On a Saturday evening late last month, John Conlon slipped in the backdoor of the Castle Oaks Hotel in Limerick where his brother's wedding was taking place. Shortly before, just 20 minutes down the M7 at the Gaelic Grounds, he'd been named Man of the Match as Clare beat Limerick in the Munster hurling championship.
Conlon, who was his brother Pa's best man, had left the wedding at 4pm earlier in the evening to meet with his Banner teammates ahead of the crucial game.
"I had the suit in the dressing room. I just threw the suit on. Some of the lads were laughing, saying 'We should all wear suits going to games now'," says Conlon, speaking after being named PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for April in hurling.
"I tried to hide coming back in [to the hotel]. I came in the back door, and went up to the bar to a few of my cousins. I had a pint. I was trying to make sure that I didn't take from their day.
"Then one of the bridesmaids saw me, she had me out on the dancefloor to make a bit of a deal out of it. I was back to the bar as quick as I could.
"It was a super day. It was a great distraction from the game. I didn't really think about it until I was inside the hotel meeting the team before going to the Gaelic Grounds.
"It was just unfortunate the game came on the same day. It made the wedding in another sense at the end of it. The pressure was on me to get the win, making sure it wasn't a downer on the day! I was delighted for the brother - there are only the two of us. That was his special day and I didn't want to ruin it.
"The hotel, in fairness, put up a big TV screen for the wedding party. I'm sure nearly every table had the phones out with GAAGO going from what I hear."
29 April 2023; Gearóid Hegarty of Limerick is marked by John Conlon of Clare, off the ball, during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 2 match between Limerick and Clare at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
One positive, from Conlon's perspective, was that he did not have to do the best man's speech.
"I didn't have to deliver that dreaded speech in front of people," he says.
"I did one of them before. They're a dreaded affair. You need a nice few whiskeys before it to get you ready! It was a lot easier inside in the Gaelic Grounds.
"I had the speech written out alright. I gave it to my brother's best friend Eoin Meehan. As he said at the start, 'This is all written by John, so if I say anything bad here, this is John's fault inside in the Gaelic Grounds!'
"I got a text off my wife saying they were in the middle of it as I was just getting ready inside in the dressing room. It was nice to see that it had gone off well."
Clare went into the game against Limerick feeling as though their season was on the line. A week previous, they'd conceded five goals to Tipperary and lost their opening game of the championship by five points.
"It's funny, we go to the gym on Mondays, do a recovery session," says Conlon.
"When you walked in after the Tipperary game, it was like a morgue, and then after the Limerick game, the place was buzzing. I said to one of the lads that seven days makes some difference.
"We were disappointed after the Tipperary game. To concede five goals in a championship match, and give them such a head start, you can't do that at inter-county level.
"There were certain aspects of the game, when you look at the stats... we created a lot of scoring chances, did very well on their puckout and our puckout, a lot of things we were very happy with."
28 September 2013; John Conlon, Clare, celebrates following his side's victory. GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final Replay, Cork v Clare, Croke Park, Dublin. Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
The Clare and Limerick rivalry is a particularly intense one for Conlon. The Clonlara man lives closer to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick than to Cusack Park in Ennis.
'If Clare win, or Limerick win, we congratulate each other'
"With Limerick, we're playing a team that we know very well," says Conlon.
"We're intertwined in terms of work-life balance. My wife works in Monaleen as a primary school teacher. I work in Shannon. We only live out the road.
"A lot of the hurling clubs would be east Clare, which would be on the border with Limerick. The way Limerick City is designed, it's so close to the Clare border, it's just over the river Shannon to us.
"A team that's always winning, maybe there's that level of fear [about them] but maybe we don't have that same level of fear because we're so used to seeing each other, and engaging with each other.
"I went to breakfast last Saturday morning with one of my friends, and there was Cian Lynch beside me. We were having a chat after.
"We're always meeting each other and engaging with each other. We're just friends that get really well, and have great time for each other. If Clare win, or Limerick win, we congratulate each other.
"They've been the team setting the standard over the last number of years. When they won in 2018, you were delighted to see them breaking that duck and that long barren spell that they had. We've great respect for each other as people, and that comes across on the field. Then we just go for it."
This season is Conlon's 15th on the Clare panel. Things have changed considerably since he first joined in 2009. There's no longer that post-training fry-up for one.
20 March 2016; John Conlon, Clare, in action against Cian Lynch, Limerick. Allianz Hurling League, Division 1B, Round 5, Clare v Limerick. Cusack Park, Ennis, Co. Clare. Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
"The lads on the team actually are at me because I am the only one who actually remembers [Clare winning All-Irelands in] ’95 and ’97.
"I got a bit of a shock last year when one of the players said I actually taught him back at Primary School in my first year out doing the subbing rounds.
"I'm married, built a house. I'm at a different stage in my life when I can take things a lot easier. When I was 21, 22, if I lost a game, I was probably down in the dumps for two or three days, whereas when you lose now, I have a great other side of my life. I can go home to my wife and relax - watch TV or go to bed. It's a different mindset.
"The same level of preparation goes in. This time of year, because it's so hectic with all the games and trying to recover, you're constantly just going. That other side of your life gets affected, and maybe you don't have that time to give them.
"The new split season, I think there's a better balance to things between club and county, and then having your time off at the end of the year, which is very important for all players. Maybe that wasn't in place until the split season came in.
"It’s great, like. The best bit of advice I was told was a few years ago when I hurt my knee - ‘Keep playing as long as you can, because once it’s over, it’s over and you can’t get that thrill back.’"
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