Paul Rouse: Ó Muircheartaigh said 'I came to see the great Kathleen Mills'

By the age of 18 Kathleen Mills was playing at midfield for the Dublin senior camogie team; she held that position for almost every moment of the next 20 years.

EXTRAORDINARY SINGLE MEDAL COLLECTION: Kathleen Mills medal collection consists of 15 All-Ireland senior championships, 20 Leinster senior championships, four inter-provincial championships, and six Dublin senior championships. Pic: Women's Museum of Ireland

The most extraordinary single collection of medals held in the GAA Museum in Croke Park is something to behold. The core of the collection consists of 15 All-Ireland senior championships, 20 Leinster senior championships, four inter-provincial championships, and six Dublin senior championships.

The medals were won by the incomparable Kathleen Mills – known to her friends as Kay. The medals were won between the 1940 and the 1960s, and her life as a pioneering sportswoman is evocative of life in a different era – mid-20th century Dublin.