While Armagh have suffered heartache in the quarter-finals in recent years, Henderson is free of scar tissue having only returned to the inter-county scene after a near nine-year absence in March.
The Clann Eireann player, an All-Ireland Intermediate winner with Armagh in 2012, spent an extended spell away from the county side after having two operations on her knee before giving birth to her son Noah in 2018.
She made her long-awaited Armagh return against Kerry on 3 March, produced a player-of-the-match display in the Ulster final and played a full 60 minutes as Greg McGonigle’s side beat the Kingdom to win the league title.
“I was just absolutely delighted and overwhelmed,” said of Armagh’s league title success at Croke Park.
“For me and Noah, my wee boy, to be able to lift the cup in Croke Park together is a moment I will treasure forever. I’m so happy that I did make that decision to come back.”
Victory over Mayo, who hope to reach a fourth straight semi-final, would see Armagh’s ladies side follow the men’s footballers into the last four of their respective All-Ireland campaigns with Kieran McGeeney’s team beating Roscommon last week to advance.
And Henderson admits to having been motivated by watching that game.
“I’m glad I went down because it just gave me that wee bit extra motivation to be like ‘right, let’s go this weekend and do the same thing, get to the semi-final’.
“We have Barry [McCambridge, brother of ladies captain Clodagh], Tiernan Kelly and Turbo (Conor Turbitt), who are all from Clann Eireann.
“It was great to see them boys really breaking into the team this year and making such an impact.
“Obviously Barry got his goal and got player of the match, and then Turbo and TK have been causing havoc as well. It is great to be able to go down and watch them, and that gives us motivation to go and do the same thing.”
