Women’s Section Awards Night

There was a great night last Friday with over 250 Players, Coaches, Friends and Family from the Women section gathering for the Annual Awards Night.

Jessie Kane in Football and Maria Buckley in Camogie won the Senior Player of the Year Awards, and there was plenty to celebrate with the Junior E and Senior B Championship Winning Teams celebrated on stage, recognition of Jess Tobin’s LGFA All Star Award, her, Martha Byrne and Rachel Hartnett’s All Ireland triumph, and a glowing tribute from JP Byrne to Donal Murphy who is stepping away from management of the Senior Camogie team.

Rob Hartnett and Angi Crispe kept things rolling through the presentations, and hats off to Dermot Malone, as ever, who puts in a massive amount of work to pull the night together.

Aside from the two Senior Awards for Jessie and Maria, there were individual awards from across the 12 teams fielded at Senior and Minor level for Ciara Dunee, Eva O’Grady, Nia Kennedy, Ella O’Donoghue, Tara Leahy, Sinead Nolan, Cara Sullivan, Sophie Nash, Chloe Delaney, Aislynn Moylan, Evanne Tobin, Anna Healy, Abbie Kenny, Arabella Lyster, Daisy Kirkwood, Aislynn Kelly Gallagher, Róise Reddin, Zoe Kearney and Maria McDonagh, and a special new Young Volunteer Award that was presented to Sophie Byrne.

With thanks to all involved in organising such a fantastic celebration of the Women’s section.

U16 Girls Transition to Minor

The 2009 Girls enjoyed a very special evening on Thursday, 20 November 2025, as they marked their transition from Juvenile to Minor with a graduation celebration attended by players and their parents/guardians.

It was an emotional and memorable night. This group shares a unique bond and player retention has always been a core value, something we are proud to say has been achieved, with 39 players moving forward to Minor. A number of well-deserved thank-yous were shared on the night, especially to the coaches, FLOs and parents who have supported the girls every step of the way. Each player received a skills recognition award along with a team photograph as a memento of their 09 journey.

Over the years, this group has achieved many wins. They signed off from the Juvenile section on a high, with both our A and B camogie teams winning their Shield finals and both football teams reaching the semi-final stage, narrowly losing out to strong opposition.

As they now progress into the Minor section, exciting times lie ahead for this talented group. Please join us in thanking an exceptional team of mentors, coaches and FLOs whose dedication has played a major role in this squad’s success.

Separately, congratulations to the U16 Red Camogie team (pictured below) who won their U16 Div 2 Shield Final last Saturday against St Kevins 6-02 to 1-05 in Meadowvale with a strong team display.  Big thanks to the 2010 for their support. The U16s celebrated this win in their last match before they transition to minor girls.

Minor Girls Camogie Shield Win

Congratulations to the Minor B Camogie team who won the Division 6 Championship Shield with a 4-4 to 1-2 win over Clontarf. A super performance by all players and a fantastic way to end the season for this Minor team.  Best of luck to all of the players as the 07 girls now move to adult and the 08s welcome the 09s to form the Minor 2026 teams.

Minor Camogie Division 2 Champions

Sometimes the rewards far outweigh the drawbacks of battling bank holiday Friday M50 traffic. Such was the case for Cuala supporters who made the trip to Abbotstown last Friday evening to witness the Minor A Camogie team make a spectacular second half comeback against Naomh Barróg to clinch the Division 2 Championship Cup by a single point.

Cuala played the first half into the wind against a formidable Naomh Barróg team who set the tone early with two points from frees and another from play. Abbie Kenny opened the scoring for Cuala with a well-taken free, but Naomh Barróg replied with a point and then a goal to leave Cuala trailing 1-04 to 0-01 midway through the half. Laoise Conaghan added two points from play to reduce the deficit, but was matched by two further points from Naomh Barróg. A solid Cuala defence and some superb goalkeeping by Emma Matthews can be credited with minimising the Barróg scoreline, but with strong winds hampering scoring opportunities Cuala left the pitch 6 points behind at half-time:  Naomh Barróg 1-06, Cuala 0-03.

In true Cuala spirit however, a determined team emerged to rewrite the script in the second half. An early goal from Laoise Conaghan’s long-range free brought Cuala to within 3 points of the opposition. Naomh Barróg responded with a free and a point from play, matched by a point from Abbie Kenny to leave Cuala trailing by 4 points. A superb point from Kate Hanley followed by another goal from Laoise Conaghan levelled the scoreline and sent the Cuala supporters wild. Victory was within reach. With only minutes left on the clock, Eabha McGrath scored what proved to be the winning point putting Cuala in the lead for the first time – a fitting finale for her last match as minor captain. With three minutes of added time, the Cuala defence withstood huge pressure as Naomh Barróg sought an equaliser. Cuala supporters gripped their seats as a free from Naomh Barróg hit the post and was duly cleared to deny Barróg an equalising opportunity. The final whistle blew shortly after, sparking jubilant celebrations for Cuala players and supporters: Cuala 2-06, Naomh Barróg 1-08.

