It has been a tumultuous year for camogie with players being forced to wear skorts rather than the more comfortable shorts for club and inter-county games in April. However, at a special Camogie Congress at Croke Park in May common sense prevailed and 98 per cent of delegates voted to allow girls wear shorts or skorts in games. Already most of the girls were wearing shorts to training, but there was a rule was skorts had to be used for games.
On Sunday, Cork will be favorites to lift the O’Duffy Cup for the third year in a row when they play Galway in the senior final.
Seán O’Duffy, for whom the trophy is named, was a Mayo man who was decorated for his involvement during the 1916 Rising and who spent time in Stafford jail in England. In the early 1920s, he helped re-establish the Camogie association and served as an unpaid administrator of the game in Dublin where he was a member of the Crokes club.
Cork have a great camogie tradition and the first of their 30 O’Duffy Cup wins came in 1934, while the first of Galway’s four wins didn’t come until 1996.
In the semi-finals Cork were much too strong for Waterford winning by 10 points, while Galway had seven points to spare over Tipperary. Most of Cork dual stars have now retired, but they still have experienced players like Katrina Mackey, who is in her 17th season, Libby Coppinger, Meabh Cahalane Hannah Loney and Ashling Thompson in their team. Galway have some experience also and Ailish O’Reilly, who has played for the county for 13 years won All-Ireland medals in 2013, 2019 and 2021. But it looks like it’s going to be three in a row for the Rebelettes. The senior final start at 5.15 p.m. and earlier on Sunday Armagh and Laois will meet in the Junior final, which starts 1 p.m., while Kerry and Offaly contest the Intermediate final at 3 p.m.
4-POINT GOALS
CONSIDERED
The intercounty football and hurling season is over, but the work of Jim Gavin and his Football Review Committee continues. Last week a sandbox game between Gavin’s old club Round Towers of Clondalkin and Fingallians was arranged for the Sports complex in Abbotstown to look again at possible changes/alterations to the new rules. There is still talk of awarding four points for a goal and there is also speculation that that the rule that allows a player move a free kick outside the arch, which if converted would be worth two points, might be changed. The four-point goal plan was abandoned after the interprovincial series were played at Croke Park last year. That was the first time the public got see how the new rules worked. After the interprovincials, concerns were relayed to the FRC Committee that some teams could find themselves on the receiving end of some heavy defeats if four points were allowed for a goal. However, the general feeling among the public is that new rules have saved Gaelic football and have made it an enjoyable game to watch once again. But everybody I speak to wants the hurling and football finals to be moved back to the traditional September dates. Some would be happy enough with an end of August date for the finals.
MONEY TALKS
IN MUNSTER
It looks like the Munster Council want to get a few more Cork-Kerry Munster finals to ensure they get a decent attendance at their football finals. Last week delegates at a Munster Council meeting agreed to a proposal that the two highest ranking counties teams from the National football League be paired on opposite sides of the semifinal draw for the following year’s championship. With Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford playing in the lower division, Cork and Kerry are usually the highest ranked tier in the National League. The decision was ratified for a three-year period beginning in 2026. Prior to 1991 when the Munster Council opted for an open draw, Cork and Kerry were always kept apart in Munster until the final. But money talks and the Munster Council need a Cork-Kerry football final to draw the crowds to Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney or Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork.
EAST VS. SOUTH
AT CROKE PARK
Leinster have confirmed their home game against Munster in the United Rugby Championship on Oct. 18 will be played in Croke Park. Leinster say they will play the majority of their home games in the Aviva Stadium this season while the RDS is undergoing redevelopment and they hope to be back in the RDS Arena for the start of the 2026-27 season. Their last game against Munster at GAA headquarters on Jones Road was in October 2024 where they ran out 26-12 winners. The recently crowned URC winners will begin their defence of their title away to the Stormers on Sept 26.
SLIGO APPOINT
TWO EX-STARS
Two Sligo legends Dessie Sloyan and Eamonn O’Hara have been confirmed as joint managers of Sligo’s footballers with a three-year term, subject to an annual review. Sloyan and O’Hara will be joined as head coach by Con O'Meara and by Donegal man Eamon McGee as a coach/selector. Further additions to the backroom are planned before the commencement of the intercounty season. The team’s S&C coach will continue to be Seán Boyle. Stephen Gilmartin will continue as team doctor with Tourlestrane’s Alan Dunne leading Physio and Rehabilitation and Aidan Carty of Coolera Strandhill continuing as kit man.
MICK KEARIN, 82
The death has occurred of Mick Kearin, 82,, the first Kildare-man player to be capped at senior level for The Republic of Ireland. From Kildare Town, Kearin didn’t play soccer until his moved to Dublin at the age of 15 to work in a shop on Collins Avenue in Donnycarney. Mick started his League of Ireland career with St. Patrick’s Athletic and later played for Tullamore Town and Bohemians before enjoying six great seasons with Shamrock Rovers, where he won three FAI Cup medals. Mick won his solitary Irish cap in the 6-0 European Championship defeat to Austria in Linz in October 1971. That was the day that new Irish manager Liam Tuohy used 10 league of Ireland players and former Shamrock Rovers’ player Paddy Mulligan, who was then with Chelsea.
