Rachel McCarthy: 'There is a constant want for camogie to get better in Kerry'

KERRY'S GOALS: Rachel McCarthy in attendance for the Munster GAA Senior Hurling, Camogie and Football Championship launch. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.

Last week Kerry Camogie saluted its latest adult club Abbeykillix, with a message ‘huge achievement, proof of all the dedication at grassroots level.’ It serves to highlight the spectacular growth of the game, as camogie continues to flourish in The Kingdom.

Their 17-point win over Derry a few weeks ago is confirmation of where they are heading.

This week they are readying themselves for the Centra Division 2A final, where a win over Meath in Banagher on Saturday (3.30pm) will see them promoted.

Kerry had a brief stint in 1B a couple of years ago. On that occasion, it was the Royals again they overcame.

Familiar foes now, they narrowly got the better of the midlanders in a February league game.

Kerry defender Rachel McCarthy, together with captain Aoife Fitzgerald, Patrice Diggin and Jackie Horgan were recognised with PwC Soaring Stars in 2025 after they reached the All-Ireland intermediate championship decider.

McCarthy is glowing with enthusiasm.

“The end of last year wasn’t exactly what we’d planned, losing to Offaly by three points in the All-Ireland. We felt the hurt of that but it made us a lot hungrier, so pre-season has been really good, really lively, there is a good buzz, and that has shown in us being top of Division 2A,” she says.

“There is a constant want for camogie to get better in Kerry and it is hard being in a football stronghold, but I grew up in a hurling household and I knew the Kerry hurlers before I knew the Kerry footballers.

“I’m a household of girls. My father is a huge hurling man, he always pushed us to play camogie.

“To see how the clubs of north Kerry, Killarney, Tralee take to hurling and to see where it is going, like CBS The Green were in the school’s final, that shows the progress of hurling and camogie in Kerry.”

Clanmaurice is a club well-known for the unbelievable heights they’ve scaled, and the 26-year-old Children’s Nurse in Tralee is proud of what she helped to accomplish.

They provide the backbone of John Madden’s intercounty squad, and are also set to break new ground in Munster.

“It’s a first for Kerry to play in the senior championship this year,” she explains.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be included in the launch of these competitions, to be in that group. It means a lot, and it means a lot to the progress of Kerry camogie.

“We didn’t have Munster championship last year. We had eight weeks off between the league and the All-Ireland championship so that was tough. It was a long slog trying to play challenge matches when other counties have their own thing going.

“This year there was an opportunity for us to enter Munster at senior level. It is a crucial part of the year so we were delighted. We play the winners of Waterford and Clare and it is a home game as well for us, so that will be a nice buzz when it comes around.

“To welcome Waterford or Clare to Kerry is brilliant, especially for our younger players. We’ve played a lot of our league games in Austin Stack Park and Fitzgerald Stadium and we are so grateful to the Kerry county board, it is all about promoting camogie.” Legendary figures Diggin and Horgan are icons and were joint-captains last season.

“Role models,” she notes. “I watched them play before I was on the panel and to call them friends is a privilege. They are Kerry camogie, and what they’ve done for Kerry camogie. They lead by example and we’re very lucky to have them, and they’re getting better year on year.”