The difference a week can make. For a few whirlwind days at the end of July, the McCambridge household in Lurgan pulsed like it was the very epicentre of Gaelic games. Because, in many ways, that’s exactly what it was.
On Saturday, July 20th Clodagh McCambridge captained Armagh in an All-Ireland women’s senior football semi-final against Kerry. Her sister, Meabh, was also part of the Armagh panel that day in Tullamore when the Kingdom edged a closely fought contest, 1-8 to 0-7.
The following weekend, Clodagh and Meabh’s brother Barry lined out for Armagh in the All-Ireland men’s senior football decider against Galway on an afternoon the Orchard County claimed only their second Sam Maguire title.
Barry (25) falls in the middle of his siblings, with Clodagh (27) the eldest and Meabh (23) the youngest.
Clodagh, who during the season smashed through the milestone of 100 appearances for Armagh, captained the county to a maiden Division One women’s National Football League title in April.
In many ways, it was a dream season for the family – but coming up short in the quest for Brendan Martin Cup glory still rankles with Clodagh and she hopes the men’s triumph this term can spur the women on in 2025.
[ Clodagh McCambridge: ‘Making history isn’t something to shy away from’Opens in new window ]
“It was a brilliant (year), but I would love to have won an All-Ireland myself,” she says. “The (men) hadn’t been far away in recent years but they definitely wouldn’t have been anybody’s favourite, I don’t think, to win the All-Ireland this year.
“For them to win it and for it to feel quite close to home, there are a lot of family connections within Armagh between the teams, so I think it is definitely a big motivator for next year and it’s probably something we’ll talk a lot about ahead of next year.”
All three siblings still live at home with parents John and Helen, so there isn’t much escaping talk of football around the kitchen table.
“I’d say Barry probably tries to ban it (football talk) from my mum,” she smiles. “She’s probably the worst for it. No, just because we’re all in the same boat we probably know that it’s a timing thing more than anything, when to talk about it and when not to.”
There is a decent chance that on Thursday Barry’s name will be one of the three included on the shortlist for Footballer of the Year.
He marked David Clifford and Shane Walsh during the championship but also managed to chip in with a scoring tally of 2-5 at the other end of the field.
“At the start of the year Barry was not necessarily getting on, so you are not too sure if he is going to get too much game-time and then suddenly he gets his opportunity and then he takes it,” adds Clodagh.
“He got big scores in big games and he had a brilliant season. It was completely unexpected and I don’t know if he thought he had that in himself, but we’re really proud.”
Clodagh, who wore the number three jersey for Armagh this year, remembers the day her brother was challenged with marshalling Clifford.
“I couldn’t relax just watching him. I am a defender myself so I know how Barry feels. He did as well as he could and I know he got a lot of support from the players around him to help him out as well.”
The week after Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh brought Sam Maguire back to the Orchard County, the All-Ireland women’s senior football final between Kerry and Galway took place at Croke Park. Clodagh, who had hoped to be captaining Armagh on the field that afternoon, still made the trip to Dublin to attend that decider.
“I went down, yeah. I think amongst the team definitely a missed opportunity is probably the way you would look at it,” says Clodagh when looking back at Armagh’s championship campaign.
“We lost to Kerry in that semi-final, luckily we had the men’s All-Ireland the week after so that was a welcome distraction and we probably actually didn’t think about it too much that week because there was so much going on that you couldn’t.
“But I think the week after then when we were back down and watching the ladies final, especially after the men had just won, it kind of left you thinking what could have been.”
Armagh led by three points early in the first half when Clodagh was temporarily forced off after a clash of heads left her with a facial cut that required treatment.
During her time off the pitch, Kerry outscored Armagh 1-2 to 0-1 and grabbed control of the contest.
“I think just where it was, he couldn’t get it closed quickly, it just kept bleeding and I think it was probably bleeding for the rest of the game,” she recalls.
“But yeah, it was frustrating having to watch on. Just when the goal went in, I was just mad keen to get back on again. I think after that we were probably in a position where we were chasing the game.”
And Armagh will be back in pursuit of All-Ireland glory in 2025.
McCambridge was speaking at the announcement that AIB is to become the title sponsor of the women’s All-Ireland club football championship. The four-year sponsorship marks the first time a single sponsor has united all four codes – Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and women’s football.
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