2022 Year in Review- A season of All-Ireland glory for Kilkenny GAA

The 2022 GAA season is one that will be fondly remembered in Kilkenny sporting circles.

With three All-Ireland titles and another All-Ireland final appearance, it was a dream season in many ways on Noreside.

This time last year you would have been a brave man or woman to predict Kilkenny’s subsequent fortunes over the following months, but what a rollercoaster year it proved to be at all levels.

Senior Camogie

Top spot on the tree goes to the Kilkenny camogie team who were crowned All-Ireland senior champions for the second time in three seasons.

It was a remarkable All-Ireland success in many ways, as it was fairly unexpected at the start of the year.

With the likes of Collette Dormer, Davina Tobin and Meighan Farrell departing the squad due to retirements and travelling, there was a big void in terms of experience in the Kilkenny defence.

Things only got worse throughout the season as in a terrible curse of bad luck, Piltown sisters Kelly-Anne and Aoife Doyle were struck down with season-ending cruciate ligament injuries.

These were some of the onfield problems. Off the field, there was the agony of selector Tommy Shefflin losing his brother Paul, while manager Brian Dowling also lost his uncle Oliver Brennan in a heartbreaking house fire.

Those setbacks seemed to galvanise the entire Kilkenny squad. That close-knit bond certainly played a huge role in helping the Cats along the way.

When you take all that into account, it’s easy to see why many people feel this was up there as one of Kilkenny’s greatest All-Ireland wins - and it’s hard to disagree with that point of view.

With so many absent faces, Kilkenny needed to unearth a couple of new players and Brian Dowling used the duration of the Littlewoods National League to experiment on that side of things.

Despite not making the final, Kilkenny were unbeaten throughout the course of the league and looked to be in good shape for the start of the championship.

After beating Wexford, Offaly and Dublin on the way to winning the Leinster senior title, attention then quickly turned to the round-robin series in the All-Ireland campaign.

At this point, the Kilkenny team began to take on a bit of shape with the Young Ireland Fitzgerald sisters Tiffanie and Steffi staking claims for spots on the team while the likes of Michaela Kenneally, Laura Murphy and Niamh Deely all stepped up to the mark.

The All-Ireland winners raced to rather routine victories over Antrim, Down, Limerick and Offaly before they met Galway in the final game which saw the repeat of the 2020 All-Ireland decider end all square.

Galway’s superior scoring difference enabled them to go straight to the All-Ireland semi-final, but it wouldn’t be long before the teams would meet again as goals from Denise Gaule and Miriam Walsh helped Kilkenny overcome Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

Galway and Kilkenny then met in Croke Park a week later. Not surprisingly, it was a very close contest until Laura Murphy netted a second half goal to give the Cats a noteworthy 1-13 to 0-12 success over the then All-Ireland champions.

Old adversaries Cork were the opponents in the All-Ireland final. After losing the previous year’s All-Ireland semi-final as well as the 2017 and 2018 deciders to the Rebels, there was huge motivation for the Cats to succeed on the biggest day of the camogie year.

Brian Dowling’s team produced a stunning beginning to the game as they went six points clear. Although Cork did come back at the Cats, Katie Nolan and Miriam Walsh produced the goods up front before Sophie O’Dwyer emerged from the bench to score the winning goal.

Kilkenny captain Aoife Prendergast then accepted the O’Duffy Cup on behalf of all her team-mates. Going into 2023 the hope will be that the Cats can replicate more of that success.

While the success of the team was ultimately the main aim, there was still some warranted individual accolades at the end of the season.

It was a dream few weeks for Miriam Walsh as she squeezed in winning an All-Ireland title, getting married and being crowned Camogie Player of the Year into a number of weeks.

As well as the Player of the Year gong, the manager’s award also went to Kilkenny as Brian Dowling deservedly took home the prize at the end of season All-Star banquet.

On the subject of All-Stars, there was an incredible haul of eight awards for Kilkenny. Among the recipients for the All-Ireland champions were first-time winners Aoife Norris as goalkeeper and half-back Laura Murphy.

Grace Walsh and Claire Phelan picked up their third All-Star wins in defence.

The Cats half-forward duo of Julianne Malone and Denise Gaule also landed awards, with Gaule having previously taken her place on the All-Star team in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Katie Nolan was named at corner forward in the 2022 line-up, with the excellent Walsh joining her Kilkenny team-mate as full-forward.

