The Big Interview: Wins, losses and the hunt for more with Kildare captain and Eadestown's Grace Clifford

There is a timeless debate among fans of Gaelic football, would you rather have success with your club or your county? Grace Clifford chose the third option, and did both.

That success started in 2015 with Leinster intermediate title wins with both her club Eadestown and the side she now captains, Kildare.

“I was asked what my most valued achievement with Kildare was and I would have to say it was the 2015 Leinster Intermediate title. We hadn’t had a piece of silverware for such a long time. It meant so much, it was genuinely surreal. We had put in years of work and got no recognition for it. That’s what silverware represents, it’s not just about the cup but it represents the work that was put in over the years. I can still remember it vividly,” Grace said.

“It has been a whirlwind few years with Eadestown, since we won that first Leinster final the same year with Kildare and the club. To think that we would go on and then win three senior titles, honestly, hand on heart, never thought I’d even have one. When we got to the county final with Confey in 2018, the whole county was behind us because Confey had won a couple before. I wasn’t being negative on the day but I was thinking I’m going to make the most of this because when will we ever get one again?”

Eadestown has produced many stars and regardless of the sport they ended up in, it all seems to start with Eadestown GAA. Ireland rugby star Tadhg Beirne has mentioned his previous relationship with the club, as has newcomer Jimmy O’Brien who trained with the Irish squad last week. Regardless of the sport or gender, the locals always offer up fervent support to one of their own.

“You see when we played Foxrock-Cabinteely and the county final, honestly everybody was there, every household had someone there. That’s what it always had been, so much pride in the area. It’s such a testament to the area that such a small area can produce so many high-level sportspeople in multiple sports,” Grace said.

“Eadestown has always pushed sport, not just GAA, Community Games and even in the primary school we did everything, all sports. You can see it now in high-level Irish sports with the rugby lads and if you go back on their history they will have all done those Community Games and school activities same as we all did.”

Many supporters and journalists alike have tried to figure out the secret of the sporting success of Eadestown. Grace, as one of the parish’s best, thinks that the equality of treatment and opportunity has been key to thriving teams of both men and women.

“A hot topic at the moment is the LGFA and GAA coming under the same umbrella. When I think about Eadestown, it is genuinely so equal there. It’s not about the females or the men, it’s just practical thinking — the Ladies have a match? They get the main pitch,” Grace explained.

“That attitude of treating us as all one club is brilliant. We have so many great people involved in the club giving their time. Every club has those special people and we have Gerry Kavanagh. He always believed we could do these great things and a lot of people thought he was crazy.”

The success Gerry Kavanagh and others within the club would have been hoping for was captured again in 2020 with another Kildare Senior title. However, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Eadestown fans had to watch from home on a live stream instead of flooding the pitch and celebrating with their champions. But what an incentive for the Ladies to go and do it again in 2021.

“We had done it the year before and we weren’t able to have anybody at the game. The Kildare LGFA were great last year with live-streaming the game, and not that the 2020 win wasn’t special but to win with everybody there was brilliant and the buzz around the parish was immense,” Grace smiled.

“The parish was covered in flags, it was crazy. The added bonus then of fans being able to come with us onto the pitch and then come out with us that night in Hayden’s made it all the more special. To be able to celebrate properly.”

Ruptured ligament
It hasn’t always been straightforward for the Kildare captain. Just three years before she was given that title, she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament. Grace had been playing through the pain during the 2015 season; and when she finally gave in and decided to get her knee looked at in late 2016, it wasn’t the news she was hoping for.

“Maybe in the back of my mind I was thinking because things were going so well I just didn’t want an injury so I kept playing that year. We lost the All-Ireland final in 2015 and I knew 2016 would be the year we’d go back to it and Eadestown had moved up to Senior after the year’s success. I walked into a clinic thinking it was going to be cartilage and being told it was my ACL. At that time I was very naive and was thinking that ACL was going to be the end of me,” Grace described.

“I was fortunate to get the operation the following May and it was a tough time for me. I occasionally think if I had it down the previous May I would have been there for the All-Ireland win but I was the water girl instead. I stayed involved with Kildare because I had heard a lot people say you become isolated with a knee injury. I had a great relationship with our physio and I came to training and did my rehab there."

Positives in failure

“I am delighted I did that, I am always trying and look at failures as positives. I was so determined to be better because you would always hear this person or that person was never the same after their knee injury. I was determined to come back and still able to offer what I did before. 2017 was getting back to it all but ever since then I’ve been back to normal thankfully.”

The next few years would be anything but normal as Grace would go on to win three Kildare senior titles with Eadestown and be made captain of her county.

Grace’s mentality to overcome an injury that has ended the careers of many sportspeople set her on a road back to the top, a journey that was laden with trophies. Despite this, when then Kildare manager Daniel Moynihan asked to meet her before training, she feared the worst.

“I was asked to see the manager before training and I was texting one of the girls all worried, you are wondering whether you are not going to start at the weekend or be dropped.

“It (the captaincy) was not something I had even dreamed of. Kildare has been so fortunate with brilliant leaders in the squad over the years. I suppose that’s how I perceived a captain early on and when I was given that role I was making sure I replicated those high standards,” Grace said.

“In the beginning, maybe I was trying to be everything, trying to be like the ones who have gone before you or watching movies on what a captain is supposed to be. Shouting in the dressing room isn’t my nature but there are many ways to lead, which I learned over time. I was given the honour again this year and we have a panel of 35 and there are loads of leaders among us that all offer something different. I just go up for the toss. My own way is to lead by example on and off the field. I have an easy job because we have a panel of leaders.”

We come to the present day and the Kildare ladies and new manager Sean Finnegan have booked a spot in the National League Division 3B semi-finals with a game to spare. The Lilywhites have dispatched Wexford and Longford with two stellar performances.

Winning attitude
“Sean has come in and change is always good. He has been there and done it, winning the intermediate All-Ireland with Westmeath last year. He has brought other people with that same pedigree. If they are with us they have a winning attitude, they see that potential in us and that mindset transfers over. That’s where we have lacked the last few years, that ruthlessness and getting over the line,” Grace explained.

“Sean sees that potential in us and that all you can ask from any manager. He promotes playing with that lack of fear, with freedom to express ourselves, taking those risks. We are playing more off the cuff and more natural and that’s because he’s instilling that confidence in us. Talking to the girls you can feel that through the squad.”

Both captain and manager have kept their cards close to their chests on their side’s chances this season but there is no doubt they are ready to compete this year.

“We’re not training to just be there, it’s a huge commitment and it becomes more and more each year. We were so close last year to league promotion, we were Intermediate All-Ireland semi-finalists so I always say you would like to go that step ahead each year."

“I’m all about taking each game and competition as it comes but if it’s July 31 and I have a few medals around my neck I’ll be happy. You have to have that desire and lofty goals because that is what motivates you.”