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Irish Times
28-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Returning Kerry footballer Cáit Lynch is living proof that a sequel can outshine the original
Cáit Lynch's second coming as a Kerry footballer is turning out to be quite the sequel – from Castleisland to Croke Park, via Amsterdam . The two-time All Star defender captains Kerry this season – 10 years after she last filled that role and about half a dozen since it looked like her days in the green and gold were over. Lynch, who made her Kerry senior debut in 2012, moved to the Netherlands in 2016 to work with Bord Bia . She soon got involved playing what was, essentially, recreational Gaelic football in Amsterdam. As the years drifted by, so did Lynch's hopes of playing for Kerry again. She also had a spell in Central America but then Covid-19 hit and Lynch found herself back in Ireland. It wasn't long before she was back in the Kerry dressingroom. READ MORE 'I thought the county days had passed me until Covid happened,' said the 32-year-old. 'I had to make the decision to leave for work (in 2016) so it was a very big decision at the time (to leave the Kerry panel). They put down a good few tough years as well when I was away, so I was lucky enough to come back when I did.' Lynch was on the pitch at the final whistle last August as Kerry beat Galway to win a first All-Ireland senior title since 1993. Kerry captain Cáit Lynch with the Brendan Martin cup at the launch of the 2025 TG4 All-Ireland ladies football championships. Photograph: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile The Kingdom are out to retain the Brendan Martin Cup this year with Lynch as team captain. She had previously captained Kerry to a Munster title in 2015. Fast forward a decade and she was official squad captain in Mallow last Sunday as they beat Waterford to win the provincial crown. Lynch is now Kerry's longest serving player and admits the retirement of Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh last December has left a void in the dressingroom. That hole, it can't be filled, but you look at the panel and you just have to work harder and try and keep her legacy going in terms of Kerry football — Cáit Lynch 'It's a hole that can't be filled. She was part of the furniture,' adds Lynch. 'We're just so grateful to Louise for the service that she's given to Kerry football and to ladies football in general. 'She has really become a face of ladies football. There are little girls growing up who want to be like Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh. We couldn't thank her enough for what she has done for ladies football. 'That hole, it can't be filled, but you look at the panel and you just have to work harder and try and keep her legacy going in terms of Kerry football.' So far, so good, as far as 2025 is concerned. Kerry won the Division One league title in April, beating Armagh in the final. Last week's Munster decider win means the Kingdom have claimed two of the three trophies on offer to them this season. The TG4 All-Ireland football championships were launched at Croke Park on Tuesday and Kerry are aiming to retain the senior title for the first time since their nine in-a-row run between 1982 and 1990. 'Thankfully things have gone well for us so far this year,' adds Lynch, who now works in Kerry as a sustainability consultant. 'I suppose at the start of the year we had a lot of changes with players leaving, retiring or taking a year out and we had a complete change to the management as well, so it's hard to know how the year will pan out. [ Meath captain Aoibhín Cleary focusing on championship despite upcoming AFLW move Opens in new window ] [ 'Those two weeks felt like two months': Kilkenny captain Katie Power reveals overwhelming toll of skorts protest Opens in new window ] 'But we were lucky that a really strong core of the team had stayed and I think that really helped with the transition from last year. 'You just never know how a season is going to go. We were hoping that we'd do well in the league, I think initially we were trying not to get relegated and then anything after that is nearly a bonus. 'We were hoping to do well in the Munster championship as well. We've been delighted with how the season has gone so far.' Kerry's Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh lifts the Brendan Martin cup after last year's All-Ireland senior football final. She has since retired. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Ultimately, the aim is to be back in Croke Park on August 3rd for the All-Ireland final. During the launch at the stadium on Tuesday, Lynch was asked what emotions spring to life on returning to the stadium. 'I'm just lucky to have so many memories of playing at Croke Park at this stage of my career. It's just such a wonderful place to be. 'There are a good few tough memories from here as well, but it's always just such a lovely place to be. I'm always just happy to be back here.' Back in Croke Park and back in a Kerry jersey. *The 2025 TG4 All-Ireland finals will be staged as a triple-header at Croke Park on Sunday, August 3rd, with the junior final at 11.45am, followed by the intermediate decider at 1.45pm and the senior final at 4.15pm.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
