"Listen, the way we have to rank it is Clare have been in five or six finals in over 120 years. That's where you rank it, that's a pretty big achievement no matter what happens," said Fitzgerald.

"I'm so proud of these young lads. They are an example to everyone playing the game because they work so hard. Never say die.

"Have we taken a lot of stick over the last year-and-a-half? We all have, but they kept coming back and it's so nice when you know that when you ask them to do something, they'll do it. They were so mature out there today."

The Sixmilebridge clubman spoke before the semi-final about this being 'bonus territory' for his young panel, 14 of whom were part of the Clare's recent Munster U-21 Championship success.

Although pleased with the chances converted and the fact that Clare only hit five wides, Fitzgerald knows there is further room for improvement in the final and they will likely need to improve against a Cork side that beat them by eight points in June's Munster semi-final.

"To get over a semi-final is fantastic. Was it a super performance? Ye may say it was but I don't think it was," he insisted.

"We gave Limerick too many stupid opportunities, they missed a lot of scores in the first half and if we do that to Cork, Cork will punish us, and we know that. We have to learn lessons from today and hopefully we will."

Fitzgerald will use his own experiences of playing in three All-Ireland senior finals, coupled with managing Waterford in the 2008 decider, to have his charges primed to face Cork - albeit against the backdrop of huge hype within the county.

Clare fans are hankering for a return to the glory days of the 1990s and there will be plenty of distractions in the coming weeks, including next weekend's All-Ireland Under-21 semi-final against Galway. But 'Davy Fitz' is determined to keep his players grounded and fully focused on the task at hand.

"I know what comes with an All-Ireland. I could see it in the last week in Clare," he explained, referring to the growing hype surrounding the Banner youngsters.

"It took us a while to get going down in Clare as regards getting the flags and the bunting out but it definitely took off over the last week.

"And it kind of reminded me of the mid-1990s you know? We're in tough times. Has this given Clare people a lift? It has and I think that's fantastic, but my job with the team is September 8. We have a few PR jobs to do here and there and we will do them.

"At the same time, there's only one job and that's to prepare the team for September 8 and they've got to remember that. It's all about 3.30pm on September 8 and all of the sideshows don't matter."

Meanwhile, there is concern over the knee injury sustained by Limerick forward Seamus Hickey during yesterday afternoon's all-Munster clash at Croke Park.

Having suffered an earlier knock to the head, Hickey was then stretchered off just 15 minutes into the semi-final and could be in danger of missing the rest of his club Murroe-Boher's season.

The full extent of the former Young Hurler of the Year's knee injury has yet to be confirmed. Limerick manager John Allen said after the game: "Seamus popped his knee. He'd complained that his head was spinning, I don't know what happened.

"Obviously, he was a loss given his work-rate in the previous games and the fact that he was giving our half-backs a lot of help."