Carrie Dolan: Always an edge between Galway and Cork

This is a rivalry that has delivered two of the finest and most viciously ferocious All-Irelands the game has ever witnessed.

Carrie Dolan at the Galway camogie meet and greet in Pic: Sinéad McGrath

Pigtails, ponytails, and purple ribbons. Black markers, homemade signs, and jerseys desperate for a signature.

They’ve all clamoured to the player they most recognise from the telly and the stand. They’re all craving attention from the same source. They’ve all come with individual requests.

Carrie Dolan is the towering and patient epicentre of the horde. Young girl after young girl, she engages meaningfully and impressively with each sprouting supporter.

Be it asking them about the sign they’ve made or the club they line out for, each girl is able to scurry back to mam, dad, or whoever, and relay their interaction with the player who last August, from halfway up the Hogan Stand, told them to go after their dream.

At Galway’s meet and greet last Thursday evening week in Kenny Park Athenry, the county’s 27-year-old captain was last to leave the field. A role model in demand.

There’s no skipping ahead of the pigtails and ponytails decorated by purple ribbons. We wait our turn. We eventually get to make our request, minus the Galway shirt, black marker, and busily crafted homemade poster.

We bring her back to another line from her acceptance speech. Her comment that Cork “bring out the best in Galway”. We ask Carrie to expand on this statement and to articulate the rivalry that has captured attention beyond the camogie tent. A rivalry that has delivered two of the finest and most viciously ferocious All-Irelands the game has ever witnessed.

Observing from the outside, it’s a rivalry of equal parts loathing and mutual respect.

“It is a dogfight when we meet each other. You can see the stats when the games are over, whoever outworks the other and gets in the most hooks, blocks, and tackles is going to win the game,” Dolan begins.

“I wouldn't say hatred, but we have an edge when we play against each other. And look, that is a good thing. I see it as a positive that if a team is getting the better of us, well then, you need to get to their level, and that's the way it is.

“I wouldn't say we didn't appreciate [the spectacle that was Cork’s 2024 final win]. When we looked back on it, we looked in the mirror. We didn't go blaming anyone after that game.

“We looked at ourselves and what we had to improve. If we didn't do that, we wouldn't have come out on top in 2025. We have to do the same this year. Cork are an unbelievable side. If we don't come with everything we have, we will be found wanting.” 

Too often the county had been found wanting when standing opposite camogie’s standard bearers. They’d either wilt, wither, or be woefully outclassed by the women in red.

Galway’s 2010 class, the same as the group Dolan captained last year, succeeded in halting a Cork three-in-a-row charge. Their one-point semi-final replay win represented the county’s first knockout championship victory over Cork in 14 years.

It stood as a lone island amid an ocean of Cork beatings. It continued to prove an outlier in the years after. The 2012 semi-final, 2015 final, and 2017 semi-final all went the way of Paudie Murray’s Cork.

And then came the last four meeting of 2019. A meeting we’re red in the face harking back to when it comes to the roots of this rivalry.

A 0-14 to 1-10 Galway upset. Another three-in-a-row Cork bid upset and unravelled. Steel and substance from an unrecognisable maroon corner.

Carrie Dolan at the Galway camogie meet and greet in Pic: Sinéad McGrath

Dolan was a teenage corner-forward that Saturday night in Limerick. It might have been only her second year seeing minutes, but she knew enough to realise the absolute significance of the result.

“I'll never forget that game, to be honest with you. It changed the way Galway camogie was going. The work-rate was unbelievable. It was our work-rate that got us out of there that day, and it changed the way Galway camogie started to play.

“We always referenced that game. For too long we were referencing that game. We needed a new game to reference. We have got that in the last couple of years.” 

The more modern example is last year’s decider. A ceaseless and uncompromising work ethic was again their core ingredient. This raging relentlessness returned them to camogie’s summit, not her own 63rd-minute free from the Cusack sideline. That much she is absolutely adamant on. 26 first-half turnovers to Cork’s 17 stands as supporting evidence.

“That game didn't come down to the free, or the penalty save, or the sending-off. It came down to the fact that we outworked them. We are going to have to do the same and more on Sunday.” 

Dolan had the final shot of the opening half when sending wide a straightforward ‘45. She also had the final shot of the second period. There was nothing at all straightforward about the latter.

“Pressure isn't the enemy,” she said of the match-deciding free, which she won herself.

“You are going through the same process you always have. I did the same thing as I always do. If you overplay the occasion, you are just going to overthink things. Every free is going to be difficult in an All-Ireland final. But I practice them all. I am down in Clarinbridge all the time. I practice every angle on the pitch.” 

That is her job. A job she prepares and studies for to a clearly meticulous level. It is not her job to put bums on seats. It is not the job of any Cork or Galway player. And yet their collisions have stretched the camogie conversation to settings previously disinterested.

They want to be seen. They want to be spoken about.

“Even for the first round of championship here against Cork, it was the biggest crowd we ever had at a home game. The two teams bring out the crowd,” Dolan continued.

“Last year was nearly a record coward. The semi-final was a record crowd, and I'd hope the final is the exact same because the positive for us, whether you win or lose the final, is that people are talking about it after. We hope this one is the exact same.”