{"id":223247,"date":"2026-01-02T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/223247\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:20:08","slug":"athenry-ready-for-all-ireland-replay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/223247\/","title":{"rendered":"Athenry ready for All-Ireland replay"},"content":{"rendered":"

While most of us were indulging over Christmas and New Year, for some GAA players it has been a period of hard training and abstinence ahead of major club finals in camogie and hurling.<\/p>\n

The men of Ballygunner (Waterford) and Loughrea (Galway) will clash in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Club Final at Croke Park on Sunday, 18 January.<\/p>\n

This weekend sees the women of Athenry (Galway) and St Finbarr’s (Cork) meet in the replay of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Club decider at FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles, tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The Athenry side are seeking to land a first All-Ireland Senior Camogie Club Championship since 1977 and end a 48-year wait.<\/p>\n

A late point from the Galway side in December\u2019s All Ireland Senior Club final forced a dramatic draw with St Finbarr’s of Cork and a very different Christmas and New Year for the players.<\/p>\n

Despite training sessions on St Stephen’s morning and New Year’s Day, for Athenry captain and Galway player Dervla Higgins, the extended club campaign has had its positive points.<\/p>\n

“It’s actually been nice you know, a lot of girls, you’d have time off at work and college and that over the Christmas so, without Christmas Day and the day after, there’s not much else to be doing.<\/p>\n

“Training has been going really well, and we’re focused on the All-Ireland. I’m sure we’ll enjoy our January,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Dervla
\nAthenry captain Dervla Higgins says training has been going well<\/p>\n

For team manager and former Galway hurler Joe Rabbitte, the task of keeping his players motivated for a January rematch in Thurles called for a measured approach.<\/p>\n

“I suppose it is a bit of a battle at times, you know, especially coming through the Christmas period. But look it, all the girls we have, they’re very committed to the cause.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t put any stop on their celebrations over Christmas, but you kind of knew that they were smart enough not to go over the top.”<\/p>\n

Club stalwart and former All Star Jessica Gill is one member of the squad who has had to balance the preparations for the replay with the demands of family life.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably been a little bit easier for me because I have kids. I feel privileged, to be honest, to be training at this time of the year.<\/p>\n

“My oldest boy is nearly 12 and my second boy is nearly seven, so they really understand.<\/p>\n

“Then I have a little girl that’s two, she wouldn’t really understand.<\/p>\n

“But for the boys it has been amazing. My boys are very much involved in GAA.<\/p>\n

“It’s so nice for them to see me playing, I didn’t think they would ever get to see me playing in Croke Park, so it has been brilliant<\/p>\n

“On a personal level, it’s lovely,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Athenry
\nPlayers gathered in a huddle at St Mary’s GAA club grounds<\/p>\n

Among those driving the All Ireland preparations on the training pitch is none other than current Galway hurler Padraig Mannion.<\/p>\n

His role in coaching the Athenry camogie team has proved to be a learning opportunity for the seasoned player.<\/p>\n

“It’s a huge experience for me as well, it’s not something that I’m used to.<\/p>\n

“You have the likes of Therese Maher, Jessie, like really experienced players, and then you have girls right down to the girls playing minor under 16.<\/p>\n

“I find it crazy that way with camogie, as in when I\u2019d be playing, you’d never have that.”<\/p>\n

As they renew their bid for All Ireland glory, one former team mate will be on the minds of many of the Athenry squad this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nKate Moran died at the age of 20<\/p>\n

Kate Moran, 20, who had won two All-Ireland U-16 medals with Galway, died from a head injury sustained while playing a league game for her club in 2022.<\/p>\n

Joe Rabbitte said that the impact of her loss on the team is ever present.<\/p>\n

“It’s a thing that you’ll never get over, but you’ll try and kind of bring it with you.<\/p>\n

“We’ve retired the number 12 jersey and Kate is never far away from our minds.<\/p>\n

“You can never, ever forget the likes of her.”<\/p>\n

Whatever happens tomorrow, there will be a winner on the day, with extra-time, and 45s possible to decide the outcome.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the calibre of the Cork opposition who are seeking their first senior All Ireland camogie title, the Athenry manager is under no illusions.<\/p>\n

“Finbarr’s were always a team that were there for the last couple of years, so we’ve heard a bit about them, but we didn’t know that much until we played them and look it, they’re a fantastic team.<\/p>\n

“They’re very strong and very physical and they have very dangerous forwards and we, I suppose, would be the same. We would have forwards and we’d have a good team as well, but they seem to be a bit more settled than us.”<\/p>\n

While it may have made for a quieter Christmas for both teams, Dervla Higgins said a second shot at an All Ireland club title and claiming the Bill and Agnes O’Carroll cup has also made for a happy New Year.<\/p>\n

“From my perspective, there’s a little bit more energy in it now that we’re in a replay of the All-Ireland. A lot more people might not have been aware the game was on outside of the club that are buying into it and have heard about it.<\/p>\n

“The momentum and energy and everything, it’s great. We’re really excited and looking forward to it.”<\/p>\n

The All-Ireland senior camogie club championship final replay between Athenry and St Finbarr’s will take place on Saturday, 3 January at FBD Semple Stadium, Thurles with the game live on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player for a 5.15pm throw-in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While most of us were indulging over Christmas and New Year, for some GAA players it has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-223247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}