PROFILE: Tipperary camogie star Clodagh McIntyre is driven by purpose and persistence

Clodagh McIntyre is wired a little differently. There is an authentic spirit and individuality about her that draws you in, and an energy that makes the conversation feel alive. There is also a touch of devilment in her eyes, no surprise she is a terror for defences.

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Most Tipperary people will remember her brilliant, darting goal in the All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park last year, a strike that catapulted Tipp to the semi-final on a day brimming with thrilling goals for Tipperary. But to understand how she came to move so effortlessly across the pitch, it helps to start where it all began. 

In Lorrah, a hurley is less an object than an extension of the hand. It leans by the door like a loyal dog, ready at a moment’s notice. You puck in the garden with your father and brothers. You hush cattle through the right gate with it. Hurling is not scheduled. It is absorbed. “It’s nearly just been a way of life,” Clodagh says. 

You could not genetically construct a more fitting camogie star than Clodagh McIntyre. Hurling is in her blood. Her father Aidan, with his brothers Cathal and John, were mainstays of Lorrah’s senior team in the 1980s, helping the club claim North Tipperary senior titles in 1984 and 1989. Her uncle John McIntyre also played for Tipperary in the mid-1980s. 

As a child, Clodagh was not immediately drawn to camogie. She never attended the Cúl Camps. Instead, during those long summer days, she rode shotgun in her father’s car, the club chairman, on his rounds buying sausage rolls for the coaches. 

In the early days of playing camogie in Lorrah, the biggest challenge was simply fielding underage teams. “It was always very tight to fill underage teams,” Clodagh admits. “A lot of the time, it was more about trying to get other people interested than anything else.” 

It was around the age of thirteen that Clodagh began to find her grá for the sport. At Portumna Community School, the same pattern continued. Camogie belonged to the few rather than the many, and by Leaving Cert she was the only girl in her year on the senior team. 

Clodagh did not join the Tipperary county setup until under sixteen. Earlier trials had been offered, but the drive from Lorrah always felt too great at the time. Once she made the leap, she moved quickly through the under-16 and minor ranks before stepping straight into the intermediate squad. 

In 2020, in the midst of Covid, she received the call to join the Tipperary senior camogie team. “I was actually very shocked,” she recalls.

“I remember Bill Mullaney calling me in for a trial just as they were heading into their All-Ireland quarter-final. I trained with them for two weeks and then I was picked to start. I was really thrown into the deep end, but it has given me so many good memories.” 

College brought its own milestones. In her first year at UCD, Clodagh won the Purcell Cup. Later, she reached an Ashbourne Cup final but fell short against DCU.

Fourth year brought disappointment when a stress fracture ruled her out after she had been named captain. “I still love watching UCD play,” she says.

The injury also gave her space to explore other interests. She signed up for a 200-hour online yoga teacher training course, a pursuit that fed back into her camogie, giving her tools for focus and presence. “It helped me stay calm,” she explains. “I can enjoy each moment rather than worrying about what might go wrong during a match now.” 

Off the pitch, Clodagh’s energy finds other outlets. She is a fully qualified Chartered Physiotherapist working at Sports Plus in Nenagh, treating injuries from back pain to postural issues.

“I love my job because no two days are the same,” she says. “You are helping people move better and seeing real progress.” Outside the clinic, she teaches yoga and Pilates and runs strength and conditioning sessions at her home club in Lorrah. Life on the family farm fills whatever hours remain. 

When she is not on the pitch or in the clinic, Clodagh seeks out experiences that ground her. Swimming at Yoghal Quay has become a regular ritual, two or three times a week.

“It’s the one place where everything slows down,” she says. “You are completely on your own, and it’s a chance to reset and just breathe.” Travel is another vital part of her life.

Each November, she blocks off time to explore distant corners of the world, from South America to Japan. Experiencing new cultures, foods, and ways of life, she says, offers perspective. “Seeing the world beyond camogie makes you realise what really matters,” she reflects. “It puts losses into context and makes you appreciate the opportunities I have.” 

Success with Tipperary has followed. She holds a National League title and a Munster Championship medal, with the elusive All-Ireland still glimmering on the horizon.

Yet for Clodagh, the greatest rewards come from the connections the sport creates. “After matches, people will come up to you locally and say kind words or tell you they were cheering for you,” she says.

“It makes what you do feel meaningful and reminds you that it’s bigger than just yourself.”Camogie, she believes, has shaped her far beyond the pitch. “It teaches you accountability and how to show up for yourself and others,” she says. “It has helped me become a better person.” 

What stays with you after speaking to Clodagh McIntyre is her honesty. Not the rehearsed kind, but the practical honesty of someone who knows herself and sees things clearly.

Camogie has given her purpose and perspective, and she meets it with the same honesty she brings to everything else in her life.

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