This is a very special weekend.
It's All-Ireland club finals Sunday in Croke Park.
Every club in the country aspires and dreams of getting to GAA headquarters to participate in the biggest day in their history.
It’s phenomenal.
It’s unique.
I should know.
My club was in Croke Park 15 years ago. Forgive me if I boast just a little but we are to this day the only Clare club to ever reach an All-Ireland Club Football Final.
When I was playing with my home parish of Kilmurry Ibrickane on the Wild Atlantic Way in west Clare, we were lucky enough to win a first-round match or maybe get to a quarter final.
We always had the footballers and the talent but not maybe the know-how to win tight games.
Our philosophy had to change.
Our style had to change.
My fellow parishioners were heroic, starting to coach in our five primary schools in our rural parish.
We won Féile, every underage grade and eventually Cusack Cup (senior league), senior championships and two Munster club titles.
My best friends at home tell me all the time the best thing I ever did for the club I love so much was to stop playing, retire and concentrate on getting into broadcasting and RTÉ.
They started winning matches when I left.
Clearly, I have great friends... I’m sure they were joking.
In 2010, the buses left Quilty on a Tuesday, although the match was not until Thursday in Croke Park.
We were going to enjoy this experience.
A little gesture meant a lot to me.
Croke Park, via the kindness of Alan Milton, Head of Communications for the GAA, allowed me the honour of announcing the team selections for my club and St Gall’s of Belfast over the public address system on All-Ireland final day.
It also gave my great friend Jerry Grogan, who normally does the announcing, a five-minute break.
It was incredibly emotional but it meant the world to me and I thank Alan for that unforgettable gesture.
Ultimately, we lost to a great St Gall’s team from the Falls Road in Belfast who fully deserved their All Ireland.
They were also a fierce nice crowd and gave me a great welcome when I went up to do previews for our news bulletins.
From what I have written above, you will realise that I fully understand and appreciate what Sunday means to Daingean Uí Chúis, St Brigid’s, Ballygunner and Loughrea.
While there won’t be 82,300 people packed into Croke Park this Sunday in the way there will be for the inter-county All-Ireland finals in July, do not for a moment underestimate the significance of what lies ahead.
This weekend belongs to the clubs, and for the four teams involved, it represents the very pinnacle of their sporting lives.
For Loughrea, Ballygunner, Daingean Uí Chúis and St Brigid’s of Kiltoom in Roscommon, Sunday’s All-Ireland club finals are not just another fixture on the calendar.
They are the culmination of years of dedication, sacrifice and belief, not just from players and management, but from entire communities who have travelled every step of the journey with them.
The hurling final promises to be a fascinating and compelling contest.
Ballygunner arrive with a reputation that needs little introduction.
For over two decades they have dominated the Waterford club scene, claiming 12 consecutive county titles and adding six Munster crowns along the way.
Their hunger for a second All-Ireland title has been clear for some time, and few could argue with the assertion that Ballygunner have set the standard for modern club hurling.
But standing in their way is a Loughrea side determined to write their own chapter of history.
To lift the cup on Sunday, Loughrea must not only meet Ballygunner’s benchmark, they must surpass it.
That challenge, that sense of occasion, is what makes this final so captivating.
It is the ultimate test of character, composure and courage.
Turning to the football, the storyline is just as compelling.
Like Ballygunner, St Brigid’s are chasing a second All-Ireland title, having previously tasted glory in 2013 when they defeated Ballymun Kickhams in a memorable final.
Since then, expectation has followed them, and this campaign has been about answering it once again.
Their opponents, Daingean Uí Chúis, have produced one of the most remarkable club journeys in recent memory.
The Kerry champions have shown extraordinary resilience, battling back from the brink on multiple occasions in the Kerry championship, in the Munster final against St Finbarr’s and most memorably in their All-Ireland semi-final triumph over Ballyboden St Enda’s.
Time and again, they have refused to yield.
I was on my way to Thurles to commentate on the club camogie final replay for television and was listening to Pauric Lodge on the radio and genuinely thought Ballyboden would win, with the scoreline of something like 1-14 to 0-5 at the start of the second half. Goodnight Daingean Uí Chúis!
At half time in the camogie final, Finbar Mc Carthy from 96FM in Cork poked his head around the corner of the commentary box to tell me Daingean Uí Chúis and Ballyboden was gone to extra time in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
What? It couldn’t be?
But it was true.
As a commentator, these are the days you live for.
The emotion, the tension, the sense that something truly special is unfolding.
Win, lose or draw, Sunday, 18 January in Croke Park will be etched forever in the memories of those who take the field and those who stand proudly behind them.
So please don’t underestimate All-Ireland club finals day in Croke Park.
It’s a dream to get there.
Very few achieve it.
Even fewer know what it’s like to win and lift the cup that signals you are the best team not just in your county, not just in your province, but in the country.
Now that would make any human being cry with sheer pride.
