Camogie celebration time for Kilkenny’s history makers

Last Saturday was a special day in Kilkenny as UPMC Nowlan Park played host to the two All-Ireland senior camogie semi-finals.

There may have been no Kilkenny representation on the field but off the field was a different matter as the county’s 1974 All-Ireland winners were honoured at a function beforehand.

That victory over Cork, via a replay, was a historic one as it was the first ever senior crown for the Noresiders.

Kilkenny have gone on to claim top honours on 14 more occasions including a seven-in-a-row between 1985 and 1991.

The Downey sisters were part of those Kilkenny teams and they recall what great times they were.

“I cannot believe that it’s 50 years since the first win already,” said Ann. “When someone said it was 50 years, I was saying to them that it only feels like 20 as you still feel like you are only a young one.

“It was unbelievable and we had great times but time passes so quickly that it shows you that you just have to enjoy each day.

“It’s hard to credit it’s that long but there’s still some fabulous memories from the time,” she added. “We were delighted to be part of the first team to win a senior All-Ireland and all the success that followed can be put down to that first success.

“We’d a great innings after the first win as we’d a great team and the foundation was laid in the Presentation Secondary School with talented players coming through while we also had a great management and county board.

“It’s still unbelievable to achieve what we did and everyone from the squad is still fit and healthy thank god,” said Angela.

The two sisters are the epitome of Kilkenny camogie and they acknowledge the differences between today’s game and that of five decades ago.

“When we played in our day, the game may have been even faster than it is now as it was only 12-a-side and the pitch was a lot smaller.

“You couldn’t afford to solo up the pitch as you might get a belt so you got rid of the ball as quickly as you could or pulled on the ground. I suppose those skills are still there today but the changes over the years have definitely been for the better.

“We would have loved to have played 15-a-side as well but the game has moved on and the skill level is off the charts with what the girls are capable these days,” Ann finished.

Angela was lucky enough to get one of three goals in the replay success over Cork and she feels the first success was the perfect groundwork for what followed.

“I don’t have a great memory from the games but climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand for the first time was a great moment.

“Our parents were probably even prouder than we were - our dad was a hurler so he would have got great enjoyment out of it.

“I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have at the time and it’s only when you look back that you realise what we achieved especially with the seven-in-a-row side.

“It was phenomenal really and when you see what the likes of the Dublin footballers and Limerick hurlers have done lately, you can see what good company we were in.”

Another player to stand out in the maiden victory was fellow St Paul’s player Ursula Grace. Like the Downeys, Ursula learned her craft in Presentation Secondary School and enjoyed success quite quickly upon her introduction to the senior panel.

“This is a big get together for us all as we haven’t been together for a long time,” she said.

“We beat Cork in the final after a replay and I was lucky enough to get a goal and there was big celebrations when we got back to Kilkenny afterwards.

“Like the hurling, there was a big parade out for us and we were so excited as a lot of us were still only very young at the time.”

Ursula was a multi-talented sports star as she also played soccer with Ireland but she too knows how much changes there has been with regards to commitment and training levels at the elite level.

“We would have trained twice a week back then so it’s a lot different to what the players would do now.

“I played soccer around the same time as I was with Kilkenny but it was easygoing then as training was very casual.

“Nothing fazed us when we were playing and we just loved the game.

“The 1974 win was a very special day and even after drawing the first day we felt we had the beating of Cork in the replay and thankfully that’s how it worked out in the end.”