I mean, what about that? Like what was it about that experience that sparked the idea and how did you ever imagine it would premiere, the Sydney Opera House? I mean, I know that kind of just – came together, but did you have those big

dreams? I did not have big dreams.

I'm surprisingly quite unambitious and quite like, ah, things just won't work out kind of person.

So I could have never, ever imagined when I was 15 with my guitar playing You know, coming up with the magic touch chorus.

I could have never, ever, ever, ever dreamed that it would be on at the Sydney Opera House one day.

What? But yeah, I just was, I was doing it at school.

I like, I remember when they said we're going to do our yearly play.

Yeah.

How do you see that change in Cork? Will it be the same in the future?

Yeah, look, I know there are a lot of people out there, but I think it's important to do the same.

You can't go back and not have a chance or not have a chance, because if you look at the world at the moment, you know, there are people like Aisling Thompson, you know, Laura Hayes, Saoirse McCarty, the most important thing is, you know, in the world, you know, Saoirse McCarty is doing well, she's doing very well at the moment, You know, he was only two years old when he was three years old.

He's still very young.

So, I think it's important for Aisling Thompson to be here in the next few years.

You know, people are not going to be able to go home.

And I think it's important for him to be here in the next few years.

Do you remember that story,

And secondly, the sort of common things that maybe you see in practice from clients who are in this phase of their lives.

Yeah.

So a classic one is midlife.

You're in what's sort of been termed like the sandwich generation.

So put aside any other thing, you know, most women of this age have children, but their parents are aging.

Plus, they're trying to still work.

A lot of people trying to work full time.

But is that a help or a hindrance when it comes to your nighttime sleep?

What was all that about?

Yeah, that was probably my most anticipated stop because Devin and I had talked about going there so many times.

And it was a special place for his family.

They had vacationed there together.

So it was a highlight of the trip, but it was also a low of the trip because I kind of felt his absence, I would say, the most there.

But I met up with his sister and his dad there, which was amazing.

His sister is probably the person that makes me feel closest to him.

So going on the honeymoon was one thing, but writing the book, why did you want to do that?

What, what was all that about?

Yeah, that was probably my most anticipated stop because Devon and I had talked about going there so many times, and it was a special place for his family.

They had vacationed there together.

So it was a highlight of the trip, but it was also a low of the trip because I, I kind of felt his absence, I would say, the most there.

But I met up with his sister and his dad there, which was amazing.

His sister is probably the person that makes me feel closest to him, so it was nice to have that experience with her.

so, so going on, on the honeymoon was one thing, but writing the book, um, why did you want to do that?

Yeah.

I

suppose just jumped up and landed awkwardly on the knee.

And I suppose maybe for 30 seconds or that, I wasn't sure myself.

But thankfully, the lads were strapped up and it was grand then after a few minutes and felt good again.

So, yeah, delighted with that.

Not too serious.

Anything with the knee, you know, it was kind of for the worst.

It's a real mantra in the group, not to let go, never to give up.

The last score, that must have been a, a special moment o- on the opposite end [chuckles] of the emotional spectrum, shall we say.

Yeah.

Like, that's it, I suppose.

Knowing, uh, you know, looking up at the clock and seeing that there was maybe, um, a couple of seconds left.

And, uh, you know, [laughs] thankfully that went over the bar.

It was a few...

We had a few chances.

H- how did you deal with that, quote unquote, "pressure," or whatever way you would've phrased it?

Will you be trying to dish out a bit of advice now to the younger girls who haven't maybe played in a, a big stakes game in Croke Park before?

Um, look, to be honest, any of the, the younger girls that are in on the panel here have, have just, they've really taken on leadership roles within the team themselves, which is, you know, to be relying on girls who are maybe 20, 21 years of age who are just, um, you know, they're, they're flying the flag for us this year.

Um, you know, they're really after putting their hands up and taking the opportunities they've been given with both hands, which is, you know, it's great to see.

And, uh, you know, you're nearly, you're nearly relying on, on them, them girls when you go out.

You know, that sense of calm that, that they bring and then, um, yeah, so I think that's maybe the, a bit of a difference that we've, we've had this year is those girls just taking on these leadership roles and, um, you know, you can really see it, uh, in the way that they approach the games.

What was it like getting to play under him, and it would probably be a brilliant thing for Kilkenny hurling to have him involved, wouldn't it?

Yeah.

Um, you know, I've nothing but only good things to say about Brian.

Doesn't tell the whole story though, does it?

No, it doesn't feel like that.

I suppose the scoreboard definitely doesn't reflect how intense the game was and even the first couple of minutes it was tit for tat.

They really came at us today and look, we expected nothing less.

Clare were coming in today undefeated throughout the whole year.

They had a great run in the league winning the 1B and then the same in the Championship they hadn't lost the match.

So we expected nothing less and I suppose maybe just in the last couple of minutes pulled away but other than that it was a very, very tight game.

You are where you want to be, and all the talk is about the other group and Tier 1 counties, but is that even crossing the players' minds, or is it all just about being in that big day in Croke Park?

A bit of a sweeper on both sides, so had a bit of freedom there in the half-back line? Yeah, I suppose

Clare came out with a sweeper, so maybe something we weren't expecting, they hadn't done it in their previous games.

I know Clare are a super team at working the ball out, they create that overlap and it's very, very hard to defend against.

I thought they were super in the first half.

Like you said, there was only four points between us at half-time.

It opened up a little bit more in the second half.

Maybe our midfield broke the line a little bit and got through for a couple of scores, which was great.

What was the change in your influence in the game, do you think, while you got on so much more

This is Laura Murphy from Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice.

I mean, I think it's funny.

If you, if you saw my car, you'd realize I've got Allen wrenches, I've got, uh, splinting material, I've got, you know, a, a box cutter.

Whatever you need, you g- you need to have it in your car if you're an occupational therapist, especially.

You know, it's l- you know someone who has a threshold that they can't get over, and maybe next thing you know, you're taping a box so that they can, you know, the box sort of clears the threshold for them.

Like, one of my OT friends came up with the idea, um, a lot of folks, for example, this is a real, this is a real micro story, but difficulty just reaching their hair to wash, to scrub their hair.

And she came up with this idea of using a spaghetti fork because it extends it [laughs] and it has little claws, so you can kind of scrub your hair, and it's one of the strategies that's most effective.