Harking back to the camogie glory days of 1996

SOME will remember the former All-Ireland senior camogie sharpshooter as Martina Harkin. Others will identify her by her married name of Martina Carr. To the rest of us, though, she is simply known as ‘Harkie’.

It is hard to believe, given the abundance of talent in the county, that it is 14 years since ‘Harkie’ and the Galway senior camogie team claimed their one and only O’Duffy Cup. Since then, there have been a number of false dawns, while the years, at least at senior level, have become punctuated by heartache and disappointment. On Sunday, the class of 2010 has the unenviable task of bucking that trend.

To some degree, Galway camogie has lived off the heroics of ’96. And why not? Having trailed Cork 1-9 to 1-6 at half-time of the decider, the Tribeswomen produced a second half of guile and purpose to run out deserving winners on a scoreline of 4-8 to 1-15, with Craughwell’s Denise Gilligan bagging two goals and Harkin and Dympna Maher netting Galway’s third and fourth. It was the county’s finest hour.

“When I think about it,” begins Harkin, “the first person I met when the whistle was blown was Ronnie (Veronica) Curtin, and we rolled, and we rolled, and we rolled on the ground of Croke Park. We didn’t know what was happening. 

 “Okay, we knew we had won, we knew we had won an All-Ireland medal, but it was just one of those indescribable feelings that I hope these girls get to have a taste of on Sunday. The gap needs to be bridged and we need to get over this dream of ’96. Make it a reality now for 2010. Galway’s time has come. I definitely think so.”

When it comes to camogie, there are few more passionate about the game than ‘Harkie’. At 35 years of age, she continues to ply her trade with her club, Pearses – with which she has won eight county and five All-Ireland club titles – and, indeed, in 2009, she returned to the inter-county senior set-up on the back of her outstanding displays with the Galway intermediate team the previous year. What do they say about class being permanent?

In any event, Talking Sport is in the home of the Carr family – Martina is married to Ballinderreen hurler and strength and conditioning coach, Keith Carr – on this Tuesday afternoon. Her four-year-old son Adam, who is to begin his schooling the following day, is outside at play with his next-door neighbours and cousins.

As always, ‘Harkie’ has a beaming smile and a hearty welcome. One thing you need to know about the former camogie star, she has a wicked sense of humour. Indeed, when asked what have been the main changes she has seen over the years as a player, she laughs: “In ’96, we thought the core was the centre of the earth! Not something that you have to work on for your strength and conditioning!”

Mention of ’96, though, brings the memories flooding back. Some, like the victory celebration with Curtin – who continues to line out for the county seniors and will lead the attack on Sunday – remain vivid; others have become a blur.

However, another of her abiding memories was the doing the warm-up drills with Galway coach Tony Ward before the final and just how difficult it was to acclimatise herself to the event and its surroundings. “I remember thinking ‘my God, this is tough’.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.