The Schemozzle: Loyalties colour reportage as Rossies look on bright side
It's always interesting to check in on the local media during championship season and take the temperature. The lesson is that opinions vary – wildly. Take Kerry's win over Roscommon. In the view of Radio Kerry analyst Billy O'Shea, it was a forgettable affair. 'I was actually half falling asleep there with 10 minutes to go to be honest with you and that's the truth because I was all on my own in the booth next door to the boys,' O'Shea commented. Meanwhile in Rossieland, the headline on Ivan Smyth's report in the Roscommon Herald said a lot ('Roscommon outclassed in Killarney') but the Roscommon People felt the Rossies emerged with credit. READ MORE 'A strong start, featuring some excellent play, and an encouraging finish meant Roscommon senior footballers left the pitch with their heads held high as their opening round robin fixture ended in a 10-point defeat to Kerry,' reporter Paul Healy wrote. Elsewhere, in the Kerryman, 12 of the 21 Kerry players were rated 7 out of 10, with four 6s and a 5. One notable stat from the game came via Sylvester Hennessy of Kerry's Eye, who noted that Seán O'Shea (26) is now in Kerry's top three championship scorers of all time, after landing 0-7 on Saturday. The top five, per Hennessy, reads: Colm Cooper (23-283), Mikey Sheehy (29-206), Seán O'Shea (7-220), Maurice Fitzgerald (12-204) and David Clifford (17-177). Hope springs eternal as 13 await senior provincial success A starter for 10: what do Leitrim, Carlow, Kilkenny, Longford, Offaly, Clare, Limerick, Waterford, Antrim, Fermanagh, London, New York and Down have in common? That's right – they are the 13 counties who have failed to win a provincial senior football title in this century. Unlucky for some. With apologies to some of the others, Down and Offaly are the obvious outliers there considering they're the only two to lift Sam Maguire in the last 100 years. Down also made a senior All-Ireland final 15 years ago and produced an All-Ireland senior club winner in recent history too (Kilcoo in 2022). Offaly and Down are also the only two without a provincial title to have won minor or under-20 All-Irelands this century and were the highest finishers in the 2025 National League (Down 15th, Offaly 18th). Both had positive showings over the weekend, as it happened. Down defeated Clare by 3-27 to 1-16 in their opening match in the All-Ireland – which they qualified for by winning the Tailteann Cup last year – while Offaly took a step towards emulating that feat as they defeated Waterford by five points. Louth players celebrate the All-Ireland U20 semi-final win over Mayo at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, Longford. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Canny Kingdom legend Galvin quick to spot Louth's potential Speaking of Kerry, hats off to Paul Galvin who was surely one of the first outsiders to spot something spectacular was brewing in Louth. On April 23rd last year, Galvin attended the Leinster Under-20 Championship semi-final at Parnell Park in which Louth beat Dublin. Afterwards, Galvin tweeted: 'Louth 20s the most exciting side I've seen play this year. Bursting with football, pace, power and size.' While Louth ultimately lost that Leinster final to Meath, fast-forward 13 months and they have turned the tables on the Royals in this year's provincial decider and subsequently beat Mayo to reach their first-ever All-Ireland final in the grade. Thirteen of the 15 who started the 2024 Leinster final remain on the panel, with seven starting both finals and one 2024 starter coming on this year. Bravo, too, to the father of one prominent Louth footballer who reportedly backed the double at a meaty 250-1 (or bigger, depending who you ask!) Cavan produce seismic shock at Mayo's expense While it will be hard to top Dexit – Meath's win over Dublin in the Leinster semi-final – for sheer drama, Cavan's victory over Mayo in Castlebar on Sunday was surely the next biggest shock in this year's football championships to date, across provincials, Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup. For one thing, the disparity between both sides' relative standings in the National League was the widest by a distance this season; Mayo finished top of Division One, Cavan were 11 places lower (fourth in Division Two). The Blues hadn't beaten Mayo in championship football since the 1948 All-Ireland final and lost the same fixture at the same venue by 0-20 to 1-8 last summer. Not many of Cavan's famously vociferous supporters made the trip west for a game which attracted just 7,387 to MacHale Park. Number: 9.1 points The average margin of victory in the first two rounds (16 matches) in the 2025 Tailteann Cup. Quote 'Everybody knows that himself and one or two more of them, they actually despise me and that's fine, I can get over that. But don't take it out on the players, you have to see everything.' – Antrim manager Davy Fitzgerald wasn't happy with the refereeing in his side's 28-point loss to Galway.
