But with no chance of making the domestic play-offs O'Gara and co had put all their eggs in the European basket before falling agonisingly short in a 16-10 defeat to Clermont.
And while O'Gara has Ian Keatley breathing down his neck for the fly-half jersey for his region and has fallen behind Jonny Sexton in the pecking order for Ireland the fly-half insists he has not decided his plans for next season just yet.
"It's not the time for me to be thinking or talking about retirement. I owed it to my team-mates to be totally focused on the game and I was," he said.
"I love coming to France and playing and this competition have given me the best memories. I will sleep on it until the end of the season, but it will be hard to leave this beauty (Munster captain Paul O'Connell) on his own next season."
A superb kick from O'Gara created a try for Denis Hurley on Saturday against their French opponents but in the end it proved in vain.
And having lifted to Heineken Cup crowns in his time with Munster, the stand-off admitted that the loss was a bitter pill to swallow.
"Defeat is extremely hard to take after you have put so much into a game like that," he added.
"But it is winner takes all in a semi-final. This is an unbelievable competition and it was an incredible atmosphere. It was a fantastic occasion to be a part of, but the only reason we play is to win.
"There was some serious resilience from Munster and I am proud to be a part of the team. Someone said to me earlier in the week that Clermont would beat the French team and it was Test match intensity out there.
"We are growing and getting better as a team, but we gave them too much of a start. When we come away from home you ask for character from a team and we certainly showed that - we gave our all."
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