Shannan McQuade became the first Fermanagh ladies captain to climb the Hogan Stand steps at Croke Park as she lifted the All-Ireland Junior Championship trophy in front of the county’s travelling supporters.

While there was championship success in 2017 and 2020, Fermanagh did it on Ireland’s biggest stage this time, with Courteney Murphy last lifting the trophy at Parnell Park four years ago.

It was another nail-biting finale with two points again the difference, like Limerick in the semi-final.

“Amazing,” grinned McQuade in Croke Park’s media room after full-time.

“That was a good feeling now. I was glad to hear the final whistle go.”

After an initial unbeaten league run, Fermanagh missed out on promotion to Division Three as they conceded late to Carlow in the league semi-final, in Dundalk, to lose by a point in March.

The Tempo defender said her teammates have rehearsed closing out games since then: “I think that’s something that we’ve worked on throughout the year.

"Obviously in the semi-final, we were ahead in the league and let it slip. But we practiced earlier on in the year, and thank God, it showed out there today.

"We knew that Louth was gonna be a tough battle. We knew it wasn’t gonna be easy going out there today. We were under no illusion, they worked hard, we worked hard, and thank God we came out and crossed the line better.”

The 27-year-old was also quick to praise her teammate Eimear Smyth as she took a seat beside her: “Eimear stands up on big days. Eimear is just amazing, and she done amazing again.

"They’ll be talking about this one for a long time, this is her first one in Croke Park, it’s very special.”

McQuade has been in the county set-up for over a decade now, having been involved in 2017 and 2020 alongside Fermanagh’s intermediate final appearance in 2014.

When asked where this side ranks in comparison to those teams, she said: “It’s a very special one, you know, we’ve always talked about going and doing it, and talked about nearly getting over the line.

"I think we had the belief really, that we were gonna go and do it, there was something different this year. There was no doubt there.”

While Fermanagh felt like the more dominant team in the first-half on Sunday, Louth did threaten in behind with their opening two scores coming from frees after fouls close to goal while Megan Maguire was also called into action to make a big save 19 minutes in.

“Yeah, it was probably something that we did address (at halftime),” McQuade said.

“We were getting a lot of ball, it was probably the pressure up the park, and they were doing the same as well, maybe that last pass we were losing out on a ball. We were just concerned with trying to get more possession.”

McQuade, who watched the final seconds from the sidelines after a late yellow card, praised the side’s backroom team after coming in this year.

The players were shown a video of family and friends wishing them good luck on Saturday night ahead of the game.

“The boys have a lot of experience being in this position,” she continued. “They’ve been on teams, the like of Conor (McGovern) doing the amazing background work he does.

"He’s just amazing at what he does. The work Kane has put in at trainings. They're very good at their actual roles within the team and that probably helps as well."

"That was a lovely, special touch last night. It was a surprise, and you know, probably just allows us to remember why we’re here or how we started, why we stick at it, partners, family, friends, supporting us and why we keep going back after losses.

"I think it was important that they did remind us last night because that is the reason why we’re here.”