Méabh Cahalane: ‘My dad would say to enjoy it, because the turn of the tide waits for no one'
Thirty years ago, her father, Niall, was appointed captain of the Rebel footballers, having also led the county's U21s to All-Ireland glory back in the '80s. Her brothers, Damien and Jack, have also captained Cork U21/20 teams.
Now, Méabh has the opportunity to lead the Cork camogie team up the steps of the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland Sunday.
She lifted the O'Duffy Cup last year as vice-captain alongside sub-keeper Molly Lynch and delivered the winning speech.
It would be doubly special to do so again alongside her younger sister, Orlaith, although another sibling, Gráinne, has missed out through injury.
'We've great support from home, and we're so lucky to all have such involvement in Cork teams. It's a huge opportunity for us,' says the 29-year-old ahead of their final against Galway.
'The lads have played in All-Ireland finals before, my dad has played in All-Ireland finals before, and they'd all offer their own bit of advice.
'But the main thing that my dad would say is just to enjoy it and get as much out of sports as you can, because the turn of the tide waits for no one, is something that he says to us.
'He's so proud of watching on with us playing with Cork and getting to watch myself and Orlaith line out together on Sunday.
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'But, ultimately, we'll enjoy it even more if we win. So hopefully we can do enough to get over the line. That would be something really special.'
Molly Lynch and Méabh Cahalane lift the O'Duffy Cup in 2024. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
When Cahalane is asked about the honour of captaining Cork, the first name that comes to mind is outside the household: Gemma O'Connor.
The camogie captaincy is in the gift of the county champions, and with St Finbarr's making the breakthrough after an 18-year drought last autumn, Cahalane was chosen to follow in O'Connor's footsteps.
Another boost would follow when the legendary hurler was drafted into Ger Manley's backroom team for this season.
'We've had the likes of Gemma O'Connor captaining Cork. She's someone that we would have looked up to in the club underage. So to be following in her footsteps is a huge honour, and it's obviously an honour for your family as well,' Cahalane adds.
'Going out, representing Cork, it's not something that you take for granted. Hopefully, Sunday can go well for us, and going up the Hogan steps on behalf of the girls is just something you dream of.
'We know that's going to take a huge performance, and we're just really looking forward to the battle ahead.'
O'Connor's influence reiterates some of the same points that Cahalane's father touches upon.
'She's a link between players and management. She's played so recently and she knows the game so well. She's come in in a coaching capacity, but she's so familiar with so many of us on the panel, she would have played with many of us, and it makes her so relatable.
'She just knows the game of camogie better than anyone else. To have her in the set-up this year is huge. She's such a voice of reason.
'She's been part of some of the great Cork camogie teams. She's always re-emphasising, 'Don't take anything for granted', and 'In the blink of an eye, your playing time can come to an end'.
'So we're just really enjoying these years and enjoying getting the opportunity to play for Cork and go into Croke Park the next day and represent the county.'
Méabh Cahalane in action against Galway during the 2023 championship. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
Cahalane was vice-captain for last year's All-Ireland success, but injury cast her participation in doubt, limiting her to a 51st-minute appearance off the bench.
She entered with the sides level, but Galway wouldn't score again in a 1-16 to 0-16 result.
'Last year wasn't the ideal lead-up to the final. Unfortunately, I picked up a hamstring injury six weeks out from the final, and I probably wasn't given much of a chance to get back.
'But I did everything I could and had huge support from our set-up in trying to get myself back.
'There was a few injuries last year, as there is this year. In our set-up, we've had injuries most years. It's just an opportunity for someone else to go out and wear the jersey.
'Izzy O'Regan, Méabh Murphy, and Pamela Mackey, they were there in the full-back line last year, and they did a huge job for us.
'It's great to have Libby Coppinger back this year as well. She missed out last year, unfortunately, through injury.
'It's a different lead-up when you're going in fully fit, hopefully. You know how hard you've worked all year to get to this stage. You just hope that you can go out the next day, have no regrets, and do your job for the team.'
Cahalane, an accountant with Grant Thornton, arrived on the panel in 2015 with a crop of players, which included Coppinger, Orla Cronin, and Chloe Sigerson. A year previously, Laura Treacy, Amy O'Connor, and Hannah Looney had graduated onto the senior squad.
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Hannah Looney and Méabh Cahalane celebrate winning the 2023 All-Ireland. Bryan Keane / INPHO Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
The conveyor belt continues to motor with Cahalane's sister, Orlaith, joined by the likes of Méabh Murphy, Aoife Healy, Orlaith Mullins, and Ava Fitzgerald in making the step up.
That familiarity smoothed the transition from rookies into leaders, and is working well for the in-between generation too.
