'These girls are made of steel, mentally and physically' - Barrs camogie on the brink of history

They are just one hour from bringing a sixth All-Ireland club crown - and first in camogie - back to Togher.

Wed, 10 Dec, 2025 - 06:59

Eoghan Cormican

Brian O’Sullivan called the St Finbarr’s camogie panel to the Rochestown Park Hotel last February. Their first get-together of the year. Targets set out and ambitions aired.

The Barrs were late convening for the 2025 season. Given the campaign previous had delivered a first county in 18 years and ran to the end of October, O’Sullivan saw no need to hurry them back.

The 2024 season informed conversation at the Rochestown Park Hotel. They’d had a taste of Munster fare, fleeting though it was. They wanted more. They wanted to go beyond Munster and all the way to the last day.

The aspiration was set out to reach the All-Ireland club final.

February words have become a December reality. The Barrs are off to Croker this Sunday, only the third Cork club over the past 30 years - Inniscarra and Milford the other two - to secure involvement in the decider.

“Just with the talent within the group, there's no reason why we shouldn't be looking towards that,” said Barrs boss Brian O’Sullivan when reflecting on the standard-setting meeting of 10 months ago.

To aspire is one matter, to believe is another.

“With the potential in the squad, I probably did, but it's a minefield,” O'Sullivan continued.

“Getting out of Cork, even getting out of your group in Cork, because some of the clubs in Cork are fantastic. If you look at Cork over the last few years, they've been competing at senior, U23, intermediate, minor level.

"All those top inter-county players are dotted across all the clubs, so even to get out of Cork is a magnificent achievement.

“It's one of the toughest counties in the country but you have to start pushing. You have to raise your ambitions to see where you can get to.

“Someone has to get there, so why couldn't it be us, particularly with the squad that we have.”

The squad O’Sullivan speaks of contains three starters - Sorcha McCartan and the Cahalane sisters, Méabh and Orlaith - from the Cork team that came up short in August’s All-Ireland final.

A fourth Barrs player, Kate Wall, was a second half sub in. A fifth, Aoife O’Neill, was an unused sub. A sixth, the returning-from-injury Gráinne Cahalane, was on the fringes of the set-up.

Four more - Ciara Hurley, Ella Wigginton Barrett, Ciara Golden, and Nicole Olden - were on the bench the afternoon Cork came up short in July’s All-Ireland U23 final.

The aforementioned Hurley, along with Aisling Egan and Hannah O’Leary, were part of Cork’s All-Ireland winning intermediate panel in 2024.

Their stacked panel has been on a sensational journey. If it hasn’t already crossed your path, the following is just some of the craziness they’ve been involved in and come through.

Brought to extra-time by Newcastle West in the Munster semi-final when the Limerick champions goaled twice in second-half injury-time. A pair of Barrs points then brought extra-time to extra, extra-time.

Kate Wall’s 60th minute goal delivered the Blues a famous come-from-behind Munster final win over De La Salle before double extra-time again visited their corner.

Eight minutes into the second five-minute period of extra, extra-time, the Barrs trailed Loughgiel Shamrocks by 3-14 to 3-13. Back-to-back points in the 93rd and 94th minute from Orlaith Cahalane and Ciara Golden saw them edge another epic.

“These girls are made of steel, mentally and physically. The Newcastle West match here, a lot of people would say that that was the match that made this team this year. That gave them that confidence to get to where they are now.”

Where they are now is one hour from bringing a sixth All-Ireland club crown - and first in camogie - back to Togher.