The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Irish female sports stars have a nice line in first-name recognition. Sonia, of course, is the original and most iconic. Since then we’ve had other heroines: Katie, Derval, Stephanie, and Annalise. 

Doireann O’Sullivan’s three superb points in last September’s TG4 All-Ireland ladies senior football final went a long way towards securing a sixth successive title for Cork.

Mental fortitude. That’s their secret. Or part of it, at least.

Sunday, February 7. The first page turned in the next chapter of Cork ladies football.

Record-breaking dual GAA star Briege Corkery kick-started 2016 as she finished last year — with a big match.

Ciara O’Sullivan was present at GAA headquarters for the first three of Cork’s All-Ireland final wins, standing in awe as Juliet Murphy lifted the Brendan Martin Cup September after September after September.

She took a big hit towards the end of yesterday’s All-Ireland senior camogie final, but Ashling Thompson wasn’t going to give in at that stage. The Cork captain had a cup to collect and a speech to give, after all.

Cork know-how came to the fore at three pivotal final moments:

All-Ireland-winning Cork camogie manager Paudie Murray says “the sooner the Camogie Association and LGFA merge with the GAA, the better”.

Niall Cahalane is no stranger to the tension that comes with involvement on the big day, having starred for Cork and Castlehaven at the very highest level through the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Ladies Football: In 2006, Ciara O’Sullivan sat in the stands in Croke Park watching Geraldine O’Flynn kick the winning point against Armagh to see Cork retain the Brendan Martin Cup.

City Hall has defended the early switch-on of Cork’s Christmas lights this week.

The victory of our ladies’ football team in last Sunday’s All-Ireland senior final was fantastic and the most extraordinary sporting achievement of 2014.

King Henry of Kilkenny may have 10, but dual stars Briege Corkery and Rena Buckley have 14 apiece, lest anyone be in any doubt as to who has the higher senior All-Ireland medal count.

As far as Briege Corkery was concerned, Cork were dead and buried.

TG4 ALL-IRELAND LADIES’ SFC FINAL:

"Scatty as hell" was how the family of Cork camogie powerhouse Briege Corkery described her last night after she left her handbag behind her in the train station having doled out autographs and hugs.

Briege Corkery, along with her Cork colleague Rena Buckley, is on the verge of claiming the highest All-Ireland medal count in GAA history, not that she thinks about such things. There might be life left in the dual star so – and there’s certainly plenty of life in this one.

In today’s success-or-nothing world, filled with soundbytes about how the runners-up are merely the first losers and winners never quit, it’s easy to overlook or belittle achievements.

Coming from anyone else, it could sound a little hollow. After all, Cork’s Rena Buckley has a perfect record in All-Ireland football finals heading into Sunday’s latest one against Kerry.

When your medal shelf is bustling like Briege Corkery’s, it can be difficult to remember each and every win.

Cork marked their return to the big time with a deserved victory to scupper Wexford’s four-in-a-row Camogie League Division 1 title bid at Semple Stadium.

CORK won their eighth successive Munster Ladies’ SFC title on Saturday, with a nine-point win over Kerry in Dr Crokes, Killarney.

CORK have far too much respect for the huge challenge presented by Galway in today’s Gala All-Ireland semi-final to be preoccupied with thoughts of winning a third senior title in a row.

CORK ladies football boss Eamonn Ryan believes he was ‘hard done by’ in being handed an eight-week suspension arising out of an incident at last month’s All-Ireland decider.

ANOTHER All-Ireland Ladies football final, another trip to Croke Park for Cork and Angela Walsh.

Cork goalkeeper Aoife Murray was on the receiving end of some major plaudits from her manager Denise Cronin, after her superb shot-stopping performance helped her side earn a five-point victory over Galway in yesterday's Gala All-Ireland Senior Camogie final.

IRA members were involved in the murder of Paul Quinn last October, Fine Gael and Labour claimed yesterday.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny will today offer his backing to the family of murdered Paul Quinn in their fight for justice.

THE family of a man murdered in the North two months ago yesterday insisted Sinn Féin must withdraw allegations he was a victim of a dispute between criminals before they will talk to the party.

The family of a man murdered in the North two months ago, today insisted Sinn Féin must withdraw allegations that he was a victim of a dispute between criminals before they will talk to the party.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today insisted in the Dáil that murdered Co Armagh trucker Paul Quinn had no criminal links, and he offered to meet his grieving parents.

FOREIGN Minister Dermot Ahern has said the Government “have no evidence Paul Quinn was a criminal”.

The parents of Paul Quinn are to meet with the Minister for Foreign Affairs as part of their campaign to bring their son's killers to justice.

WEXFORD’S Kate Kelly and Cork’s Briege Corkery were yesterday named the Vodafone GAA Camogie and Ladies’ Football Players of the Year for 2007.

Cork 0-12 Tipperary 0-04

THE difference between winning and losing can often be indefinable, but on other occasions it can be quite clear, as in the case of last weekend's Guinness decider when Galway simply couldn't match holders Cork for experience.