'We all stuck together, and they're probably the leaders on the team now,' reflects Cahalane.
'Then, you have the likes of Saoirse McCarthy and Laura Hayes and that age group who have now come through. They're huge leaders on the squad as well.
'We've leaders all over the pitch. Even the younger girls who've come through the last couple of years have brought a new energy to the set-up. They have really set the standard in terms of training and testing out the more experienced players.
'There's a great mix amongst the group at the moment of experience and youth, and hopefully as a group on Sunday we can get over the line together.'
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But on a bigger pitch, and with fitter players, carrying the ball gained more currency. The game had a different beat: it had made the evolutionary jump from Ska to Mod. 'I don't know whether I should say it got more professional or it got more serious,' says Kelly, 'but in terms of culture, players became more conscious of all the elements that improved their game.' Saoirse McCarthy of Cork during last month's All-Ireland semi-final against Waterford at Nowlan Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho When camogie went 15-a-side, it also reduced the tariff on imports from hurling. Ideas were traded through a frictionless border. 'The game became a lot more tactical,' says Ryan. 'Everything that has happened in hurling over the last 20 years has just seamlessly transitioned over to camogie because camogie teams are generally coached by recently retired hurlers.' Historically, camogie had resisted being categorised as a female version of hurling. It had a distinctive culture and identity and didn't need to be cross-referenced with its sibling. For a long time, it was much easier to hold that line. On the Camogie Association website about 10 years ago they listed all the differences between both games; the counting stopped at 41. Some of the differences were administrative or technical, but some of them were fundamental to how the games were played. The All-Ireland semi-finals in Nowlan Park last month were perfect illustrations of the modern game: accomplished and tactical and exceptionally physical 'The impression I would have is that most players conflate camogie and hurling as the same thing,' says Ryan. 'They don't see camogie as a distinct, separate sport. 'You go on a kind of a journey as a player. I remember as a kid being almost, like, offended by the rules. You could catch it three times in possession in camogie – that was another rule difference – and you could drop the hurley. I thought these were awful rules and I refused to use them as a young player. What emerged from the rubble of the 2017 and 2018 All-Ireland finals was an appetite for rule change. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho 'And then in my 20s, when I was playing in the inside forward line, I actually realised it was very handy to drop the hurl and handpass a goal and I did that a lot.' Handpassing a goal is no longer allowed in camogie. Neither is catching the ball three times or dropping the hurley. What emerged from the rubble of the 2017 and 2018 All-Ireland finals was an appetite for rule change. The players were up in arms about how contact was governed. The impetus for reform came from them. The Camogie Association rowed with the tide. At the beginning of 2019 the Women's Gaelic Players' Association assembled a group of its members to assess what needed to be addressed and later that year the Camogie Association staged a 'feedback forum' in Croke Park. After that, a Rules Revision Work Group was established under the leadership of the former GAA president Liam O'Neill. As part of their due diligence they reached out to camogie's general membership with a survey that generated 1,500 responses. The ultimate outcome was a suite of experimental rules that were rolled out for the 2020 season and voted into the rule book in the spring of the following year. Some of them – like outlawing the hand-passed goal and no longer allowing three players to face a penalty – aligned camogie with changes that had already been made in hurling. But there were innovations too. A free awarded inside the defensive 45 can now be taken from the hand by the player who has been fouled – even though it is not often seen in practice. When a ball goes wide there is also provision in the rules for a quick puck-out, something that, in hurling, is still at the referee's discretion. Galway's Sarah Healy is tackled by Jean Kelly and Karen Kennedy of Tipperary in July's semi-final. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho Camogie, though, still balked at a full-on shoulder charge. Instead, it came up with a fudge: a side-on tackle, 'with minimal force once [the player] is making a reasonable effort to gain possession. Contact must not be made in an aggressive or cynical manner'. In reality, though, this gave referees more latitude to tolerate harder tackling and it gave players more licence. In a see-saw graph, free counts dropped as contests for the ball became more intense. There are still some squeamish referees on the circuit, or those who are more committed to old customs and practices. But matches between elite teams are no longer strangled by a referee's whistle. The All-Ireland semi-finals in Nowlan Park last month were perfect illustrations of the modern game: accomplished and tactical and exceptionally physical. 'The rule changes have been huge and so refreshing to see,' says Ryan. 'The girls nowadays are so strong – you can see it in them. They're S&Ced to within an inch of their lives. It's so brilliant to see them hopping off each other.' How much has the game changed? When Downey started playing for Kilkenny in the 1970s, there were two crossbars in camogie – one conventional crossbar and another at the top of the uprights. To score a point, the ball had to pass between both crossbars. The second crossbar survived until 1979. Just 20 years later they moved the goalposts again. And you thought camogie had no mind for change.
