By Niall Gartland

PLAYING in an All-Ireland final is a privilege few of us will ever get the chance to savour – and Monaghan camog Michelle Morgan has extra cause to cherish the prospect of Saturday’s Junior final showdown with Mayo.

First of all, Monaghan camogie was defunct at senior intercounty level for a full 15 years before making its long-awaited return at the outset of this season. That alone is something that Morgan, who was actually involved back in the day before the shutters went down, certainly doesn’t take for granted.

But it’s not just the chance to pull on a county jersey in an All-Ireland final. There’s also the family element – Michelle is joined on the team by two of her daughters, Sioneen and Codi. Merge all those pieces together and it makes for a rather surreal experience.

Morgan said: “I was in two minds whether to go back or not. I’m probably the oldest one on the team, but I just decided at the last minute I’d put my name down, and it’s been great. We’ve been out since January, and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. My two daughters are playing along with me as well. It’s a bit surreal, actually, because I never thought we’d be putting on the county jersey again. It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s great for all the clubs in Monaghan because there are so few of them, so it just gives everybody a bit of a boost.”

FAMILY MATTERS…Michelle Morgan isn’t the only talented camog in her family

Michelle quips that playing alongside her daughters is no ‘flex’ on her part (we appreciate the lingo). That said, Saturday will still be a moment of considerable pride for the Morgan family and rightly so.

“A couple of years ago, there was a picture of myself and the girls, including my youngest – she’s not playing now as she had exams this year. It went a bit viral on Facebook, loads of people engaged with it.

“I’m just delighted to be playing to be honest. They’re coming along with me, and if I can inspire them to keep going, that’s great. But I don’t see it as any sort of flex or anything like that, I’m just happy to be involved.”

As you might expect, the camogie scene in Monaghan is small and tight-knit. There are only a smattering of clubs in the county, with Morgan lining out with Clontibret. It wasn’t actually her native club though.

“I started in primary school at eight or nine – we had a coach there. I live in Castleblayney, so I started there. We played blitzes and all sorts. Then I moved to Clontibret. I didn’t play camogie for about six years when we were building a house and having kids, and Clontibret approached me. I was in two minds, but I joined them anyway. It was a bit strange at the start because the clubs are quite close, but I’m glad I did, I’ve never looked back.”

Morgan even played in goals in an All-Ireland final with Clontibret. Their Junior B Championship final against Meath side Ratoath didn’t go to plan, though it was still a championship run that she’ll never forget.

“That was back in 2018, I had actually hung up my boots in 2017. They were struggling at the start of the year. I was still in the group chat and I put a message in saying I’d stand in goals for them. I ended up playing, and we got all the way to a club final. It was a crazy year, and that was me back again, and I’m still here nearly 10 years later.”

Whatever happens on Sunday – and they’ll need to make amends for a chastening Division 3B final defeat at the hands of their All-Ireland final opponents Mayo – it’s still been a hugely rewarding experience. Moreover, all the players involved will be primed for battle on the club scene after putting in so much hard work behind the scenes.

“I knew Monaghan would come back at intercounty level at some stage, but I never saw myself playing again. I’m glad I did. It’s a different level. It’s tough. It definitely exposes your weaknesses, and that’s nearly a good thing, you know what you have to work on. The training’s been great. It got us fairly fit at an early stage of the year, so it’ll be good going into club season after it’s finished.

“Mayo are a very strong physical team. We played them in the league final and they were very strong. Hopefully we’re a bit wiser now in terms of what we need to do and have more research done on the players. We were like rabbits in headlights in the league final, and it was all streamed too, sometimes that can get into your head. But I think we’re definitely more prepared this time and have been working very hard in training. We’re all in the same mindset.”

The reality of camogie at this level is that nothing gets done without what is invariably a small band of committed volunteers. Morgan namechecks their chairperson Dympna Hughes as particularly deserving of praise.

“Dympna is county chair and is also our FLO [Female Liaison Officer]. She’s always squirrelling away in the background taking care of things – important invisible work that people maybe don’t appreciate. You need a team behind you – physios, people making the food, it all helps keep the show on the road. It just doesn’t work otherwise.”