016 but is not expected to get a starting role on Sunday.
Seven years on, Caoimhe is no longer the youngest on the panel and is instead the one that will lead them into battle as captain. “I was one of the youngest on the panel, I just turned seventeen. I’ve done a 360 since to be honest, I know I’m not the oldest now but I’ve gone from being the youngest to the captain. I would have taken it for granted and let the game pass me by in 2016 thinking I’d be back next year but it is seven years later and we’re only returning now, that is one thing that I would definitely say, enjoy the build-up but there has to be a balance with it all, you can’t let the day pass you by”.
Taking so long to return to the biggest day on the ladies football calendar was never foreseen, Caoimhe admitted. “I had huge regrets, when I came on I was so poor and I let the day get to me, I would look back and said if I ever got back how I’d change it but I didn’t think it would take seven years, I don’t think anybody did to be honest”.
After such a wait, Grainne is determined to make their return to Croke Park count. “I think the following year we were like ‘we’re definitely going to get back there’, we appreciated getting there in 2016 but the following year we thought we’d be well able to get to the All-Ireland or make the semi-finals. This year it was just belief, we didn’t think about it and just took it game by game, it is amazing to think that we are there. As one of the experienced players now I just want to win”.
She added, “I think the occasion got to me too, I was only 20 then and I’m 27 now, I’m so ready for it, we will be nervous, we’ve won nothing so we have to get a win, we might never make it today, we never thought it would take seven years so hopefully we will get the job done”.
For Shauna the turning point this year was the manner in which they fought back to secure a draw with Tyrone which also gave them top spot in the group and a home quarter-final. “It was tough going and the girls showed real character, from then on I’ve had no doubt that we can go all the way”.
In November 2019, the Harvey family from Querrin were rocked by the sudden death of their father Kieran who at the time was Chairman of Clare LGFA and was a hugely influential figure for the sport in the county and he also managed girls at club level with West Clare Gaels.
No more was his impact more visible than on the exploits of his four daughters. “It is a bit hard at times because in 2016 he was so involved, then this year he is not here but we are going to do it for him so things are looking up,” Grainne admitted.
When preparing for the big and small days, their father is at the forefront of their minds, Caoimhe said. “Everyone looks at the big days but if it’s a small day and we’re playing a challenge game with West Clare Gaels we think about him as much, we’d think about what we’d be told going out the door, I’d be told not to be going down the wings with the ball or the centre, Shauna would be told not to foul, we have all these things and memories that come into our heads, the big days are extremely tough but so are the little ones, we just plough on and keep his memory alive”.
Older sister Ciara has taken over when giving the little nuggets of advice prior to games. Shauna quipped, “As Seán Lenihan said ‘the loud one isn’t here’. Grainne is looking for a muzzle for the club championships”. Grainne remains living in Querrin with their mother Mary while Caoimhe (Miltown Malbay) and Shauna (Cooraclare) are slightly further afield.
Another big change for the Harvey girls has been the arrival of Caoimhe’s son, Rían on August 13th of last year, he’ll celebrate his first birthday while supporting his mother in Croke Park alongside her partner, Cormac Murray a prominent footballer with St Joseph’s Miltown. “Riain was born on the 13th of the August 2022 so exactly a year to the date of the All-Ireland, a lot has changed but for the good, he definitely has great aunties,” Caoimhe noted.
Choosing a godmother wasn’t the most difficult of tasks as Shauna pointed out, “Ciara has two children which narrowed it for her”. Caoimhe confessed, “Ciara was left which made it easier! It’s great to be able to bring Rían up to Croke Park, for me I might never play there again so I’ll definitely savour every moment”.
Rían won’t get caught up in the build-up anytime soon with the younger Harvey generation tough acts to please according to Grainne, “We could get barely get Ciara’s boy Bobby to put on his jersey the last day when TG4 came, he was saying no”.
Although 24 year old Caoimhe works in AIB’s branch in Kilrush, she has rarely penned as many signatures as when giving autographs for supporters at their recent open training session in Cusack Park. “It’s not every day that the girls get to come into Cusack Park and be on the field, they all mingle with their friends too which is the most important thing. Tonight is a meet and greet for us to get to know them and for them to get to know us, it is quite daunting for them coming into us and we’re showing them we’re not that scary even despite what we look like on the field, we’re human behind it”.
Both Shauna and Grainne are in agreement as to which Harvey supporters could identify as the scariest, “I don’t think they’d have to look too far, the one in the centre back position,” twenty eight year old teacher Shauna said while looking in the direction of the captain. The importance of such an event was acknowledged by Grainne, “I was there at the end just writing Gra, it’s great to see all the young girls and it’s mad to think that we are their idols as ladies footballers but it is amazing for them”.
Of the different captains she has played with in the county colours, 27 year old Grainne who works for the Brothers of Charity in Ennis was complimentary towards her younger sibling. “She is no different, even though I’m her sister she treats me as one of the other players, she’ll tell me as much as I should know, I’ll respect her and I think she is brilliant and drives us on, it is great to have her as captain”.
Focusing on what she says does not form part of Caoimhe’s approach, she admitted. “I don’t have much of a filter, it’s not who I am, the girls have understood, I was captain in 2021 too, now it’s about getting over the line and that is what I would reiterate constantly, enjoy the build-up but get the work done because at the end of the day we have won nothing yet”.
