MANY PARALLELS CAN be drawn between Dublin and Cork’s All-Ireland ladies football and camogie wins in 2023.
Both sides ended what they’d consider lengthy waits to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand.
Star forwards Hannah Tyrrell and Amy O’Connor turned in All-Ireland final masterclasses amidst powerful team performances.
And for both, there are huge challenges going into 2024 as the landscape continues to change in their respective codes.
As the curtain comes down on another colourful sporting year, The 42 looks at some key talking points and questions that arose from their respective successes.
- Dublin reign supreme again
Mick Bohan’s side were stunned by Meath in 2020. Their perfect five in-a-row bid came crashing down at the final hurdle.
In 2021, they bowed out at the quarter-final stage after a shock defeat to Donegal.
It was the first time since 2013 that they didn’t reach the All-Ireland final. The wounded Dubs gathered at Carla Rowe’s house to (partly) watch Meath beat Kerry and go back-to-back.
A little over 12 months later, they downed the Kingdom themselves and got their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time since 2019.
“We are not the top dogs this year,” captain Rowe stressed at the outset of the season.
They ended it — and will enter 2024 — as just that after their sweetest win yet.
- Run timed to perfection amidst player turnover
Dublin started the season without so many of their big hitters.
Lyndsey Davey was the high-profile retirement, after Noelle Healy, Niamh McEvoy, Siobhan McGrath and Sinéad Finnegan were among those to step away in recent years.
Goalkeeper Ciara Trant and full-back Niamh Collins were notable absentees as they opted out, while it soon became clear that the Dubs would be without eight-time All-Star Sinéad Goldrick as she focused on her AFLW duties. Nicole Owens was another big loss with a cruciate ligament injury, Hannah Leahy and Jess Tobin sustained knee setbacks as the season progressed.
Of Dublin’s All-Ireland final panel of 30, 11 made their senior inter-county debuts in 2023, with several others newcomers to the squad.
Slowly but surely, they gelled and found form. Their league campaign was mixed, before they overcame Meath to claim their 10th consecutive Leinster crown.
After being “bullied” by Kerry at Parnell Park in their championship opener, they moved through the gears and peaked with emphatic quarter- and semi-final wins over Cork (12 points) and Donegal (15 points) before that convincing 0-18 to 1-10 decider triumph.
- 2024 and Mick Bohan back for more
Confirmation arrived in mid-October that Bohan would be staying on for one more term as manager. This will be his eighth consecutive season in charge, and his roll of honour isn’t half bad: five All-Irelands, including four-in-a-row from ’17 to ’20, two league titles and countless Leinster successes.
The Clontarf clubman transformed the Sky Blues into the country’s dominant team upon his second coming at the helm, picking up the pieces after three consecutive All-Ireland final defeats.
A successful coach in the men’s game, Bohan would have had plenty of interest from elsewhere, but the Dubs will be pleased with his recommitment to the cause. He easily could have stepped away on several occasions in recent years, but has stayed put.
“It’s such a boost for us as a group,” Caoimhe O’Connor said a few weeks ago. “He’s just so knowledgeable of the game and his style of play and what he brings.”
A huge challenge awaits as Dublin become ‘the hunted’ again in 2023, with the playing field perhaps more level than ever. The big question is can they retain the Brendan Martin Cup, with Cork, Meath, Kerry, Galway, Donegal and Armagh among those who will be snapping at their heels once more.
- Cork return to the top
Cork’s All-Ireland ‘drought’ was a little longer than Dublin’s, with the Rebels lifting the O’Duffy Cup for the first time since 2018.
A five-year famine is how some put it, but they well and truly ended it in style.
Inspired by captain Amy O’Connor, Cork powered to a 5-13 to 0-9 victory over Waterford in front of a record crowd of 30,191 at Croke Park. O’Connor finished up with 3-7 (5f), scoring every shot she took. At the recent RTÉ Sport Awards, she spoke about watching Shane O’Donnell’s 2013 hat-trick on TikTok during the summer before achieving the dream feat herself.
It was a case of third time’s a charm – and surely all the more satisfying – after back-to-back decider defeats to Galway and Kilkenny, and a 2023 league final loss to the former.
They did overcome the big-hitting Cats and Tribe in the All-Ireland quarter-final and semi-final respectively, so this was a hard-earned, signature success.
- Managerial departure post All-Ireland
Just weeks after that famous day at HQ, Matthew Twomey stepped down from his more as manager. Twomey succeeded Paudie Murray at the helm in November 2021, undertaking a two-year term having previously served as a coach.
Twomey explained his decision in an interview with The 42 in September. “It’s been fantastic but best of luck to anyone who thinks they can do a 10-year stint,” he said, stressing that the plan had always been two years.
Ger Manley has since been tasked with leading the All-Ireland champions next season.
The Midleton native previously worked under Twomey as a coach, with further continuity in Limerick’s Liam Cronin remaining in the set-up.
It will be interesting to see how they progress.
- Big Three stay out in front
While Meath’s remarkable rise shook things up in ladies football and all but ended the Dublin-Cork duopoly, a significant gap remains in the small ball game.
The Big Three of Cork, Kilkenny and Galway are out on their own. They have shared every All-Ireland title since 2013, with two of the three heavyweights going head-to-head in each of those finals until Waterford played Cork this summer.
The one-sided contest — the Rebels recorded the biggest final winning margin in 64 years — just further highlighted the dominance of the Big Three.
The Déise’s breakthrough as they ended in 78-year wait for an All-Ireland final appearance will undoubtedly provide hope to others.
They did indeed beat Cork in the Munster championship, but breaking down that barrier at the business end will be a sizeable challenge in 2024.
