GALWAY’S AILBHE DAVOREN hasn’t taken the time to review last season’s All-Ireland club final yet.
But if she can stamp her ticket to the 2025 showpiece with Kilmacud Crokes, she’ll open up that wound and take another look at that defeat to Kilkerne-Clonberne in Croke Park.
This could be a memorable weekend for Davoren. While she has a home All-Ireland semi-final against St. Ergnat’s, Moneyglass to look forward to, her home club Maigh Cuilinn are in a Connacht final against St Brigid’s having won their first senior provincial title in 2022.
Davoren’s ties with home remain strong through the camogie team. Her sisters are among her teammates and her uncle is the manager.
“We were just Junior B 12 aside trying to get the club going and then we went to Junior C last year and Junior B this year. It’s more making sure we can field. I just enjoy playing with the sisters and playing for my uncle and wearing the Maigh Cuilinn jersey when I can.”
Davoren is in her third season with the Stillorgan-based outfit after initially linking up with Kilmacud through her Galway teammate Dearbhla Gower. Her arrival has coincided with a period of huge success for the club.
A commanding 5-13 to 1-8 victory over Wicklow’s Tinahely earlier this month marked their fourth senior Leinster title on the bounce, with Davoren scoring a point from play. Of course, an All-Ireland medal is the next goal for Kilmacud to aim for. They’ve come close to knocking down the four-in-a-row champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne, running them to two points in the 2023 All-Ireland semi-final and coming up four points short in last year’s final.
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But while the obstacles in the All-Ireland series are certainly tricky, it doesn’t get any easier at home.
“The Dublin Championship is brilliant,” she explains. “We’ve top class games every Wednesday evening. And then to get out of that is so hard. Everything after that is such a bonus. The management and the girls are brilliant, they’re all inter-county players in my eyes, because the standard is so high.”
All-Ireland glory continues to elude Davoren with Galway too. After pulling off an upset extra-time win over Dublin in the 2024 All-Ireland quarter-final, they went on to lose the All-Ireland final to Kerry.
Galway fell at the semi-final hurdle this year as Dublin avenged for that previous year’s defeat after another extra-time battle between the sides.
Davoren has endured a lot of heartache on the pitch this season between club and county but she stresses the importance of looking beyond the medals when deriving enjoyment from sport.
“When you put it like that in terms of two [All-Ireland defeats] in the one year, it can be more difficult. I suppose the goal is to get there and you have to not look at every season as — especially if you’re from Galway — a failure if you don’t win an All-Ireland. We’ll take some pride in getting to those finals.
“I suppose the next step is just performing in those finals, and it is a challenge and it is hard. How you pick yourself back up is believing that you can get back there again. We truly believe that Galway will get back to an All-Ireland again and we’re hoping to get back there again this year.”
Also a talented basketball player, Davoren joined the Dublin Raiders club when she first moved to the capital after college. She represented Ireland in the past but feels the international grade is beyond her now.
However, she continues to attend games with her Kilmacud Crokes teammate, and former Cork star, Niamh Cotter.
“Niamh Cotter is an exceptional footballer and she’s an extremely hard worker,” Davoren continues. “She’s a solicitor working many hours in Dublin, and it’s a privilege to play with so many players on the team.
“The expertise and the maturity, and the commitment from the club girls… it’s just a privilege to play with.”
Moneyglass are newcomers to this stage of the season. The Antrim outfit captured their first senior Ulster title after a 3-10 to 0-06 win over Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran and will be eager to take down the Leinster giants when they travel to Dublin this weekend.
“They are very good in possession,” says Davoren about what awaits her side this weekend. “It’s their first Ulster title, so they’ll be buzzing and ready to go. Hopefully, we’ll match that energy on Sunday and it’ll be a good game.
“We’re at home, which is brilliant. That’s actually pre-fixed, which is a stroke of luck. It’s come to the Leinster champions for this All-Ireland semi-final series. Our understanding is that there’s a rotation.
“The pitch has been well looked after there in Crokes. It’s a lovely big pitch. It’ll allow for a nice kicking-style game.”
****
Ailbhe Davoren has teamed up with AIB to support the GOAL Mile. As part the campaign AIB is offering individuals who register for the GOAL Mile the chance to win up to €7,000 for their Gaelic Games club. To win, people need to register for their GOAL Mile and then enter the AIB GAA GOAL Mile competition at https://goalmile.org/aibgaacompetition
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'The next step is performing in finals' - Chasing All-Irelands with Galway and Kilmacud Crokes
GALWAY’S AILBHE DAVOREN hasn’t taken the time to review last season’s All-Ireland club final yet.
