THERE’S one adult All-Ireland camogie title already in the bag. Monaghan secured it last month in the Nancy Murray Cup final.
A second is guaranteed with an all-Ulster Premier Junior final for the third time since 2020, while Antrim are the clear favourites to collect a second Intermediate title in five seasons.
It’s time to look at how Ulster counties have fared in national finals.
Antrim of course is the only county from the province to have won the O’Duffy Cup, the trophy for the All-Ireland senior championship.
The last of their six titles came in 1979 in Croke Park when Máiréad McAtamney captained them to victory over Tipperary, a county that would still have to wait two decades for the first of their five titles.
The 1967 Antrim camogie team, including Mairead McAtamney, who has chosen her best Ulster 15:
Back row, l-r: Mairead Carabine, Mairead Mcatamney, Sheila Maguire, Sue Cashman (capt.),
Lily Scullion, Mary Phil Jamison, Moya Forde, Eileen McGrogan, Esther Dougan;
Front L-r: Maeve Gilroy, Marian McFetridge, Eileen Collins, Mairead Diamond, Theresa Cassidy, Kathleen Kelly.
Antrim also lost 10 finals between 1944 and 1973 – the first nine of those to Dublin, who won every decider 1948-67, except 1956 when Antrim beat them in the semi-final.
Down (1948) and Derry (1954) also lost senior finals to Dublin during that same period of dominance.
Incidentally Down, in 1999, are the last Ulster team to compete in a senior semi-final when they lost to Tipperary, who went on to win their first title in the final against Kilkenny.
In 1968 the Junior championship was introduced and Down won the first of their four titles at this level, beating Cork in the final.
Derry also beat Cork to win the 1969 title, but Armagh lost by two points to Dublin in the 1970 final. Those of course were Cork and Dublin reserve teams, which continued to participate at this level right up to two years ago.
Tyrone and Cavan lost Junior finals in the early 1980s – as did a reserve team from Antrim in 1981 as well as Armagh again in 1985 and 1987.
The 1990s were to prove more fruitful with Down (1991), Armagh (1993), Antrim (1997) and Derry (2000) all collecting the New Ireland Cup, with Derry also beaten by a point in the 1999 final.
Those are the only four Ulster counties to collect the title that has since evolved into the Premier Junior championship for the Kay Mills Cup. Down and Derry each have four titles while Antrim have three and Armagh on Sunday continue the search for their third title.
They will take that challenge in their third all-Ulster decider, their second against Cavan.
Four years ago Antrim’s reserve team, featuring current defender Caoimhe McNaughton as a forward, shocked them to win 5-5 to 0-14 with full-forward Dervla Cosgrove hitting 4-2 including a hat-trick of goals inside 84 seconds.
The same four counties, Down, Antrim, Armagh and Derry, have contested and won the Jack McGrath Cup for the intermediate championship – introduced in 1992 to bridge the gap between junior and senior.
Down contested the first final, played in Portaferry. They lost by 4-11 to 4-4 to Dublin. They would also lose the 1996 final to Limerick before making it third time lucky in 1998 with a 1-12 to 1-8 win over Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn with Edel Mason, latterly known as Ciara Mageean’s aunt, Player of the Match.
Armagh though had nipped in to collect the 1994 title just 12 months after winning their first junior title. They would also reach the senior league final the following season.
Between 1999 and 2003 Antrim contested four finals, winning in 2001 and 2003, with current manager Elaine Dowds scoring in both finals.
Antrim after beating Tipperary in the 2003 Intermediate Camogie Final:
Back row: Ciara McKinley, Fiona Hasson, Danielle Clarke, Siobhán Doherty, Mairead Graham, Sinead Lagan, Gráinne Connolly, Edel Mason, Anne McKee, Oonagh Elliot, Chrissy Doherty, Eilis McCormick, Madeline O’Neill (Antrim chairperson);
Middle row: Brenda Clarke, Cait Doherty, Roisin Duffin, Noelle McCarry, Maureen Duffin, Siobhán McCloskey, Jane Adams, Carla Doherty, Orlagh Donelly, Elaine Dowds, Helena Connolly;
Front row: Ciara McGinley, Ursula Hassan, Louise Connolly.
Pic by John McIlwaine
The 2003 decider, a 2-9 to 0-4 victory over Tipperary, is also significant as Edel Mason, now transferred to the heart of the Saffron defence, picked up the Player of the Match award. She is the only player to collect intermediate medals at 12 and 15 a-side as well as with two different counties.
Antrim lost the 2011 final to Wexford with Chloe Drain and Eleanor Mallon, both involved in the current management, involved.
Drain was still there for the 2020 final defeat to Down in Kingspan Breffni but made it third time lucky five years ago alongside eight of the current Antrim team when they beat Kilkenny 2-21 to 2-13.
Down’s 2020 win came two years after they lost to Cork. Sorcha McCartan, who will play this year in her fifth senior final in a row for the Rebels, didn’t play in 2018 but she scored two points against Antrim while Niamh Mallon, an All-Ireland senior winner with Galway last year, scored 2-3 alongside her in that 2020 final.
Derry was the last Ulster side to write their name on the Intermediate roll of honour with Aoife Ní Chaiside bridging a gap of 11 years for her second medal. Incidentally both those finals went to replays meaning that Derry, like Down and Armagh, have yet to savour success in Croke Park.
In 2021 Antrim, therefore, became the only Ulster team to lift the Jack McGrath Cup in Croke Park. If they do it again against Laois on Sunday, they will move to four titles, with manager Elaine Dowds involved in all four successes.