The Kieran Shannon Interview: Ann Downey - The good gets better

Despite winning 12 All-Ireland medals herself, Ann Downey has always lived in the shadow of her sister Angela, one of the greatest camogie players of all time. But returning Kilkenny to the top has secured her standing as a special figure in her own right, writes Kieran Shannon.

“Well, Shem, is this the good one or the bad one?!” Ann Downey was just a schoolgirl when the man infamously walked into her father’s butcher shop and crudely blurted out a distinction that, in her innocence, she had no idea existed.

Up to that point, she hadn’t seen herself as any worse than Angela and Angela hadn’t seen herself as any better than Ann.