Annie Fitzgerald is hoping that she will make her family proud this Sunday, and will leave Croke Park with an All-Ireland medal come the end of proceedings.
The Gailltír star forward has lined out with both the Waterford camogie side and ladies footballers this year and has played a huge role in helping her county to a first All-Ireland decider since 1945.
Annie admitted that when the Déise were seven points behind early on versus Tipperary in the semi-final, doubts did begin to creep into her mind - however, composure proved key for her and her teammates as they ultimately wrestled back control to create history in Nowlan Park.
“We were 7 points down, and it would have been easy to think, oh here we go again it’s like the Munster Championship”, said dual star Fitzgerald.
“We just trusted the process. We know everyone has their own job to do on the field and everyone is clued in to what they have to do. The big thing is that we didn’t panic. We just kept tapping away and Mairéad Power got the goal at the right time. We took over the game from then on.”
Annie’s grandmother played in the 1959 All-Ireland semi-final loss, and it wasn’t until this year that the Déise finally bridged the 78-year gap to make it to the decider at the third time of trying. Annie says she remains a huge source of both personal and sporting inspiration.
“She’d probably be my biggest supporter. She’s at every match. Growing up, she was always there - she’s mad about it. She always has words of encouragement, she wouldn’t be hesitating to tell you what you’re doing wrong after either! We’ve learned a lot from her, telling us the good things and the bad.”
Coming from famed Ballygunner lineage including Fitzgeralds, Mahonys, and Sullivans alike - Annie and her family are no strangers to the biggest stages such as Croke Park, but there is one person above all else she knows will be willing her on come throw-in versus Cork on Sunday evening.
“My Grandad would’ve been a big influence on all of us. He would have played with Ballygunner and was a prominent figure within the GAA locally. I’m going to be thinking of him. He would only love this, he’d love to see me playing in an All-Ireland Final. I think of that as a source of inspiration. You just have to look around and see all the Waterford people coming in. Everyone is driving us on and hoping that we do win - that support is so important to us.”