But if she can stamp her ticket to the 2025 showpiece with Kilmacud Crokes, she’ll open up that wound and take another look at that defeat to Kilkerne-Clonberne in Croke Park.
This could be a memorable weekend for Davoren. While she has a home All-Ireland semi-final against St. Ergnat’s, Moneyglass to look forward to, her home club Maigh Cuilinn are in a Connacht final against St Brigid’s having won their first senior provincial title in 2022.
Davoren’s ties with home remain strong through the camogie team. Her sisters are among her teammates and her uncle is the manager.
“We were just Junior B 12 aside trying to get the club going and then we went to Junior C last year and Junior B this year. It’s more making sure we can field. I just enjoy playing with the sisters and playing for my uncle and wearing the Maigh Cuilinn jersey when I can.”
Davoren is in her third season with the Stillorgan-based outfit after initially linking up with Kilmacud through her Galway teammate Dearbhla Gower. Her arrival has coincided with a period of huge success for the club.
A commanding 5-13 to 1-8 victory over Wicklow’s Tinahely earlier this month marked their fourth senior Leinster title on the bounce, with Davoren scoring a point from play. Of course, an All-Ireland medal is the next goal for Kilmacud to aim for. They’ve come close to knocking down the four-in-a-row champions Kilkerrin-Clonberne, running them to two points in the 2023 All-Ireland semi-final and coming up four points short in last year’s final.
But while the obstacles in the All-Ireland series are certainly tricky, it doesn’t get any easier at home.
“The Dublin Championship is brilliant,” she explains. “We’ve top class games every Wednesday evening. And then to get out of that is so hard. Everything after that is such a bonus. The management and the girls are brilliant, they’re all inter-county players in my eyes, because the standard is so high.”
All-Ireland glory continues to elude Davoren with Galway too. After pulling off an upset extra-time win over Dublin in the 2024 All-Ireland quarter-final, they went on to lose the All-Ireland final to Kerry.
Galway fell at the semi-final hurdle this year as Dublin avenged for that previous year’s defeat after another extra-time battle between the sides.
Davoren has endured a lot of heartache on the pitch this season between club and county but she stresses the importance of looking beyond the medals when deriving enjoyment from sport.
“When you put it like that in terms of two [All-Ireland defeats] in the one year, it can be more difficult. I suppose the goal is to get there and you have to not look at every season as — especially if you’re from Galway — a failure if you don’t win an All-Ireland. We’ll take some pride in getting to those finals.
“I suppose the next step is just performing in those finals, and it is a challenge and it is hard. How you pick yourself back up is believing that you can get back there again. We truly believe that Galway will get back to an All-Ireland again and we’re hoping to get back there again this year.”
Also a talented basketball player, Davoren joined the Dublin Raiders club when she first moved to the capital after college. She represented Ireland in the past but feels the international grade is beyond her now.
However, she continues to attend games with her Kilmacud Crokes teammate, and former Cork star, Niamh Cotter.
“Niamh Cotter is an exceptional footballer and she’s an extremely hard worker,” Davoren continues. “She’s a solicitor working many hours in Dublin, and it’s a privilege to play with so many players on the team.
“The expertise and the maturity, and the commitment from the club girls… it’s just a privilege to play with.”
Moneyglass are newcomers to this stage of the season. The Antrim outfit captured their first senior Ulster title after a 3-10 to 0-06 win over Tyrone’s Errigal Ciaran and will be eager to take down the Leinster giants when they travel to Dublin this weekend.
“They are very good in possession,” says Davoren about what awaits her side this weekend. “It’s their first Ulster title, so they’ll be buzzing and ready to go. Hopefully, we’ll match that energy on Sunday and it’ll be a good game.
“We’re at home, which is brilliant. That’s actually pre-fixed, which is a stroke of luck. It’s come to the Leinster champions for this All-Ireland semi-final series. Our understanding is that there’s a rotation.
“The pitch has been well looked after there in Crokes. It’s a lovely big pitch. It’ll allow for a nice kicking-style game.”
****
Ailbhe Davoren has teamed up with AIB to support the GOAL Mile. As part the campaign AIB is offering individuals who register for the GOAL Mile the chance to win up to €7,000 for their Gaelic Games club. To win, people need to register for their GOAL Mile and then enter the AIB GAA GOAL Mile competition at https://goalmile.org/
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
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