'It was lovely to do that before the game' - Conor Stakelum on visit to Dillon Quirke's parents
Along with Quirke, Stakelum was a member of Liam Cahill's U21s that beat Cork in the 2018 All-Ireland final. Stakelum came off the bench to score the winning for a group featuring Jake Morris, Eoghan Connolly, Craig Morgan, Barry Hogan and Brian McGrath.
A number of them remembered their late team-mate who passed away playing for his beloved Clonoulty-Rossmore in August 2022. 'A couple of us, we were out with Dan and Hazel Quirke during the week,' said Stakelum.
'We were just chatting about that match and when we were on the bus yesterday, and it started to rain… it was raining that day too. A lot of us were there that day, a lot of those great Cork players were playing that day and we just said we'd have another crack at them.
'We'd be close to Dan and Hazel. A couple of us went down before training, we had a cup of tea and a scone. They were just buzzing for the game. It's obviously very hard for Dan and Hazel, Kelly and Shannon… if things were different, Dillon would be here today and no better man to enjoy it with us as well if he was here. So that was something we decided to do on Friday and it was lovely to do that before the game.'
For Stakelum, his younger brother Darragh and 15 others on the match-day panel, it was a first All-Ireland senior final experience. The other nine including Noel McGrath, Ronan Maher, Jason Forde as well as their manager told them to soak it all in.
'We were there having the craic trying on the suits and we were thinking, 'Should we be enjoying this as much as we are' but Noel, Ronan, Jayo all these boys, they were enjoying it as well. We didn't put ourselves under too much pressure. We kept to the same routine.
'Parents, friends and all of the rest soaked it all in as well. The world stays spinning. It's just another game. You don't get caught up in the hype too much. That's for friends and family and we just took it as another job, and now I suppose, we'll tap into the bit of craic and soaking it in and looking at the videos and clips and so on.' The light-heartedness continued into the parade on Sunday. 'Ah, we'd be sneering away. Willie [Connors] had his few jokes as we walked around in a line. It was calm, it was chill.
'There was such a big crowd at the semi-final that it was like a dry-run for the final, for lads who weren't there before, to soak in the atmosphere. The semi-final was a bit of a shock, but we were kind of used to the ringing noise then by yesterday, even though it was a huge spectacle. But you're so focused as well. I was nearly like, 'Will you just throw in the fecking ball?' That's it. You're waiting for that moment then.'
After their father Conor in 1991 and Richard two years earlier, the number of All-Ireland medals in the Stakelum family doubled on Sunday. 'People see the really nice bits now but what's gone on, there's been a lot of dark days behind the scenes but they've always been in our corner,' said Conor. 'There's been plenty of stories about their (Richie and Conor's) successes growing up along but it was never a burden.'
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