Cahalane sisters face hectic weekend as Barrs chase back-to-back Cork camogie titles

St Finbarr’s bid to retain their Cork senior camogie crown comes as the Cahalane sisters juggle dual commitments in football and camogie this weekend.

Thu, 09 Oct, 2025 - 06:58

Therese O’Callaghan

Defending champions St Finbarr’s will be hoping sisters Méabh, Órlaith and Kate Cahalane make it through Saturday’s Cork senior A ladies football championship final replay between Éire Óg and Aghada. All three are involved with the mid Cork club a day before their SE Systems Cork senior camogie championship final against St Catherine’s in MTU on Sunday (2pm).

While it is not ideal, St Finbarr’s manager Brian O’Sullivan is keen to stay focused on the task at hand.

“We’ve met Catherine’s a number of times over the last couple of years and we’ve always had great battles with them,” he says. “We had a tough battle in the group stage which we won by five points, we pushed on the last 10 minutes.

“The game on Sunday is separate from the group game. We’d like to think we’ve improved and no doubt Catherine’s will feel they’ve pushed on as well. So, although we’re familiar with each other, the county final on Sunday is a separate game in itself so we won’t be looking back too much.”

The two finalists have steadily gained impetus.

A formidable second-half performance saw the Barrs overcome Blackrock in the semi-final. St Catherine’s, likewise, finished strong to see off Éire Óg.

“I’d like to think we’ve improved. As the season progressed we tried a few things, I think we’ve had a different starting 15 in every match and a different finishing 15, so we are looking at the whole group really. I think our results have improved as we’ve gone on.

“We’ve had a long year. We came back a bit later on the back of winning last year’s county final, we gave the girls a bit of a break. We had a good league campaign, won the league again, and looked at a few things during the league.

“We’d a lot of girls involved with inter-county set-ups - four with the Cork U23s and six with the Cork seniors - so it gave opportunities to the club players.

“The initial goal was to get out of the group. We were in a tough group with Blackrock, Catherine’s, and you’re always in for a battle with Inniscarra. We gained a small bit of momentum in the lead up to Sunday’s final.”

Back-to-back titles were last won by Seandún in 2021/2022.

While St Finbarr’s will be looking to create their own bit of history, St Catherine’s will seek to add a new chapter and bridge a gap to 2009. Since then, they were runners-up in the 2012 and 2015 deciders.

“As champions coming in, there is always a target on your back,” O’Sullivan concludes.

“But in fairness to our girls, anything that has been thrown at them in the last few games, they are more than capable.

“We are looking forward to the game but finals tend to take on a life of their own and I expect a huge battle from Catherine’s. They are a fabulous club with a fabulous tradition. We are looking forward to playing the match rather than the occasion.”