Michael Fitzsimons is standing in the tunnel beneath the Hogan Stand, a Cuala gear-bag draped across his right shoulder. He wears it lightly, for a player whose collection of medals could carry its own exhibit.
Fitzsimons was a trailblazer even before last weekend, having already accumulated a record nine Sam Maguire triumphs with Dublin – topping that medal chart alongside county team-mates James McCarthy and Stephen Cluxton.
But the 36-year-old has now added a 10th senior medal following Cuala’s club success over Errigal Ciarán. Fitzsimons was also part of Dublin’s All-Ireland junior football championship winning team in 2008 – so Sunday was his 11th All-Ireland adult medal.
The club victory comes just three months after Cuala made their breakthrough in the capital – the Dalkey outfit only won their first Dublin SFC in October. And, truth be told, 12 months ago Fitzsimons would have settled for just getting his hands on a county title before finishing up – never mind plotting for anything beyond that.
“Oh yeah, completely,” smiles Fitzsimons. “That [county final win] was phenomenal, that was probably the pinnacle. But then to come here [to an All-Ireland final].
“I think Luke [Keating] said it, you don’t dream of winning Leinsters, it’s kind of somewhere in between, but then to win an All-Ireland with the club, it’s just phenomenal.”
Phenomenal is a word that could fittingly sum up his career.
Despite the defender’s decorated days in blue, it is clear that Sunday’s club success naturally resonates on a more personal and community level. He has looked at other Dublin clubs in the past walk up the steps of the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland final day, but for many years that didn’t seem a realistic goal for Cuala.
“The bond we have with Dublin is phenomenal and the way you get to know lads, from different parts of the city, that’s phenomenal. But you can’t beat winning with the club,” he says.
“I would have watched all those club All-Ireland finals in envy, but admiration for those lads too. Mossy Quinn led Vincent’s, and Michael Savage, Ger Brennan, lovely lads.
“I’d see them doing it and then Crokes were doing it, with [Paul] Mannion and Rory [O’Carroll]. I’d get on very well with those lads and I was always so impressed with what they did. Darragh Nelson at Ballyboden, the same.
“So, yeah, it was always something we’d dreamed of but a lot of times we didn’t think it would happen. We knew we had decent players but it was pulling it together and getting a panel.”
His commitment to the club is unquestioned. James Power, who was the team captain this season, tells a story of a league game between Cuala and Raheny many years ago. With Dublin players not meant to be togging out for club league fixtures, Fitzsimons turned up to watch his colleagues.
However, on noticing fellow Dublin player David Henry take to the field for Raheny, Fitzsimons sprang into action.
“He goes, ‘feck this’, gets his boots on and starts playing. He’s been huge really in getting us here in terms of just dragging the culture and the expectation,” says Power.
But then he has always been part of the club. Fitzsimons is one of the lifers who was there when Cuala were hanging around the intermediate grade in Dublin. They eventually got a crew together to push for promotion, but even then there were defeats in consecutive intermediate finals – 2010 and 2011.
They finally got over the line in 2012 but a subsequent restructuring of the senior grade left Cuala muddling around in Senior B for a couple of seasons.
“We were just chatting and you remember where we’ve come from, as in there were just a few lads at certain points keeping the whole thing afloat, mentors behind the team and then some senior players,” adds Fitzsimons.
“All these senior lads really kept it going when probably some of the players weren’t committing and had dropped out. You just remember that and remember that it was worth sticking at.
“It was probably nearly the last proper chance to have a go at it, for myself, Luke and James to really have a go as the three of us together, as well as the likes of my brother John, and David Sheeran and Conor O’Brien.
“A lot of the time with Dublin you can get pulled away, I remember at the start of my career I was always trying to stay involved with the club and to help out as much as I could, but once you get older and you get into work it’s more difficult.
“But definitely this year there was even more of a conscious effort from us to all plug in and to help out as regards structure and how we wanted to play, how we went at it.”
How they went at it? Successfully, it turns out.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to the Counter Ruck podcast for the best rugby chat and analysis
