Hurling & Camogie

Slaughtneil's Clare McGrath: Camogie was there for me when I needed it most

CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho 
CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho  CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho 

IN the spring of 2017 Clare McGrath was at peace with the world.

Slaughtneil had just become only the second Ulster club ever to win the All-Ireland senior club championship, ending a season that had been an emotional roller-coaster for everyone involved.

And then a few weeks later Clare was pregnant, she and her husband, Aodhán, delighted to be planning for their first child.

“I had been with the club seniors 12 or 13 years by that stage and we had come from struggling to win our first ever Derry title to wining an All-Ireland,” said the defender, who had played some of the best camogie of her career in that year’s All-Ireland series.

“Aodhán and I were married four years at that stage and it was the right time to start a family. So I told the team and the managers that I wouldn’t be back for the season and they were delighted for us.”

But there was to be heartache and tears ahead. The baby was lost in early summer.

“It is a terrible process to go through for any couple. You go from that high where you are making plans, dreaming about the future to suddenly having to cope with the loss,'' she said.

“Our families of course were very supportive but there is a terrible emptiness and it can really consume you. During that time I found it really hard to manage my feelings.

“I would be quite open as a person and I talked a lot about it. That was my way of coping. Then I went down to camogie again.

“The girls and the team management were brilliant. They really supported me through those months probably without realising it and helped the return to normality.

''And I found camogie gave me a focus, something to think about, something to prepare for and left me less time to think about our loss.

“There were still low points of course but camogie and the team gave me huge support and a mechanism to cope with what we were going through.”

Clare realises of course that one size doesn’t necessarily fit all.

“I also went back to work for the same reason, but on reflection it was all too much too soon. It’s important to take time to heal physically and emotionally,” admits the Magherafelt-based social worker.

“No, some things worked for me. But they might not help others going through the same trauma.

“Fertility issues and pregnancy loss are difficult subjects and people don't talk enough openly about them.

''I just want to promote the importance of talking about them, and for people to be more aware and conscious when talking to a couple who are on that journey we were on.”

Slaughtneil's Clare McGrath gets a shot away despite the close attention of Jennifer Daly of Scariff/Ogonnelloe during the AIB Camogie All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final at Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA, Meath on Sunday January 26 2020. Picture by INPHO/Morgan Treacy.
Slaughtneil's Clare McGrath gets a shot away despite the close attention of Jennifer Daly of Scariff/Ogonnelloe during the AIB Camogie All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final at Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA, Meath on Sunday January 26 2020. Picture by Slaughtneil's Clare McGrath gets a shot away despite the close attention of Jennifer Daly of Scariff/Ogonnelloe during the AIB Camogie All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final at Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA, Meath on Sunday January 26 2020. Picture by INPHO/Morgan Treacy.

Personal tragedy turned into team landmarks however as Clare helped Slaughtneil become the first team from the province to win back-to-back All-Ireland titles, again beating Galway side Sarsfield’s in a final that had to be postponed twice.

“Yes, the weather was responsible both times. The first Sunday in March became St Patrick’s Day and then ended up the last weekend in the month.”

Unusually the defending champions took that title without having to play outside their own province: “Our semi-final was in Inniskeen against Thomastown from Kilkenny and we had to show a lot of resilience that day, winning in extra time.

“The final then ended up in Clones on a beautiful sunny day and we won by five points with Tina (Hannon-Bradley) and Louie (Louise Dougan) the goal-scorers.”

By this stage Dougan had moved into a sweeper role which not only added further protection at the back but also developed the team’s attacking game-plan.

“Louise is a brilliant player, she can strike a ball as well as any hurler. So all we defenders had to do was win the ball and off-load to Louie and the ball was into our full-forward line. Those clearances really put pressure on opponents.”

And then just as had happened a year earlier, Clare found that by early summer she was pregnant once more.

“With what had happened before, we were very wary of what lay ahead and I suppose we took everything a day at a time.

''But luckily for us, all went fine and Frankie was born in mid-February in 2019.”

The timing looked perfect. The new baby had arrived early enough for mother and son to be able to attend the All-Ireland final as her team-mates went toe to toe with St Martin’s of Wexford hoping to complete a third successive unbeaten season.

But that is not what happened and Clare McGrath watched the final from her bed in Antrim Area Hospital: “Shortly after Frankie was born, I had to return to hospital for minor surgery and that is how I ended up watching the final on TV in Antrim.

''That was difficult because I was so long in that group. Not being able to play was one thing, but not being able to support them was another thing altogether.

“But at least they kept up the winning run.”

Despite the surgery that followed Frankie’s birth, Clare was back training and preparing to play when the leagues resumed in early April.

“I wouldn’t really recommend getting back five weeks after the baby is born! My first game was against Glen and I can remember wondering after a while why I was there.

''I thought I was ready but when you want to go for the ball, your body isn’t just ready to respond, so again it’s important not to rush back and allow yourself time to recover.

“One thing I enjoyed though was the aspect of socialising. Being off on maternity at home all the time with a new-born, you don’t get to meet people.

''I got that at the pitch and coming in from training and games, you felt energised again.”

Gradually the new mother re-built her fitness and was an ever-present as the Slaughtneil team once again went on an unbeaten championship run that brought them to an All-Ireland final last March in Croke Park. A fourth final in a row and the third against Sarsfield’s.

This time there was no fairy-tale ending however with the Galway side scoring a late goal to secure a single point victory.

“I had faced no one else in an All-Ireland final. The defeat was tough to take. When you invest as much as we do, defeat was always going to be hard to take,” says McGrath, who even missed her son’s first birthday party along the way.

“That makes me sound a bad mammy, doesn’t it? We were preparing for the All-Ireland final and had a challenge game down the country meaning that we were away almost the whole day’

“I felt guilty alright, I still do. If Frankie had been older maybe and been aware of what was happening I might have done things differently.”

By this stage Clare McGrath had returned to her job as a social worker and her free-time was limited. She contemplated retiring from camogie this time last year: “Not because we were beaten in the final. No, more because I wasn’t able to fit everything in – and I wasn’t getting enough time to enjoy Frankie.

“Lockdown however meant that I was working a lot from home and life was so different than it had been for the short time beforehand. It became slower and we had more time together as a family.

“I would be keen enough to have a fitness programme running and I kept that up until camogie started again in July. When I saw that the season was likely to be fairly short, I thought that I would give it a go.”

McGrath ended up winning her sixth Derry medal last October.

However the Ulster championship final against Loughgiel was postponed in October and re-set for a couple of weeks ago. That didn’t happen and as yet there has been no new fixture set.

“I honestly can’t see it happening now. If they re-fix it, I’ll get prepared to play and finish off last season. If they don’t, well then I have played my last senior game for the club and can end on a high.”

The future now is all about Frankie and already there is a big debate where you will find the youngster training and playing in years to come.

“Aodhán’s family are big Glen people and of course I want him to play for Slaughtneil. It won’t be easy settling on one or the other unless the wee man takes up horse-racing or some other sport.”

CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho 
CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho  CHAMPIONS Clare McGrath (right) lifts the trophy with Aoife Ní Chaiside after Slaughtneil’s win over Sarsfields in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship final. Picture by Inpho