CORK CAMOGIE CAPTAIN Amy O’Connor made an instant impression at one of her first training sessions with the team in 2014.
Just 18 at the time, and an U19 football international talent with Ireland, then-Cork manager Paudie Murray oversaw her introduction to the seniors.
He had seen O’Connor hurling with the county minor side previously. She scored two points in their drawn All-Ireland final against Limerick in Kilmallock after coming on at half-time. Her football commitments meant she couldn’t play the full game, but Murray was struck by how the “whole game changed” after the young dual-star was sprung from the bench.
The minors ended up losing the replay to Limerick, but Amy was a certain pick for the senior squad. A dangerous forward with a rapid turn to scorch defenders. Buckets of potential to work with.
The St Vincent’s player was busy that summer. Aside from her camogie schedule, she was also away on Ireland duty as the U19s emerged as unlikely semi-finalists at the European Championships. Some of her comrades from that tournament are in Australia right now carving out a landmark milestone for Irish women’s football by featuring in a first-ever World Cup.
Had O’Connor inclined towards a different path, she could have been down there with them.
But enough about alternate realities. O’Connor has always said she was adamant about her choice to stick with camogie. And she went about demonstrating her intent with a statement piece of play at the first training session with Cork.
“She was a typical cocky 18-year-old and she won a ball in front of Gemma O’Connor and decided to run at her,” Murray says in conversation with The 42 recalling the precociousness of the newcomer from his view on the sideline. He stepped down as manager in 2021 after almost 10 years in charge but he’s still a keen supporter of camogie. And Cork.
Amy has repeatedly spoken about her admiration for 11-time All-Star Gemma O’Connor, but she wasn’t afraid to measure up to the established defender as a new recruit.
“She soloed and hopped the ball over her head and ran onto it again,” Murray continues. “Let’s just say that didn’t go down too well with Gemma and I just said, ‘Leave her alone because it’s the last time she’ll ever want to do it.’ The next time the ball might go past Gemma but let’s say Amy didn’t go past her.
“I would probably say she’s one of the more focused 18-year-olds that have come into the squad. She wasn’t there to have the craic and that’s the way she will stay going with things. She’s there to win, there’s no stone left unturned with her. She has a major attention to detail and will do everything to get herself performing at the highest level.”
On the day we speak, Vera Pauw’s Ireland are facing Australia in their World Cup opener, falling just short of a draw which would have been a deserved reward for their efforts. Murray is confident that O’Connor would be excelling at the tournament if she was there.
He never pushed her to decide on a sport when she first came into the squad. He had some experience of working with soccer internationals having already mentored Clare Shine.
“I don’t think there was ever pressure put on Amy to choose or even when it came up to a match, that we were demanding her to play with us. If someone is 18, they have enough pressures in life so as not to be forcing them to play.
“At that time, we had Clare Shine with us as well and both of them were exceptionally exciting players. For me, starting out with the team, you’re always hoping that both of them will give you the commitment. To play at a high level in one sport, you need to be good but to play in two, you obviously have something special.
“We lost Clare and one regret I would have is that I didn’t have a chance to work with her so with Amy, we won four All-Irelands. From my point of view, it was a massive relief that she picked camogie.”
O’Connor slipped into camogie by chance. In an interview with Alanna Cunnane for the Camogie Association, she explains how she inherited her cousin’s playing gear after the relative lost interest two weeks after starting out. O’Connor picked up the spare hurley, helmet and sliotar and began forging a path in the sport that continues to stretch out for miles before her.
Four All-Ireland titles, six Munster championships and one All-Star is the current tally of her efforts with Cork over the past decade. She’s also the current captain of the side who defeated All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in the quarter-final earlier this month. Galway will be their semi-final opponents this Saturday evening in Nowlan Park.
That’s where O’Connor is now. From the base to summit and back again. A short extract from Gemma O’Connor’s autobiography ‘Why Not A Warrior’ succinctly explains the mindset of a young Amy O’Connor.
