'I still very much have the grá for it. People say it's a sacrifice, but it's a choice'
IT IS ALMOST 11 years since Caoimhe Costelloe conducted her first feature interview with this writer. Signposted for superstardom, she had just turned 18, already had All-Ireland intermediate and minor medals in her pocket and was looking forward to making her debut in what is now the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship.
What's more, her Leaving Cert results had provided the Adare tyro with the points she needed to get into the teacher training college, Mary I.
What strikes you reading that On The Ball article back, and a few more from the next four or seasons, is the incredible maturity of the Adare teenager, the obvious leadership skills and the fierce ambition. She was in it to win it.
Now, ten days removed from her 29th birthday, and remarkably, having played in every championship game since – she didn't start once ten years ago due to a broken thumb but came on – Costelloe grins ruefully when considering her veteran status.
'You kind of think you're still the youngest in your head, but I think I'm like third or fourth eldest now,' says Costelloe. 'Some days I feel it, I definitely think I've abused my body now, a few aches!
'When I look at some of the girls that have got injured down through the years, I've been lucky touch wood. I broke my thumb in 2015 for the first round of the championship. I came on as a sub, I think that's the only championship match I didn't start so I have been lucky that way.'
There were some All-Ireland quarter-finals along the way but largely, it's been more anguish and despair than exultation and joy. Inconsistency has pockmarked what the Shannonsiders have done and many of the historic minor-winning outfit of 2014 that came through and offered great hope for the future are no longer involved.
Costelloe remains though and admits that her mindset is very different now to when she was interested only in winning senior All-Irelands with Limerick. But one thing, the core element, has never changed.
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In action against Waterford's Bevan Bowdren last year. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
'I think maybe time has made me a realist. At 17, I was probably confident that we could push on and, challenge for an All-Ireland, because underage, we've done that. But I probably, at that time, didn't anticipate how much it takes and how many things just need to fall into place for that to happen.
'But, I still very much have the grá for it, you know? I love going training, I love meeting new girls that come into our panel, and seeing the progress in them over a little while.
'Obviously, I would love to have challenged a bit more. And we probably had teams that were capable of challenging a bit more, but the grá hasn't gone away… I enjoy the company that the girls give. And it's nice sometimes, that younger generation has maybe a different attitude maybe to what I had, and they're a little bit more carefree. And I love watching that.
'People say it's a sacrifice, but it's a choice. I love challenging myself against the very best. I love going training and then challenging myself to try and get better. And you're looking at your stats and you're watching the video, and you're like, 'How much more could I have done in this situation?''
This latter element, this ability to measure contribution and improvement is one of the major changes in the world of inter-county camogie in the past decade.
'When I first came on the panel in 2013, we didn't have an S&C coach. There was no video analysis. It was a case of, 'Go out and win your own ball.' When I reflect back, I think how far we have come as a group and as a sport. Like, before, I remember being told at 13 or 14, that any ball inside the four white lines is a good ball. You'd get crucified if you went and did that now!'
Much is altered but, life is still good. She began teaching in her alma mater, Our Lady's Abbey Girls NS and remains there. That means she is still living at home. Adare won a Munster junior title in 2022, which meant the world. Costelloe was nominated for an All-Star that year too.
And she has had a ball immersing herself in the experience of being a devoted supporter of the hurlers, who changed the face of Limerick GAA forever in recent years, captained for all of that time until this year by her clubmate, Declan Hannon.
'I'm a Limerick fan first and foremost. I have loved going to Croke Park and seeing the boys succeed the way they have. And the family memories that we've created because of it.'
The Limerick hurlers celebrate after last year's Munster final. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
By the time John Kiely's mob bid for a seventh straight Munster title this evening, Costelloe and her teammates will know exactly where they stand with regard to the Glen Dimplex Championship, because their Group 1 derby with Clare at Biomet Zimmer Páirc Chíosóg this afternoon [throw-in 2pm] is to all intents and purposes, a knockout game.
They have both beaten Wexford, and with all-conquering Cork and last year's Division 1A League champions Tipperary also in the group, the consensus is that it is between this pair for the third knockout spot though a Wexford defeat of Tipperary at Chadwicks Wexford Park [4pm] would launch a couple of cats among the pigeons.
Clare had a bye last week after winning their opener, while Limerick are playing their third game in a fortnight. They recovered from a chastening 38-point defeat by Cork in the first round, to edge out Wexford by a goal last week at Mick Neville Park. But Joe Quaid had the team very focused on the games that would matter in this period and there was no damage done by that initial hammering.
With Costelloe scoring eight points, her clubmate Sophie O'Callaghan dominant in the middle, Laura Southern grabbing the goal and goalie Sarah Gillane making a great save, Limerick delivered.
There is a good vibe around. It was Quaid that called Costelloe into the panel in 2013 while the current lead coach, Willie Banks, was a coach of the minor-winning squad the following season. It feels like things have gone the full circle for Costelloe. Certainly, there is no mistaking the excitement she feels ahead of a big game.
'We knew that the two games against Wexford and Claire were going to be huge. And I'm sure they were thinking the exact same thing. We and Clare know each other going back a long, long way now at this stage. It's great that this is probably a preliminary quarter-final in many ways. It's gonna be pure shoulder to the wheel for as long as we can and hopefully that will get us over the line.'
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