‘Til Sunday do us part: Ex-Limerick and Galway stars divided at dinner table
Conor Fitzgerald and Aislinn Connolly
“And I wish I was on that N17, stone walls and the grass is green…”
A fun phone interview starts with ex-Galway camogie player Aislinn Connolly singing The Saw Doctors’ eponymous chorus down the line ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final.
She may have married former Limerick dual star Conor Fitzgerald and lives between Dublin and Adare but her heart certainly remains in the West.
The busy couple - Conor is director of the Woodlands House Hotel, Adare while Aislinn is a sales manager with Google - have four children, Peigí, aged 7, Ailbhe, 5, Brídín, 3, Cóilí, 1,
Aislinn said Peigí is a Galway fan but Ailbhe is a Limerick supporter while the allegiances of the youngest two are still up for grabs. Aislinn said Peigí supports the Tribesmen - she has the Galway flag out and they go to her homeplace of Renmore regularly.
“She’s brainwashing them!” laughs Conor, who has Ailbhe in his green and white corner.
“It's good craic and good fun. The oldest two are getting into it which is great. They've been at a good few matches this year and they love it,” says Conor.
Aislinn adds: “They're excited and watching matches over and over again on TV. They're talking about Jason Rabbitte and Hego (Gearoid Hegarty) and Ciano (Cian Lynch).”
It’s not surprising as mum was an All Star winner in 2010 and 2011 and a member of the Team of the Championship for 2011 while dad has four U-21 Munster medals (three hurling and one football) and represented Limerick in both codes at senior level coming agonisingly close to winning a Munster football title.
That sporting edge continues when their counties are playing.
“We were sitting beside each other at the All-Ireland final between Limerick and Galway in 2018 and we didn't talk for the first hour after the match,” says Aislinn. A laughing Conor interjects, saying she didn’t speak to him for three hours after the final whistle.
“She is competitive. Well, obviously, it's an All-Ireland final, and they're big into Galway as much as we're big into Limerick but she came around after about three hours,” he smiles.
Aislinn is hoping it will be The Saw Doctors’ N17 and not the Cranberries’ Dreams played at the final whistle on Sunday.
“My heart says Galway and I'm hoping for Galway but it's really hard to go up against Limerick. I'll say Galway because you can never bet against your own county and I think we'll give them a good rattle. I'm confident,” says Aislinn.
Conor says Galway are a “serious side” and there will be very very little in it but hopes “Limerick are going to come out on the right side”.
“We've lived our dreams for the last eight years and I mean that genuinely. I speak for myself, our family as a whole and people that absolutely love the GAA - we've had the time of our lives supporting Limerick, and they absolutely owe us nothing.
“They've given us so many great days. John (Kiely) and the team have given us so much enjoyment over the years, and we're so lucky to have been able to live through this period and to have enjoyed it. Please God, Limerick will do the business,” says Conor.
However, Aislinn is hoping Conor will be the one in shocked silence at full-time this year!