Noel McGrath savours fourth All-Ireland with son in his arms as Tipperary legend reflects on epic 17-season journey

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

HIS second child is due in October, yet Tipperary's Noel McGrath continues to outrun Father Time.
A senior debutant with
In 2019, McGrath landed his third All-Ireland SHC medal.
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Noel McGrath and his son celebrate with the Liam MacCarthy cup on Sunday
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Tipp saw off Cork in Sunday's decider at Croke Park in Dublin
Tipp failed to win a Championship game last season, which caused his chances of adding a fourth to appear slim.
But, accompanied by his two-year-old son Sam, McGrath made his way back up the steps of the Hogan Stand again on Sunday after the
He said: 'I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd be able to bring him to Croke Park. To win an All-Ireland with him is unreal.
'That will be something that I'll remember forever and that I have forever.
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'In time, I suppose he'll see all the pictures from it, he won't remember it but he'll have the memories and all those pictures. It's special for me to be able to do that with him.'
McGrath became an All-Ireland winner for the first time when Tipperary foiled Kilkenny's five-in-a-row bid in 2010. He also bagged his second All-Star award on the spin. Not bad for a teenager.
Speaking at the Grand Hotel in Malahide on the morning after the Premier were crowned champions for the 29th time, the Loughmore-Castleiney stalwart said: 'I was 19 in 2010, just starting college in UCD.
'I suppose it's a long way from college in UCD, it's a different story. But it's great and I love it.
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'And to be able to have my son there yesterday was probably one of the greatest things I could have done and I lifted the Liam MacCarthy with him in my arms.'
On a day when his younger brother John played a starring role by firing 2-2, McGrath came off the bench and put the icing on the sweet victory by hitting the Premier County's last point.
Liam Cahill speaks to RTE after Tipperary GAA win All-Ireland final
He reflected: 'To get on the field and to get involved was unreal. To be able to get that score at the end was a great feeling. It was just nice to be part of it. As I said after the semi-final, it never gets old.
'As long as you're able to do it and to have days like this, it would keep anyone in good form and looking to do it again. It's great, it's unreal, it's unbelievable.'
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After regrouping following a woeful 2024 season, Tipperary also had to atone for a pair of heavy defeats to Cork in this year's Munster SHC and National League final.
With that in mind, Sunday's may have been the most satisfying win to date.
McGrath said: 'It's hard to know. I'll sit down in a couple of weeks and think it out. Right now it is, because it's in the moment and it's such a great feeling.
'Who knows which is the best one? It's hard to decide which is the best or how one is better than the other.
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'They're all great. They all have their own different stories and their own different meanings. Yesterday was no different.'
McGrath has now been on the go at senior inter-county level for 17 seasons. According to him, if the mind is willing, the body will follow.
He explained: 'With the way the thing has gone nowadays with S&C, if you're willing to put in the work, you'll get your body right.
"It's the head more than anything. You have to be willing to get yourself up and go training every week.
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That's probably the hardest part — if you're able to do that and if you're mentally able to do it.
'Because physically, with the way everything has gone, people are keeping themselves fit going to the gym, even if you're not playing sport.
'But mentally, I've been really, really enjoying it. I never really had that evening where you're dragging yourself out to training. You'd be looking forward to it and that for me is the part that really keeps you going, that you're not feeling it as a drag.
'I enjoyed every minute of it. And when you have an ending like this, it's hard not to enjoy it as well.'
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The crucial win in Ennis that effectively ended Clare's reign as All-Ireland champions was the only game that McGrath started in this victorious campaign.
But on his role as an impact sub, he said: 'Everyone wants to play and I'm no different.
"I'd love to be starting. But there are 38 lads on our panel that would love to start and you have to trust the management that what they're deciding is the right thing for the team.
"I go in training and burst myself every night to be trying to get on that 15. And if you're not on it, you want to be one of the ones that come on.
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'I'm no different to anyone else and when I'm 50 years of age, I'll still want to play.
'That's just the nature of it. You just accept that the management make their decisions and that's what you have to go with.'
ROLE CALL
On Tipp's roll of honour, McGrath has now overtaken many of his contemporaries who were key contributors to his county's success of 2019.
Greats such as Séamus Callanan and Pádraic Maher signed off as three-time All-Ireland winners.
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McGrath said: 'There's no point in saying I didn't know that if we won yesterday, getting to four I'd say was the first time since 1965 or '71 that someone has done it.
'I live hurling and I know a lot about the history of Tipperary so I would have been aware of that and now that's happened, it's a great feeling and I'm delighted to be one with four.
'There are a lot of lads with three, a few with two and more with their first now so to be in that category is unreal.'