‘Hurling-camogie double header good step forward’
Daire Walsh
As she prepares to line out at the famed stadium later today, Dublin’s Emma O’Byrne has expressed her hope that camogie and hurling double headers will become the norm at Croke Park in the years to come.
Back on March 20, 2022, the defender, from Good Counsel/Liffey Gaels, was part of a Sky Blues side that took on Down in a National Camogie League Division 1 clash in GAA HQ. A league meeting between the Dublin men’s footballers and Donegal followed this tussle and, just over two years later, O’Byrne and her inter-county colleagues are back at the Jones’ Road venue for a similar occasion.
Before Clare and Kilkenny do battle in the penultimate round of the All-Ireland SHC, the latter’s camogie side will lock horns with Dublin at the quarter-final stage of their senior championship.
This is the second year in succession that Kilkenny have shared a billing with their male counterparts in Croke Park and, with the full integration of the GAA, the LGFA and the Camogie Association in the pipeline, O’Byrne sees this as the way forward.
“It’s good that we could get the opportunity to get another double header and hopefully, with the integration now coming forward, double headers will become more of a normal thing. Hopefully we can push for that,” O’Byrne remarked at a camogie championship quarter-final launch earlier this week.
“I think it’s really exciting for the camogie side of things, but hopefully it will just become the norm in the future.
“I think it’s all about building towards that end goal of full integration and full exposure for all codes. This is a good step forward.”
Although they were already in a strong position coming into the game, Dublin sealed third spot in Group Two of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship with a commanding 4-20 to 0-6 victory over Down at St Malachy’s Kilclief last Saturday.
This also ensured they reached the quarter-finals of the top-tier competition for the second time in just three seasons. The Metropolitans will be hoping for better fortune than they enjoyed at this stage of the championship two years ago, when eventual champions Kilkenny had 16 points to spare over them at Semple Stadium in Thurles.
You have to go back to 2017 for the most recent quarter-final victory that Dublin recorded in the senior championship – a 1-16 to 0-12 success over provincial rivals Wexford – but O’Byrne senses a desire within the current squad to get themselves back into the last-four of the O’Duffy Cup.
“I think it’s not just a matter of reaching the quarter-final, this time around we’re really pushing to get the win and building on working towards that, breaking past the quarter-final spot.”
If Dublin did manage to overcome the considerable challenge of Kilkenny, it would represent a significant moment in what has already been a productive 2024 to date for Bill McCormack’s team.
With O’Byrne playing a key role at full-back, Dublin claimed the National Camogie League Division 1B title courtesy of a final win at the expense of Wexford at SETU Carlow on April 13.
Having watched on as a number of her team-mates achieved success at club level in recent times, the 24-year-old student took confidence from getting her hands on a substantial piece of silverware.
“I think when you look at the players in the team, we do have a lot of girls coming back from club success with Vincent’s and Jude’s.
“It’s good to be able to get that winning feeling into the rest of the girls after that win in the league.
“That winning mindset just radiates through the team,” O’Byrne added.