Winning the Division 2 Championship brings the playing year to a successful close for this team, having also won the League in the spring. The 07 girls now begin the transition to adult, while the 08s will welcome the 09 players for the 2026 playing season. Congratulations and thanks to all the players, coaches, mentors and FLOs, and best of  luck to all the girls as they transition to their new teams for 2026.

A huge thank you also to all the red and white supporters who made that M50 trip…no doubt all are likely to agree that it was definitely worth it!

Minor and Senior BBQ and Camogie Blitz

The Minor and Senior women got together last Saturday for an inaugural BBQ and Camogie blitz at Hyde Road, giving the minors an opportunity to meet and socialise with senior players as they prepare to join the senior section themselves in the coming year or two. The rain held off as 6 teams of mixed minor and senior players took part in a 7-a-side ‘Leinster’ and ‘Munster’ Championship before the Blitz Final. Not to miss out on the fun, the mentors gamely participated in a Minor v Senior tug-of-war and wet sponge throwing competition!

A bbq, soft drinks, gelato and coffees kept everyone going for the afternoon, thanks for which goes to our generous sponsors: Bel Gelato, Homeground Coffee, Hicks of Dalkey, Lidl and Tesco.

Dublin Camogie Minor A Leinster Shield Winners

Congratulations to Cuala’s Abbie Kenny and Laoise Conaghan who won the Leinster Minor A Shield with the Dublin Minor A Camogie team last weekend.

Cuala and Dublin U17 All Ireland Camogie Shield Final

Congratulations to our Cuala Minor players Roisin Murray, Erin Brennan Conte and Kate Hanley who beat Waterford in the U17 Camogie Shield final yesterday. (Missing from photo is Caoimhe Griffith, also on the panel).

Cuala and Dublin Minor A Leinster Champions

Congratulations/comhgairdeas to Cuala’s Katie Hayes, vice-captain of the Dublin Minor A Football team, and teammate Rebecca McEvoy who helped Dublin clinch the Leinster LGFA Minor title last Monday, bridging an eight year gap since Dublin were last crowned Provincial A Minor champions. Rebecca and Katie are pictured above with Cuala supporters.

Yoga and Wellbeing Evening

It was a calm and quiet evening in the Cuala hall last Sunday, (marking a distinct change from the usual footballs and sliotars hopping off walls!) for a yoga and wellbeing event with renowned yoga instructor Dani Sheil. The event was organised as a fundraiser for the Minor Girls and Ladies sections, as well as providing a social opportunity for women from Cuala and the wider community. The event started with a chat with Dani about how she got involved in yoga and the benefits it can bring, followed by a yoga session. Tea, coffee and cakes followed along with a raffle for some fantastic prizes. A huge thank you to everyone who came along, to Dani for her expert yoga instruction, the minor girls who helped serve tea and coffee and Sharon Foley for organising the event. Finally a huge thank you to the sponsors of the fabulous raffle prizes:

Rassam Restaurant, Osteria Lucio, The Eagle, Benitos, Finnegan’s Pharmacy, One2One Solutions, Dani Sheil, Dublin GAA, Seoulista, Alison O’Driscoll Makeup Artist, Bubbas Restaruant, Brian S Nolan, Castle Pharmacy, Sandycove Pharmacy, Stronger Gym, Champs Hairdresser, Transfer Gecko, Honest Paws and Horan’s Healthstore

Dermot Earley Leadership Programme Graduation

Galway University was the destination for the Cuala participants of the Dermot Earley Leadership programme last Saturday. Not everyone got there due to a red weather alert and the impending match in Parnell Park. Cuala’s group of young people Graduated with a level 6 (Leaving Cert is level 5) Foundation Certificate in Youth Leadership and Community Action. While not in a position to attend five young Zambians graduated for the first time this year. These graduates were introduced to the Dermot Earley programme by visiting facilitators from Cuala in 2022. With the help of Foroige, funding (€300 per graduate) was secured to ensure five selected Nsobe school students would have the opportunity to complete the three modules and  graduate. The graduates from Nsobe are true community leaders who are invariably the first generation of their families to complete second level education. That they now have an internationally recognised 3rd level qualification is a wonderful achievement. One of the young Zambian women volunteered at a local primary school for her module three project. Foster is now working in that school as a teaching assistant. Cuala has twenty teenagers on the programme this year and teachers from Nsobe school continue to facilitate the programme having been trained up by Foróige who visited Zambia last year at the request of Cuala. If future funding can be secured it is hoped that more young Zambian leaders will continue to graduate alongside their Cuala peers.