It didn't fell like it at the time, but 1999 was to be the last of Clare's favourite years. It was the closing of a cycle that seemed less about hurling seasons than operatic movements about life. "Epic" was the word Ger Loughnane preferred to use.
And it didn't seem overblown because Clare's seasons then were often stunningly dramatic, intricate and sequential. They were epic in The Godfather sense.
More so than any other team in modern times, Clare were about personalities. Loughnane made up an entire room of interesting people all by himself.
Anthony Daly was his loquacious orator, a man whose victory speeches gave some sense of what it must have been like to attend one of Daniel O'Connell's mass meetings. Against that, James O'Connor was even and considerate, Davy Fitzgerald a likeable and unstoppable gabber. Seanie McMahon was simply a true gent while Brian Lohan spoke with Beckettian brevity.
Throw in the jaunty, whistling PJ O'Connell and the bustling Ollie Baker and you had a fairly unique bunch whom some people loved and others loved to hate. When in synchronicity, their hurling seemed no more than an extension of those disparate personalities. It was unorthodox and tough and thrilling, and it worked.
Somewhere in that mix, Niall Gilligan has bobbed around for a long time, lanky and copper-haired and grinning and elusive. It is hard to fathom that "Gilly" has been knocking about since 1997, the year of Clare's last All-Ireland win.
He was famously secreted onto the team that September, with Loughnane abandoning his announced team and going with the Sixmilebridge youngster. It paid off handsomely, with the kid taking three points off Tipperary's Paul Shelley which was, at the time, kind of like pulling a bone from the jaws of a hungry Labrador.
That performance was the confirmation of a reputation established out of nothing. Gilligan was ignored when it came to the Clare minors and was even passed up for Harty Cup teams in St Flannan's in Ennis when he was in school. His size mitigated against him then. But just a year later, in 1996, he was bringing the house down in Croke Park, coming in for Sixmilebridge to rifle three points against Dunloy in the All-Ireland club championship.
Loughnane cared little about size or anything else and besides, Gilligan had started to sprout by then. He took his place in the squad when Clare hurling was at the high point of its dynasty and did what he always did. He played the joker and waited for people to warm to him in a way that Anthony Daly would sum up in conversation with Denis Walsh of the Sunday Times back in 1998.
"Inside at training, Loughnane would be roaring, getting everyone steamed up. And Gilligan would be inside talking to the corner back with his arms folded. Then the ball comes in, he burns the corner back and puts the ball in the net, cool as you like. You'd be talking to him afterwards - '2-2 tonight, Gilly'. 'Ah sure, lucky enough the ball ran for me'. And the big innocent head on him letting on to be an eejit when you know he'd buy and sell you."
That is the persona that Gilligan has chiselled in stone since. Stories of Gilly's capacity for joking and japing, although seldom detailed, are legendary among the Clare players and he is an extremely popular
panel member. Five years on, he should also be considered a senior player. When Galway met Clare three years ago, Gilligan, above all other players, was the separating factor. Brimming with gangly invention and danger, he broke Galway hearts and finished the season with an All Star. It was a perfect step forward, progress that suggested greatness in the making.
"That game against Galway was probably his best for Clare," reckons Kevin Fennelly, who managed the Dublin team that lost to Clare this season.
"He was fast and confident and making the most out of every ball that came his way. But he has never fully built on that kind of performance in either the club or county championships. That is partly because Clare have gone through a couple of lean years. Any player needs a run to get going .
"When he came in against us the last day, he was brilliant, he more or less did what he liked. But the match was over. Clare need a big performance out of him.
"The county has been very dependent on Jamesie over the last few years and they need Gilligan, with his ability, to step up. They can't really ask any more of the likes of the Lohans and Seanie, who have maintained phenomenal standards over the past few years. But if Clare are to win, they will need a big performance from Niall."
Cyril Farrell has watched Galway and Clare play many challenge matches in recent weeks, so much so that he chuckles sympathetically at the idea of tactical planning. Convenience and a lack of
challenge opposition forced the neighbours on each other regularly and now they know each other exceptionally well.
Perhaps that is what is behind the decision to leave Gilligan operating on the wing instead of goal-poaching in around the square, especially given that Diarmuid Cloonan is on just his second tour of duty as full back.
"Sure that could happen yet," says Farrell. "Lots could happen, the two teams could be playing a few tricks on each other. I'm not fully sure about Niall playing that deep. It is in around the edge of the square that he has caused havoc in the past.
"I would say a fair few Galway people will be getting nervous if Gilligan moves in around the goal. Like, you know what he is going to do, but he is so hard to stop. He will go left because he is predominantly left-handed and has this long stride. It is hard for defenders because they are leaning across the body trying to stop him."
It could be that Gilligan's selection at wing forward will be purely notional but also that the emergence of Tony Carmody at full forward may have signalled a different direction for the player.
Certainly, Fennelly would not be all that surprised if he operates on the wing against Galway.
"He played on the wing against us and it suited him, he certainly has the scope for it and he is a fairly big lad. He could turn a lot of ball in Clare's direction from that position. He is well capable of delivering a good ball inside as well as taking a point and is able to take opponents on. So alongside Tony Griffin and Jamesie, it has the makings of a good line," says the former Kilkenny player.
The last two championships have been brief and frustrating for Clare. That they pushed Tipperary so close this season surprised many observers. Yet while they still possess a number of truly great players, they are primarily a team with a lot of hurling behind them rather than ahead.
"Well, the arrival of the two Tonys, Griffin and Carmody, is important," notes Farrell. "These are lads that came along after the All-Ireland success and this is new to them. They are mad for road. A team needs that bit of freshness. So it is important that the lads who have seen and done it all before respond to that.
"Now, it hasn't really happened for Niall for the past season or two, he wasn't at himself. But like the rest of Clare, the recent signs have been promising. He is capable of taking up where he left off against Galway."
Gilligan's pronouncements on his game have been limited, but a few years ago he did make the observation: "I tend to pass the ball when I'm playing badly."
Since his indifferent show against Tipperary, the omens have improved. With 1-4 against Dublin and 1-2 against Wexford, he has been direct and score- hungry and sharp, everything that Clare need him to be.
"This is a laid-back lad from a really good club, a solid background. And he is vastly experienced at this level, he knows what it takes," says Farrell.
"Maybe he went through a dip in confidence for a while, but that can happen to lads. Galway know Gilly inside out, but that doesn't make him any easier to stop. He has been doing well lately for Clare in what have been relatively easy games.
"This is a bigger stage and he will enjoy that. He could have a major bearing on who has the last say."
In 1999, he was still the young jester. The lightness of being young on a great Clare side sang through his game.
Now comes the responsibility.
It is time to see the deadly serious face of Niall Gilligan.
