Last Saturday, St. Mary’s Senior camogie team made history by winning the Senior Munster Colleges C title, the first Senior Munster title for the school since 2009. In a deserved win, St. Mary’s showed tremendous courage, fight and determination to end victorious on a scoreline of 1-7 to 0-5. The St Mary’s seniors will now be playing the All Ireland semi final in early February against the Ulster B Champions. Something to look forward to!
The Munster quarter final was away to Mount Mercy in Ballincollig. This game was a repeat of the Cork Colleges semi final where Charleville were put to the pin of their collar to finally beat the girls from Bishopstown. Charleville got off to a great start with the inside forward line of Niamh Gammell, Shona Brennan and Fiona Troy on fire. Orla Troy was excellent once again and opened the scoring with a fine point from play after great play by Ava Mulcahy and Caila Neligan. The hugely effective Niamh Gammell then got another point from play before Orla Troy and the energetic Lauren McAuliffe kept the score board ticking over with two more points from play. Mount Mercy then replied with a point of their own. Caila Neligan, who has been a revelation in the half back line, came up from wing back to get a great score and then Orla Troy with two more, one from play and one from a free. Mount Mercy hit back with two points and it was game on and at half time the score was 0-7 to 0-3 in St. Mary’s favour.
The second half was a real cracker. It was extremely close and the pressure was on. Mount Mercy took off with two points and it was then a two point game. Fiona Troy settled Charleville’s nerves with a point from play. Orla Troy got two more points from frees after great defending by Saoirse Morrissey.
Lexie O Halloran came on and made her presence felt and got an opportunistic goal. Mount Mercy then hit back and got a goal and all of a sudden it was game on again. The Troy sisters
hit another three points between them and St. Marys could breathe again. Charleville’s defence was outstanding. Roisin Herlihy, Faye Ronan, Cara Hickey and Aoife Morrissey were in mighty form and gave away very little. Ava Mulcahy, Ava McDonogh, Lexie O’Halloran, Niamh Gammell, Fiona Troy and Shona Brennan all worked very hard in the forward line and won a lot of ball that turned into scores. Aoibheann Morrissey was very dependable in goal and her puckouts were especially good and relieved a lot of pressure. Caoimhe O’Connor and Hannah Buicke both did very well when introduced and it emphasised the strength of the Charleville panel. Our midfield duo of Chloe Jones and captain Eadbha O’Connor were simply brilliant.
St. Mary’s had deservedly reached the Munster semi final. Final score was 1-12 to 1-6 in Charleville’s favour. Scores came from Orla Troy 0-7, Fiona Troy 0-2, Lexie O’Halloran 1-0,
Lauren McAuliffe 0-1, Caila Neligan 0-1 and Niamh Gammell 0-1.
The Munster semi-final was at home to St. Flannan’s. It was St. Mary’s Seniors best display of the year so far. St Flannan’s were an excellent team made of a lot of Clare intercounty players but it didn’t matter, there was no stopping St. Mary’s. Orla Troy was in very impressive form and got the first 6 points of the game. The Clare girls couldn’t contain her! Lauren McAuliffe was being marked by a Clare minor but she was in flying form too and scored 2 great points from play before half time. The half time score was 0-9 to 0-1. St. Mary’s knew that Flannan’s would come out with all guns blazing in the early stages of the second half. Flannan’s did so and got an early goal. However, St. Mary’s stood firm and replied with three Orla Troy points. Chloe Costelloe, only a second year student, came on for her senior debut and got a great point from play. Lauren McAuliffe got the best score of the game after a quick free and quick thinking by the Troy sisters. Lexie O’Halloran continued her goal scoring spree with another opportunistic goal from play. Caila Neligan, Roisin Herlihy and Faye Ronan once again were unbeatable in the back line and got great support from Saoirse Morrissey, Cara Hickey and Aoife Morrissey.
Ava Mulcahy, Niamh Gammell and Shona Brennan once more worked tirelessly and once again their ball winning ability was crucial in setting up a lot of scores. The heartbeat of our seniors is our midfield duo of Eadbha O’Connor and Chloe Jones. They simply don’t give up and are absolutely flying as a partnership. Final score was 1-14 to 1-2.
Scores came from Orla Troy 0-10, Lexie O’Halloran 1-0, Lauren McAuliffe 0-3 and Chloe Costelloe 0-1. Munster final here we come!!
Before the Munster final the Senior 2 squad were very busy. They had earlier in the year overcame Youghal in their own Cork Colleges quarter final before defeating Buttevant in the semi final. Clare O’Brien opened the Buttevant game with two fantastic points from play. Laura Jones was dominating in the half back line and Vicky Curran and Steffi O’Toole were in control in midfield. Chloe McGrath was in great form in the half back line and came up with a great point from play. The half time score was 0-3 to 0-2 in Charleville’s favour.
Ava Drinan and Chloe Costelloe got two points very quickly after the half time whistle. Our player of the game, Grace Hickey, then took off and added to the scoreboard with three points from play, all were great scores. Melanie Hayes was very reliable in goal and delivered great distance with her puckouts.
Zoe O’Halloran was unbeatable at full back and was well supported by Isabelle Barrett and Evie Hughes. Aine Frawley, Hannah Buicke, Orlaith McAuliffe and captain Kate Cotter all had very good games. All the subs came on and made a great impact with in particular Ruby Crowley playing a starring role. Final score was 1-9 to 0-6.
