Clodagh Dunne ready to embrace a new landscape with Laois ahead of serious tests with Dublin and Meath in Leinster

While her memory of the on-field action is somewhat sketchy, Laois defender Clodagh Dunne had the privilege of being amongst a crowd of 21,000 at Croke Park as her county finally reached the promised land on 30 September, 2001.

Following seven previous defeats - and a drawn encounter with Monaghan in 1996 - the O'Moore women eventually claimed the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship crown courtesy of a dramatic win against reigning champions Mayo. On level terms with time almost up, Mary Kirwan knocked over a late free to ensure Laois secured a breakthrough Brendan Martin Cup success on a final score of 2-14 to 1-16.

"I barely remember it. I just remember the fear that I felt. My Dad, I was on his shoulders. I would have been maybe five or six. He leaped up, we were up high in the stand and he jumped up out of the stand when they’d won and the final whistle went," Dunne recalled of that historic day in Dublin.

"I thought I was going to land straight down onto the field! I just remember him bringing me to all the games and telling me about different players like Sue Ramsbottom. All the legends really."

Although Ramsbottom (a seven-time TG4 All-Star winner) retired just a couple of years later, Kirwan was still on the scene when Dunne made her debut for the Laois seniors as a teenager in 2012.

She had to contend with the disappointment of relegation from the senior championship in 2017, before sampling her own All-Ireland glory at GAA HQ last July. Selected as part of a full-back line that also included Aisling Donoher and team captain Aimee Kelly, Dunne and her O’Moore colleagues held off a strong challenge from provincial rivals Wexford in Croke Park to get their hands on the All-Ireland intermediate championship