*Peter Duggan and David Fitzgerald with the Liam MacCarthy. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
SEEING WHAT it means to the people of Clare has made the already sweet success of winning an All-Ireland championship extra special for David Fitzgerald.
In the absence of senior figures such as Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly during the Allianz National Hurling League, it was Fitzgerald who stepped up and led by example to aid the county win their first league title since 2016.
His form during the National League saw him named as the PwC GAA/GPA hurler of the month for March and had there been an accolade for league hurler of the year then the Inagh/Kilnamona man would have scooped the gong, scoring 2-16 from play in the competition.
Fitzgerald’s contribution didn’t end back then and he continued to be a leading light as Clare made their way to the All-Ireland final and collected ultimate honours. By the final whistle in extra time in Sunday’s final, his championship tally for the 2024 season was 2-21, making him Clare’s top scorer from play.
Speaking at the homecoming in Ennis on Monday evening, the towering Inagh/Kilnamona man admitted, “It is quite surreal, John (Conlon) mentioned it coming in here and seeing the massive crowd and the emotion in people and what it means to people, it is just hard to put into words, it is unbelievable”.
Big game performances are nothing new to Fitzy who picked up the man of the match accolade in 2018 when part of the UL side managed by Gary Kirby that were crowned Fitzgibbon Cup champions scoring two points as they defeated DCU 2-21 2-15 in the final.
His potential to become a cult hero of this Clare side was flagged on episodes of The Clare Echo’s sporting podcast, The Water Break in the past two seasons, his ‘ice-cold’ celebrations at the final whistle and a sketch produced by Sporting Ennistymon of his time in goals for them akin to something worthy of featuring in an art exhibition in North Clare.
When asked if he always believed that Clare would prevail in Sunday’s final, he quipped, “Maybe when we were 1-8 to 0-4 down, I’m only joking. We fell behind in games during the year, it is a testament to the group, the way hurling is gone nowadays you can easily be five or ten points down at any period in a game and it is not unimaginable to pull it back”.
