‘It’s about getting the most out of us’- Conor Cleary

Conor Cleary will become the first Miltown Malbay man to play in an All-Ireland senior final since 1934 – 90 years on from Georgie Comerford’s big day he’s eagerly looking forward to it writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh.

Just 30 seconds into the spinetingling promotional video posted on Clare GAA’s social media channels accompanying the announcement of the team for the All-Ireland semi-final told you how far hurling has come in the county over the past 30 years.
With the backdrop of ‘The Mighty Rio Grande’ by post-rock band This Will Destroy, it cuts to stunning mural of pipers Willie Clancy and Michael Talty on the Ennis Road into Miltown Malbay and then to a young girl holding the number three jersey aloft opposite the statute to Clancy on the Main Street.
All this just days before the 2024 Willie Clancy Summer School, but as Anthony Daly might say about Miltown Malbay by recalling his lines from the Ard Comhairle of the Hogan Stand 29 years ago, ‘we love our traditional music, but we love our hurling too’.
When Daly uttered those words in his All-Ireland winning address in 1995 it was probably inconceivable that Miltown Malbay would one day produce an All-Ireland hurling man, but that’s precisely what will happen on Sunday because of that victory inspired.
Conor Cleary in that number three jersey on the edge of the Clare square like his manager used to be before him is one of the most visible representations of what success can breed.
This is traditional music country, but above all it’s football country despite the late Tom Malone’s efforts to fly the hurling flag in his Clonbony field just a poc fada over the buildings on Main Street.
And, despite the crucial role played by Kilmaley and St Flannan’s along the way it’s Miltown Malbay that has produced Cleary – a ten-year veteran of the Clare senior squad at this stage and a bulwark under the management life of Brian Lohan.
“Even though I was from Miltown there was always hurling on in the house,” says Cleary. “My father would have been a huge Clare supporter and was going to games since the ‘80s.
“I got a huge interest from that, while my mother would be a huge GAA person in general. There are some great Clare supporters back west.
“When my parents were going to the games they’d be talking about the people going on the buses and there was always a big crowd from West Clare,” he adds.
So it was that Cleary made the jump from football to hurling country as a kid – the equivalent of crossing the Rio Grande itself as he gradually, over the space of a few years, became consumed by the game.
“I was ten years of age when I went over to Kilmaley,” he recalls, “while I was three or four years asking to go over the road and was eventually brought over the road when I was ten.
“I just really enjoyed the game. I was very lucky that the interest was there by my parents and they brought me. From Kilmaley to Miltown it’s a 20-minute drive and they sacrificed a lot of their own time so we could play the game.
“It was a lot less glamorous when we were playing under 10 hurling with Kilmaley. They didn’t know if we were going to keep going or give it up within a year, but they still brought us over and gave us the chance and I’m very grateful for that all the time.
“Going to Flannan’s was a huge thing. Since I was 12 I was there – in the same year as Tony Kelly, Jack Browne and Peter Duggan. I was exposed to a very high level of hurling from a young age.
“I would have been on development squads in hurling and football from 14 up. At 14, 16 to minor level it would have been very 50/50 – I was probably playing a bit more football at the time.
“It was Ken Ralph that was over the 14 and 16 development squads. Then when I came to minor I had to make a decision between the two and it came down to pure enjoyment. I was just enjoying hurling more so I said I’d keep going, give it a shot and see how I go.”
Not too bad, as his service record over the past decade bears out!
A senior debut in the Waterford Crystal Cup game against Limerick in Sixmilebridge back in January 2014 and a senior championship two years later against Waterford in Thurles and he now has 45 championship appearances to his name.
“They were after winning All-Ireland when I came in at the start of 2014 and there was a great buzz around the team,” he recalls.
“I learned a huge amount from Davy Fitzgerald, Paul Kinnerk, Joe O’Connor and them lads as a young lad coming in. There was great work done, initially when I came in by Davy and then Dónal (Moloney) and Gerry (O’Connor).
“Brian took us at a time when there wasn’t huge appetite to take us after the poor performances in 2019. He gave great belief to the group and when a man of his standing was giving the belief, everyone just fed off that energy.  A lot of the lads had seen Brian play hurling and the esteem he was held in in Clare, he was a hero to an awful lot of us.
“The big thing is that with him that has been a drive to get better every year. He always wanted to get better and better. There was no point sitting on your laurel and that can be seen in the trajectory of the team.”
An upward trajectory that finally has Clare back to where it all started for that cohort of players that includes Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, David McInerney, Séadna Morey, Peter Duggan and Paul Flanagan in 2013.
All-Ireland final day, with Cleary’s leadership role within the group being such that he was the team captain throughout the early part of the season when lifting the National League trophy and then into championship during Tony Kelly’s time on the sidelines recovering from injury.
It’s a great occasion for the county and all that, but as a 15 or as a panel of players it’s about getting the most out of us,” he says ahead of Sunday.
“From a player perspective it’s like any other game with the two-week block between every game. It’s about getting your house in order and being prepared and try and perform as best you can on the day.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge from the way Cork are going. We have to put our own best foot forward and prepare as best as we can and hopefully perform.”
He’s crossed the Rio Grande to get to Croke Park and is set to become the first Miltown Malbay man since Georgie Comerford in 1934 to play in an All-Ireland senior final.
All that’s left is to return to Miltown as an All-Ireland medal winner.