Louth camogs on the winning trail too

Irish Independent

20-06-2025

Not forgetting the senior hurlers winning Division 4 of the Allianz League or the U17 hurlers winning the Celtic Challenge Cup.
Then there's the senior Ladies footballers retaining their Leinster crown…but what about the third sport within the GAA 2027 amalgamation plans?
Camogie has also been flying the flag for Louth, if somewhat under the radar.
A few weeks ago the U16s lost out in an All-Ireland final to Mayo and just over a week past, the county U14 side won a Leinster Blitz Cup in Wexford, defeating Meath in the final. That win now puts the side into the All-Ireland Blitz series in August.
For Sara English (Naomh Fionnbarra & St Anne's), along with her co-management of Maurice Rafferty (St Feckins) and Shane Fennell (St Brides), the cup success was a culmination of months of dedication from the young squad.
'We'd trials in January so they've been training up until the blitz,' explained Sara.
'In between that we've had a few challenge matches, there was a one-off match against Monaghan – that's part of the fixtures for this U14 squad - and we played in a blitz in Cavan winning two games and losing one.
'This was our first big blitz, the Leinster Blitz. It's one where teams have the opportunity to win silverware.'
Played in atrocious weather conditions as the heavens opened and stayed opened most of the day as their first match was due to start against Meath, a game they lost, Louth won their next two games beating Wicklow and Carlow to make the semi-final.
"It meant that we'd be in a final; if we beat Laois we'd be in the cup final and if we lost we'd still be in the shield final,' she said.
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'But we were going for the cup, there was no shield coming back to Louth. So we went out, beat Laois in the semi-final and then reversed the earlier result against Meath to win the final. They did fantastic and all the girls got to play and get some game time.'
The recent success of the county camogs has gone relatively unnoticed, slipping under the radar. The fact is, camogie players don't get the recognition their efforts deserve and people don't realise the work they put in, particularly at county level and, irrespective of whether the results go against them or not, their efforts are equal to what others are doing.
Sara acknowledged that was the case however, she was quick to point out that the development of the player as a person, was equally important and that is something they get with their particular squad.
'There are only seven clubs in Louth and we're a really small, and tight, community and these girls play in their leagues with their clubs against each other and it's lovely to see how many different friendships have been formed through the Louth panel and different clubs mixing with each other, little groups of friends,' said Sara.
'They mightn't have been friends on day one or day five or week five, but now they're friends and that's great.
'But the attendance at training has been outstanding. We have a panel of 30 and we've had huge attendance at training every week and that stands to them; it stands to the development of them. And there's the social aspect of it. We ran a half day camp over the Easter period and sure they had great craic at it.'
The success too adds to the players own self-esteem, the fact that they have won, Sara agreed, is a boost to their confidence.
'Yeah, they were delighted and they were delighted it was a cup because you know a shield is great too, but I mean, a cup is the big one, even if it's in their own division, it's something to strive for, that we actually won the cup final,' said Sara.
'And now we go in August, to the All Ireland series… an All Ireland Blitz on Saturday August 9 and then to the All-Ireland Camogie Final on the Sunday and we get to march around Croke Park, all of the under 14 development teams in the country get to march around at the half-time break. So we will fly the Louth flag high that day.'