Louise Quinn says Ireland felt they had the potential to get more out of the games than they did at the World Cup.
Vera Pauw's side lost their opening two games, 1-0 to Australia and 2-1 to Canada, before drawing their final group match with Nigeria. The first two results meant Ireland no longer had a chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
"We wanted to go further," Quinn told RTÉ during coverage of Tuesday's last-16 games.
"We thought we could have got, at times, more out of the games. When you're playing at that level, you've got to finish chances, you've got to be able to finish out those games.
"As an overall experience, and how we've hopefully managed to change football around the country, that's been really special for us to see now when we're back.
"We held our own against some of the best teams in the competition. We held our own in those first two games.
"We felt like after each game ended that we gave everything but still just missed something. We just needed to put it over the finish line."
26 July 2023; Louise Quinn of Republic of Ireland is consoled by her mother Jacinta after her side's defeat in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Group B match between Republic of Ireland and Canada at Perth Rectangular Stadium in Perth, Australia. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Quinn said that in future, should would like to see Ireland "really going after games".
"Going forward, dominating and scoring goals was something maybe in general Ireland lacked," she said.
“We have brilliant attacking players like Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan and Kyra Carusa, who has really come into her own.
“I feel we’ll also be defensively sorted so we have to push on and figure out how we create more goals apart from set-pieces.
"Our only goal at the World Cup was directly from a corner but we want to go and excite Europe and the World, get Ireland where we deserve to be. That’s possible but we have to take the right steps at the right time.
"Everyone wants to do their best to play attacking football. I get a buzz from the defending, bodies on the line stuff, but you want to take advantage of our quality players going forward."
31 July 2023; Republic of Ireland players, from left, Chloe Mustaki, Jamie Finn and Louise Quinn during a team walk at South Bank before the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Group B match between Republic of Ireland and Nigeria at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
In all, the Ireland squad spent 51 days together, both in preparation for the World Cup and at the tournament in Australia.
"I saw an interview with Ruesha (Littlejohn), and she it perfectly. She was like, 'Obviously not everything is rosy all the time, it never is'. Overall, how we are as a group, we're very, very tight," said Quinn.
"Everyone has their place in the team. If you need a day off away from the girls, everyone is very open and honest about saying that. We're like, 'Go and have a great day. Enjoy family, enjoy being by yourself - do whatever you need to do to make sure you're right coming in and ready to play'.
"Overall, in general, the bond was very close. Everyone has their place, knows where they fit in. Everyone is so important. The 26 players all had their role to play. Getting that many people together in that small, enclosed space for that amount of time, it was brilliant."
Quinn said Amber Barrett was the one "constantly bringing the craic".
"We just had a great time," said Quinn.
"You have to enjoy the experience. You're professionals and you're there for the football but there's a lot of spare time and you have to fill it. There was a karaoke room.
"Everyone had their different ways of doing it. A lot of us switched off by watching a lot of the other teams play games. We were enjoying seeing what else was happening in the tournament. Thankfully, a lot of our families were able to come over.
"Some of the girls went whale watching, saw the koalas, fed some kangaroos. You have to take in these things, switch off, because it is so intense."
Louise Quinn reflects on Ireland's World Cup journey.
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