'That's the aim': Kilkenny out to end Cork and Galway's All-Ireland camogie dominance says Aoife Norris

Kilkenny could only spectate as the game’s profile became exclusively centralised on two counties they once stood equal with.

FINAL AIM: Kilkenny’s Aoife Norris pictured ahead of the 2026 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Championship Semi-Final double header. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie.

It used to be Cork, Galway, and Kilkenny. The Camogie conversation was three-strong. O’Duffy’s list of annual contenders was three-strong.

They were inseparable. They were almost collegiate in how they rotated and shared the top step.

Kilkenny won two of the first three camogie All-Irelands at the beginning of this decade. They had won one All-Ireland across the previous 25 years.

But this was not the beginning of any sustained black and amber supremacy over the other pair. This was a golden end to a group that packed in two All-Irelands they weren’t favoured for.

Of the 17 players that featured in the come-from-behind final victory over Cork four years ago, eight were present for the extra-time quarter-final win over Waterford three weeks ago.

Brian Dowling masterminded the 2022 success, as he did the triumph over Galway two years earlier. The current office holder, James Meagher, is Kilkenny’s third manager since Dowling stepped away at the end of 2023.

As dressing-room and sideline flux stalled momentum on Noreside, Cork and Galway continued on without their once third band member. Camogie’s conversation and contenders list became two-strong. Cork and Galway went out on their own in lifting the game to previously unscaled heights.

Kilkenny and their rebuild status could only spectate as the game’s profile became exclusively centralised on two counties they once stood equal with.

“Last year's final was a great spectacle,” Kilkenny goalkeeper Aoife Norris said of Galway’s bruising one-point win over the 14 women of Cork.

“The intensity, the tackles; it was brilliant. It was probably one of the best finals I've seen in a while. The standard was excellent. That’s a credit to both teams. They just went at it and left everything on the pitch.

“It was great for the development of the game and the promotion of the game. Hopefully, it'll be the same this year.”

Cork’s Sorcha McCartan, Tipperary’s Eimear McGrath, Kilkenny’s Aoife Norris and Galway’s Carrie Dolan. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Having finally ended their three-year losing quarter-final streak, Kilkenny are desperate to stretch camogie conversation beyond Cork and Galway. They’re desperate to break up Cork-Galway ownership of the concluding afternoon.

To manage such, they’ll need to inflict a first championship win over the westerners since the ‘22 semi-final. Mind you, there’s only been one meeting since, that a 2025 group fixture at Nowlan Park that Galway were comprehensive in.

“Galway and Cork have been in the last two All-Ireland finals, and you want to be in there, you want to be in the top two. You want to be winning really, but that's the aim, that's where you want to get to.

“They're the standard setters at the minute, so you're going to have to up the game to get there. I think there's a lot of teams capable of getting there, but they have been the ones setting the standard for the last few years,” continued 27-year-old Norris.

“I know everyone's saying that we're happy to be back in the semi-final, but we want a little bit more as well. I don't think anyone sets out at the start of the year and says, they're going to be just happy if we get to the semi.” Kilkenny’s return to the last four for the first time in four years leans strongly into youth. The county has been nigh on untouchable at underage. Back-to-back All-Ireland minor crowns and a four-in-a-row of post-primary All-Irelands for Loreto Kilkenny.

Rachel Phelan was used off the bench against Waterford at Croke Park. She is a graduate of the 2025 minor class. Quarter-final starters Asha McHardy, Emma Shortall, and Sarah Bacoe, as well as second-half sub Claire Doheny, have come through from the 2021 All-Ireland minor win.

Half-back Angela Carroll, centre-forward Caoimhe Keher Murtagh, and second-half sub Rachel Dowling were key figures in Loreto’s 2024 All-Ireland colleges triumph. Keher Murtagh started in the first of the four-in-a-row 12 months earlier.

“There's some phenomenal players coming through. Loretto did the Senior and Junior A double this year. Greenhill, Carrick-on-Suir won the Senior B and Johnstown won the Junior B, so yeah, the players are there.” Norris routinely mentions the freshness permeating through the panel from this influx of successful kids. It has served to energise the more experienced crew.

“You just need to monitor and make sure their development is coming through. I think the future for Kilkenny looks good.”