Clare legend Ger Loughnane explains why he broke habit of a lifetime at All-Ireland final
Clare have won five All-Irelands in their history, and 10s of thousands of Clare people never saw them win one. Loughnane counts himself blessed to have been around for four.
Clare hurling legend Ger Loughnane broke the habit of a lifetime on Sunday. It's not that he never lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup before.
When leading the Banner to the 1995 and 1997 All-Irelands, he waved the trophy around after the finals and at the homecomings. But he called a halt then. To Loughnane, the Cup was for the players.
On Sunday, though, Loughnane posed for photographs with players and Clare management, raising the MacCarthy Cup aloft.
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"When I was manager, I never went near the cups if I could help it,'' he said.
"So why did I do it on Sunday? It's because of the great satisfaction of seeing success being carried on.
"And it will be carried on, due to the great people in the management team led by Brian Lohan, the players, and the County Board.
"For the first time in my life, I have no complaints about Clare. I was always complaining about something!''
Clare have won five All-Irelands in their history, and tens of thousands of Clare people never saw them win one.
Loughnane counts himself blessed to have been around for four.
He was manager in 1995 and 1997, working for RTE in 2013, and a fan on Sunday.
And he's in no doubt - this was the greatest one of all.
"Now, 1995 was very important because it was after 81 years, it was a breakthrough,'' he said.
"But it would have been no good if that was just a little era. Anthony Daly's great team and then go back to the way Clare always were.
"Clare won in 2013 but, for all sorts of reasons, didn't build on it.
"I was talking to some of the minor team on the way up and they were telling me they don't even remember 2013.
"This was hugely important for all those involved, but also because it will inspire another generation. There were players on the field on Sunday that were inspired by 2013, they will inspire others now.
There were four of them seated together on Sunday. Loughnane and his son, Barry. Barry's son, Harry, and his cousin, Dillon.
The TV cameras picked them out at different times during the final.
Loughnane smiling while taking video clips of the crowd beforehand.
Then all of them chewed up with tension as the game ebbed and flowed.
It's the afternoon and the night before, and Loughnane is struggling for words.
What? One of the GAA's great orators doesn't know what to say.
Not a bit of it, he's hoarse from his exertions in Croke Park.
"I never shout at games, I always like to sit there silently and just take it all in,'' he said.
"But this was an epic. You couldn't help but shout. The voice is in bits now."
Maybe the luckiest man in Croke Park wasn't Tony Kelly or Brian Lohan or Shane O'Donnell but little Dillon.
He was a late call-up, as Loughnane explains.
"Harry usually brings another cousin, Cormac, but he was saying that we always lose when Cormac goes to the games,'' he said.
"So Dillon got in instead. It was great fun on the way to Croke Park with the two young fellas.
"We parked up the car and started walking and one of them piped up - 'we're going to count how many times people say 'we're going to do it' to us.''
That was a reference to Clare's breakthrough win in the 1995 All-Ireland final when Loughnane was manager.
At half-time, Clare trailed Offaly by two points and hadn't got into their stride at all.
That was an era when RTE would collar managers at the break for a quick interview and Marty Morrissey was waiting for Loughnane as he headed for the tunnel.
People only remember Loughnane's final line - 'we're going to do it'.''
So Harry and Dillon had their game to ease the nerves on Sunday.
"We were still a good bit away from Croke Park and Harry goes 'we're on 25' already,'' said Loughnane.
"People would recognise me and call it out. It was great fun for the young lads."
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