DUBLIN’S SARAH MCCAFFREY was fortunate to get her travel bug seen to in 2018.
Two years before Covid-19 made its rude introduction, McCaffrey was preparing herself for the big move to New Zealand on a working holiday visa.
Stepping away from a team that had just won their first All-Ireland title in seven years was always going to be a big decision. For McCaffrey, this was especially true considering the instrumental role she played in their victory over Mayo to secure their grip of the Brendan Martin Cup.
The Clontarf defender helped herself to two goals that day in Croke Park after coming on as a second-half substitute.
After suffering defeat in three consecutive All-Ireland finals, Dublin had finally broken the duck. They haven’t relinquished their crown since and are aiming to complete a four-in-a-row this year.
Their 2017 success ultimately marked the dawning of a new era. But amidst all that sense of promise at the time, McCaffrey still felt the pull of the foreign shores. It was her time to see some of the world.
“I was happy with my decision at the time and even looking back, I’m glad,” she tells the media ahead of her side’s All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh this Saturday.
“It’s such a special thing to be a part of, I was delighted for the girls. You’d definitely miss it when you’re not involved, it’s something really special. We actually set up a first Gaelic club over in Queenstown, they didn’t have one before, which was really fun.
I had gone over thinking I definitely wasn’t going to play any football, I wanted a break, then one thing led to another and we were playing in tournaments. It was a really good way to meet the Irish community.
“You find that you can travel to the furthest possible place in the world but you still want to be hanging out with other Irish people.”
Establishing a GAA club kept McCaffrey dialled into her Irish roots during her time in New Zealand, but she explored other activities over there as well.
She used the winter ski season to work as a barista and spent the summer months hiking, camping and travelling through some of the towns in the north of the country.
McCaffrey also threw herself onto a surfboard to try the waves on for size.
A year away, she feels, was the just the right amount of time to spend travelling. She missed Dublin’s 2018 and 2019 All-Ireland victories as a result but there were no pangs of regret as she watched her team-mates march to glory.
She was in Croke Park for last year’s victory over Galway and was in a different timezone for the 2018 decider.
It was great to see once we got over that initial hurdle that the girls were able to push on and do so well. I wasn’t surprised at all, and I was thrilled to be able to support them from over there. It was great. At 4 in the morning we were watching the final, it was a bit of craic.”
In previous years, plenty of GAA stars followed a path similar to McCaffrey in taking off around the world.
Up to now, those players were able to live through their trips without any pandemic-related interruptions. The class of 2020 have not been so lucky.
“You’d feel for people setting off at the beginning of all this,” McCaffrey notes. “It’s such a tough time. I’m in touch with people who are in Australia or New Zealand at the minute. New Zealand have obviously done so well so they’re all delighted but I know people in Melbourne who’re in lockdown for that extended period, it’s been really hard.
“My younger brother is living in Belgium at the minute and they’re not in a great situation over there. No one could have foreseen what would happen but personally, I know I’m really lucky to have gone when I did and hopefully that opportunity will be there for people again when we get through this period.”
Dublin are back in another All-Ireland semi-final this weekend after progressing through the group stage with a full house of wins.
McCaffrey has been back in the fold since the start of 2020, while a number of other players have also returned including key defender Leah Caffrey.
Overcoming Donegal and Waterford to emerge from Group 3 was no easy breeze for Mick Bohan’s side, as they were held to three- and four-point wins respectively in those fixtures.
Armagh present another sticky assignment on Saturday in Kingspan Breffni. The Ulster side accounted for 2019 All-Ireland semi-finalists Mayo on the way to the last-four of the competition, and have previously proven to be more than a match for Cork.
“We were delighted to come through that group because it was a very strong group,” says the Clontarf attacker who has recently started a Masters in Health Psychology in NUIG.
I think that can be said for each of the groups. If you look at the group that Galway has just come out of, each win was by the smallest possible margin so it definitely shows that a lot of teams are out there fighting for their lives.
“In terms of Armagh, we’re really looking forward to that challenge. Armagh are a really brilliant team. We can’t wait.”
Dublin footballer, Sarah McCaffrey, was on hand to launch the offer ahead of the All-Ireland Championship semi-finals. For exclusive benefits, visit the AIG website.
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