Third cut was the sweetest for Kerry - Kayleigh Cronin

Now is their winter of content.

For most teams in Gaelic games, November is a chance to recharge the batteries, both mental and physical.

But for those beaten in finals, it can feel like an age.

This time last year, Kerry were still trying to come to terms with a second successive All-Ireland Ladies SFC final defeat.

But, following a comprehensive victory over Galway in August, the cup named in honour of the recently departed Brendan Martin will winter in the Kingdom for the first time in 31 years - much to the relief of player of the match Kayleigh Cronin and her team-mates.

"We were in the depths of despair this time, for the last few years, wondering was it all worth it, wondering would we be able to get back again," she tells RTÉ Sport.

"Thanks be to God, we came together last year and went for one more, and got over the line.

"Third time around, there had to be questions in the back of your mind - there certainly were in mine. Just wondering 'Christ, are we going to fall apart again?' We did an awful lot of work with our sports psychologist leading up to it, and also approached the game differently then we had the two previous years.

"That really, really helped getting up for it, because we just treated it like any other game. In previous years, we probably would have got a small bit too emotional, so that was huge for me. I woke up the morning of the game fresh as, I was just ready for another game. We left all the emotion out of it until after.

"I think we definitely do appreciate it more. We know how hard it is to get there in the first place, never mind to get over the line."

"I was kind of like 'what am I at doing athletics here?'"

Cronin is a self-described "late bloomer", having only made the switch to inter-county