By Éanna O’Reilly
Last winter was an unusual one in the East Galway parishes of New Inn and Bullaun, when for the first time in seven years, the local camogie team had no involvement in the AIB All-Ireland club series.
The locals were so accustomed to following their camogie stars to different parts of the country during the winter months and inevitably arriving in Croke Park on club camogie’s biggest day, that the absence of those occasions was an outlier.
Such has been the success of Sarsfields camogie club since winning their first county senior title in 2016, that appearing in national finals has become the norm. Four All-Ireland and eight county championships in a glorious ten-year period has seen Sarsfields claim their place in the history books as one of camogie’s greatest ever club sides.
Yet, this season, for the first time since 2018, they started in the chasing pack along with everyone else. Athenry dethroned Sarsfields in last year’s Galway county final, before going all the way to All-Ireland glory, after a memorable replay victory over St Finbarr’s. After years of being the hunted, Sarsfields began 2026 as new hunters, with the objective of knocking the new champions off their perch.
The last two All-Ireland club title winners met in the fourth round of the group stage of this year’s championship in Kilbeacanty last Sunday. Sarsfields took the spoils on the day by the minimum. A 4-18 to 4-17 final score reflected the competitiveness of the contest. In typical fashion, Sarsfields manager Michael ‘Hopper’ McGrath is quick to downplay the significance of the result.
Celebrating victory in the AIB All-Ireland club final against Loughgiel Shamrocks in 2022 (INPHO/Evan Treacy)
‘‘Look, there wasn’t a whole lot on the line,’’ he says. ‘‘Both teams were through already. We knew we were going straight through to the semi-final, and so were Athenry. It was just a group game at the end of the day. You could say this is where it gets really serious from now on, when we get into the knockout stages.’’
Although Hopper is minimising the win, Sarsfields’ defeat of the reigning champions must have given great internal satisfaction to everyone involved in the club. Yet no one knows better than the manager that the road to silverware is a long one, and one big win counts for little if a title isn’t delivered this winter.
‘‘We started training back in March and we’ve taken every game on its own merit since. Athenry are the champions, and it’s up to the rest of us to try and challenge them. But some of the other teams have really improved this year as well. The likes of Ardrahan, Mullagh, and Shamrocks, who got promoted last year, have been very competitive.’’
With almost a full panel to pick from this year, Hopper feels his panel is in a healthier position after welcoming back their absentees from 2025.
‘‘We have Niamh (McGrath), Laura (Ward), and Joanne (Daly), back this year and they are all big players for us. We have some younger girls who have a bit more experience now as well. The likes of Ciara and Laoise (McGrath), Mary Brigid Cosgrove and Eva Murray are all doing well for us.’’
With four wins from four group matches, Sarsfields are demonstrating the kind of form which suggests their sole focus is on making up for last year when they lost their grip on the Catherine Donnellan Cup.
‘‘Every championship match is hard at this level. It’s such a strong championship in Galway. You had Shamrocks in the first round, just after getting promoted last year, drawing with Athenry, the All-Ireland champions. Ardrahan gave us plenty of it in the group, and even Oranmore-Maree, were level with us into the second half.’
‘‘So, it’s never been as competitive and we’re treating every game as a serious challenge. When we were winning titles ourselves, we never looked beyond our next game. We know we’re going to get a very tough semi-final the next day, against either Mullagh or Shamrocks. We’re fairly happy with how the championship has gone so far, but we’ve no cup won yet, and everyone is conscious of that.’’
While most camogie followers within the county are anticipating another showdown between Sarsfields and Athenry in this year’s title decider, the Sarsfields manager doesn’t feel entitled to consider any opponent beyond their next one. Its clear that Hopper and his players are demonstrating the same level of focus which guided them to so much success during the last decade.
‘‘Both Mullagh and Shamrocks have excellent players, and we’ll have to be at our best to try and get past either of them. All we have now is a semi-final and that’s all we are focusing on. You have to earn everything at this level and that’s something that never changes.”
