Cavan didn’t trouble the later stages of last year’s All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship. After all, it’s hard to make an impact when you don’t have a team.
But that was where Cavan found themselves last year: not existing. A county without a camogie team. With numbers dwindling and interest seemingly low, there weren’t exactly widespread protests when the board pulled the plug.
And the dial hadn’t moved a whole pile at the start of this season either. A few of the experienced players did try to rally the troops, but the numbers just weren’t there. Another season in the wilderness was imminent.
But then the county’s under-23 team, competing in the Camogie Association’s developmental grade, started to show positive signs of progress, and former senior boss Philip “Gunner” Brady – prompted by some of the eager experienced players – agreed to assemble a squad for the championship.
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And so on Sunday, the county, recently without a camogie team, will be in Croke Park contesting the All-Ireland junior final.
“It’s brilliant, and there’s a great buzz about camogie in Cavan again that a bit of pride is back in the jersey, because there’s a proud tradition of camogie in Cavan,” says Róisín O’Keeffe.
“Last year was very disappointing that we didn’t field a senior team, especially for a lot of the older girls who were trying to keep it together.”
They have posted a season of seasons so far in 2026 – winning the Ulster intermediate title before progressing to win all five of their games in the group stages of the All-Ireland junior championship with victories over Wicklow, Armagh, Tyrone, Kildare and Roscommon.
They subsequently beat Kildare 2-12 to 1-9 at the semi-final stages to set up Sunday’s decider against Armagh at GAA headquarters, 12pm.
“Honestly, it’s probably one of the tightest groups I’ve ever met, I don’t know how it worked out, but maybe it was because everyone was fully committed and really wanted Cavan camogie to push on,” says O’Keeffe, who also played football for the county.
“I’ve been a part of many professional set-ups, let’s just say, but we come in [with the camogie team this year], there’s no nutritionist, there’s no psychologist or anything like that because we hadn’t time for any of that.
“But I think it just goes to show if you have a group of girls who are talented enough and are willing to put in the work.
“I think a lot of it comes down to attitude and if they’re willing to make sacrifices, give the commitment and have that belief that they’re good enough, anything can happen.”
If overcoming adversity was a sport, O’Keeffe would have a couple of medals at this stage. She suffered her second ACL injury during a National Football League game against Armagh in 2021 – but continues to pull on the blue and white.
“Any time you can put on the Cavan jersey and get a chance to play on All-Ireland final day, it’s special. It’s a great honour,” she says.
“We have a nice blend. The younger girls are able to see the sacrifices that have to be made if you want to play at a high standard, it’s not a case of just rocking up. Hopefully that will continue for the next few years as well and they’ll continue to drive it on.”