Our scorers were Chloe McGrath 0-1, Chloe Costelloe 0-1, Grace Hickey 0-3, Ava Drinan 0-1, Vicky Curran 0-1 and Clare O’Brien 0-2.
The Senior 2s then came up against Colaiste Choilm in the Cork semi final and were outstanding from start to finish. Final score was 5-9 to 1-3 in Charleville’s favour. Our scores came from Anna Collins 0-2, Grace Hickey 2-1, Áine Frawley 1-0, Vicky Curran 1-2, Kate Cotter 1-0, Chloe Costelloe 0-3 and Chloe McGrath 0-1. It was an excellent team effort with fantastic performances all over the pitch.
These wins meant our Senior 2s progressed to the Cork County final against an excellent Regina Mundi team who were playing their first team. Unfortunately, our Senior 2s came up just short and lost on a scoreline of 2-6 to 1-5. Kate Cotter, our captain, really led by example. Our full back line of Leah McAuliffe, Zoe O’Halloran and Isabelle Barrett were very sound in defence and gave very little away. Evie Hughes was again excellent and was well supported by Laura Jones and Ellen Imray and later on by Steffi O’Toole and Ruby Crowley. In midfield our best player on the night Vicky Curran was tireless and alongside her Chloe McGrath worked very hard.
In the forwards Ava Drinan was constantly causing trouble and Áine Frawley, Claire O’Brien and Hannah Buicke tried very hard. Melanie Hayes, in goal, once again was very good.
Grace Hickey was a constant threat up front while Chloe Costelloe made an instant impact when she came on but unfortunately we ran out of time and despite our best efforts Regina Mundi were victorious. Our scorers on the night were Grace Hickey 0-1, Vicky Curran 0-3, Orla McAuliffe 0-1 and Chloe Costelloe 1-0. It was a massive achievement for our Senior 2s to go unbeaten to the last stage. Well done!

The Munster Senior C final was played in Charleville’s GAA main pitch. The conditions were very tough for both teams and the underfoot conditions were hard to manage. The north Cork girls got off to the best start with a goal from a long range free that was excellently struck by player of the match Orla Troy. Caimins replied with a point from play. It was nip and tuck for a long time. Every St. Mary’s player was literally putting their body on the line. Nothing came easy and it was taking every bit of energy and talent to keep the lead. Orla Troy continued her super form and was scoring points from all angles from both frees and play.
Our defence was simply majestic and there was hardly anything going past them. Our keeper Aoibheann Morrissey was very dependable and pulled off one very important save in the first half. Yet again Rosin Herlihy and Faye Ronan were given the jobs of marking the most dangerous forwards and yet again kept them quiet. Aoife Morrisey was just unbeatable at number 3 and number 6, the stylist Cara Hickey, was so calm and assured in everything she did. Nothing fazes her!
Captain Eadbha O’Connor was absolutely flying in midfield and won some amount of breaking ball while Chloe Jones used her wrists and skills to great effect and was having a great game. The best score of the game came from Fiona Troy who got an unbelievable score from a very acute angle. Lauren McAuliffe was on Caimin’s best player and held her own on her and won a pile of ball. The half time score was 1-5 to 0-3 in St. Mary’s favour.
In the second half both defences were on top and scores were very hard to come by. Caimins got two and St Mary’s got two with both of our points coming from Orla Troy. The four subs who came in, Lexie O’Halloran, Ava McDonogh, Vicky Curran and Chloe Costelloe all made their presence felt and made massive contributions. The final score was 1-7 to 0-5 in Charleville’s favour.
In the end joy was the overwhelming feeling all around the pitch. St. Mary’s Seniors had finally achieved the Munster title after a 16 year wait. The Seniors are now Cork B County Champions and Munster C Champions and are unbeaten in six competitive games. St Mary’s couldn’t be prouder of the entire Senior panel. A magnificent achievement and hopefully more to come. Congratulations and well done!! An All Ireland semi final awaits in the new year. We can’t wait!!
Senor 1 Panel: Eadbha O’Connor (captain) Newtownshandrum, Shona Brennan, Newtown-shandrum, Fiona Troy, Newtownshandrum, Kate Cotter, Buttevant, Vicky Curran, Buttevant, Melanie Hayes, Newtownshandrum, Claire O’Brien, New-townshandrum, Niamh Gammell, Charleville, Saoirse Morrissey (vc) Ballyhea, Aoibheann Morrissey, Ballyhea, Ava Drinan, Charleville, Ava Mulcahy, Ballyhea, Lexie O’Hall-oran, Newtown-shandrum, Caoimhe O’Connor, Newtown-shandrum, Cara Hickey, Ballyhea, Orla Troy, Newtownshandrum, Lauren McAuliffe, Newtownshandrum, Aoife Morrissey, Granagh Ballingarry, Faye Ronan, Ballyhea, Roisin Herlihy, Granagh Ballingarry, Ava McDonogh, Granagh Ballingarry, Evie Hughes, Newtownshandrum, Isabelle Barrett, Ballyhea, Caila Neligan, Charleville, Chloe Jones, Charleville, Hannah Buicke, Ballyhea, Steffi O’Toole, Charleville, Grace Hickey, Ballyhea, Chloe McGrath, Granagh Ballingarry, Orlaith McAuliffe, Charleville, Zoe O’Halloran, New-townshandrum), Chloe Costelloe (Crecora).