“She had All-Ireland medals in her eyes from the very first day. She wanted to do pharmacy in college, and she achieved the grades to pursue that profession. Want, want, want… focus, focus, focus.”
During Murray’s time in charge of Cork, he witnessed her hunger for information and feedback. At one point, sprint coach Liam O’Reilly was part of the backroom team. Amy was always a quick player, but through working with O’Reilly, she found more acceleration in herself to make her go even faster.
“Back in the early days, Amy had a phenomenal burst over five metres and we found that from there on, she really was very poor and that has changed completely. She’s now very strong over 20, 30 metres. She drained him for information in relation to have to improve those aspects of her game. Her striking technique has improved. Amy would keep asking questions really.
“She has an extraordinary level of desire for no matter what she turns her hand to. She would want to be the best, and if she went away and took up tennis, she would want to be the best at that.
“She may not be the tallest but she has other aspects to her game. She’s very quick on the turn, good striker and very skillful.”
Murray has observed a mixed run of form in O’Connor’s game this year. After a promising start, he felt she was a “bit off mid-season”. He attributes that to some fatigue in her engine. O’Connor played club camogie with St Vincent’s last year as well as with her divisional outfit Seandún. She also took up Ladies football with Aghada. The training and playing load caught up to her.
“I think it’s good to see her turning the corner now and that experience of not playing as well as she expected to will stand to her.
“I’ve had conversations with Amy this year and recommended things to her that she should do. She has gone and done them and the people involved there just can’t get over the level of detail that Amy will go to.
“She’s looking for feedback. With some players, you give them feedback and they think it’s a form of criticism whereas with Amy, it would be constructive the whole time. She would be looking for any kind of detail.”
That scholarly way about O’Connor is evident in other aspects of her life. When contemplating her career options in school, O’Connor thought medicine might be of interest to her. However, chemistry wasn’t a subject that was available in her school St Vincent’s, and prospective medical students needed the material for college.
O’Connor requested that chemistry be provided for students and the school delivered for her. She eventually went on to pursue a Pharmacy degree.
Prior to getting the top leadership role with Cork this year, O’Connor was appointed as team captain in 2020 and 2021. Murray doesn’t recall her being the kind of player who would try to motivate her teammates vocally, but can appreciate how her workrate can inspire others. It pays to learn from her ways.
“For young players looking on,” says Murray, “Amy might not say a whole lot to them but if they study the way Amy carries herself, then there’s massive learnings to be taken from that. That’s the way she’s always gone about it.”
O’Connor’s leadership permeated Cork’s comeback performance against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Trailing by 1-4 to 0-2 after 13 minutes, it was O’Connor who dragged her side back into the contest with a goal that featured her trademark turn and wicked burst of speed.
That’s what devastates teams most when O’Connor is on the pitch. Murray’s concern however is the lack of change she gets from referees. There was one particular incident in the final moments against Kilkenny when O’Connor wasn’t awarded a penalty despite many observers believing that she was fouled.
“It frustrates and bugs me,” says Murray. “She is probably the most fouled player in camogie today. Down through the years, lesser people would get frees whereas she seems not to get them. It is constant. When I was with Cork, we would analyse the games in great detail, and you’re scratching your head.
“She doesn’t get the hop of the ball with referees. She’s a very skillful, quick hurler and people are fearful that once she’s inside, there is a goal chance. She took her goal in the quarter-final extremely well. She placed it rather than forced a shot.
“I remember the last semi-final when I was involved in against Kilkenny. People said Amy had a poor game that day and she got seven possessions: one she lost, one she scored a point, one she assisted for a score and four frees that were scored.
“If someone fouls you four times when you’re trying to go around them, you would expect something to be done from a referee point of view.”
From a strong first impression to a lasting impression that underpins her longevity in camogie. Camogie’s gain will forever be at the expense of what could have been in football.
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