Senior Hurling

The Kilkenny senior hurling team came into 2022 under a bit of a cloud - something which is extremely rare. There didn’t seem to be much expectation on the shoulders of Brian Cody’s side either.

The Cats were chasing a third Leinster title on the trot, but All-Ireland semi-final defeats in the previous two seasons to Waterford and Cork certainly left the feeling that Kilkenny were a bit behind the big sides.

Brian Cody was entering his 24th season in charge of the side and called up a number of new players who got plenty of game time during their two outings in the Walsh Cup.

Kilkenny narrowly missed out on qualification for the pre-season tournament final before they moved on to a five game series in Division 1B of the Allianz National League.

Wins followed over Dublin, Antrim, Laois and Waterford. While they did go down to neighbours Tipperary in Thurles, Kilkenny still did enough to qualify for a league semi-final against Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Despite a bright opening with Mossy Keoghan netting two goals, Kilkenny eventually fell to a four-point defeat as Cork set up a league final meeting with Waterford.

Kilkenny’s Adrian Mullen in action against Limerick during this year’s All-Ireland senior hurling final

After a two week break, the Cats then opened up the defence of their Leinster championship title when travelling to TEG Cusack Park to take on Westmeath.

A number of the Shamrocks players returned to county colours following their All-Ireland club final loss. Richie Reid, TJ Reid, Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody all played their part in a hard-fought opening round victory.

A home success over Laois followed a week later before the much anticipated trip to Salthill to meet Henry Shefflin’s Galway on the first Sunday in May.

It’s a game that has became more known for the handshake between the managers afterwards but it’s worth remembering what a cracking contest it was. Galway won out when Conor Cooney knocked over a free with practically the last puck of the game.

The Galway defeat piled the pressure on the defending Leinster champions for their clash with Dublin in Parnell Park but Kilkenny supporters needn’t have worried as they claimed an emphatic victory.

Kilkenny ended up losing their final round-robin game at home to Wexford, but had still done enough to get back to Croke Park for a Leinster final.

Again it was Galway who stood in the way of Richie Reid picking up the Bob O’Keeffe Cup. Like the earlier meeting in Pearse Stadium it was another night of debating a post-match handshake, but the result was all that mattered to Kilkenny. They duly delivered as TJ Reid shot 12 points in a 0-22 to 0-17 victory.

Despite the win, question marks remained ahead of a battle with Tony Kelly and Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final, but it was on this Saturday evening in July that the whole country stood up and took notice.

Kilkenny produced one of their best ever 35 minutes as they blitzed the Banner County in the opening half. In front of almost 40,000 supporters they qualified for a third final in seven years in stunning fashion.

It was the night that Mikey Butler’s reputation went up a level when he kept Clare’s Tony Kelly scoreless, while Cian Kenny also continued a fine debut season when scoring an insurance goal late in.

The mammoth challenge that Limerick possess was next up but despite being big outsiders, Kilkenny produced a fine display.

Limerick threw everything at the Cats in the first half but the side in black and amber refused to buckle with second half goals from Billy Ryan and Mossy Keoghan bringing Kilkenny level heading down the stretch before Limerick’s character came to the fore as they pulled away late on.

No All-Ireland final defeat is celebrated in Kilkenny, but there was still huge pride in how the Cats competed right till the end against a fine team.

In some ways the narrow defeat possibly whetted the appetite for Brian Cody having another crack in the new season at winning a 12th Liam MacCarthy Cup but, of course, the news of his resignation rocked the hurling world let alone Kilkenny.

All-Ireland Wins

Derek Lyng, Brian Cody’s replacement as the Kilkenny senior hurling manager, had a very successful season as he guided the under-20 side to All-Ireland hurling glory.

Two one-point victories over Galway and Wexford saw the Cats crowned Leinster champions before a final victory over Limerick sealed a first All-Ireland at the grade since 2008.

There was also a rare All-Ireland Gaelic football victory as the Kilkenny senior team bagged wins over Warwickshire and New York in the space of three days as they savoured the rare air of junior championship glory in Croke Park ahead of the dramatic All-Ireland semi-final clash between Dublin and Kerry.

More of the same in 2023 please!