NA PIARSAIGH CAMOGIE CLUB

This administration with Aedín Shiels as Honorary Secretary set about preparing teams from U12, U14, U16 and Junior for the following years’ competitions in Limerick. Fr John through his great knowledge of Camogie in Limerick succeeded in convincing some girls from Ballinacurra Gaels to join us. These girls were to become the backbone of our underage and Junior teams ably assisted by some of our own home-grown players.

We played our first game at Under 12 versus Granagh/Ballingarry in the Parish Field in 1993. We had many great encounters with this opposition in the years after. In 1994/1995, Feile na nGael came to Limerick. In 1994, we were selected to play in Division 4 and after many great matches, we won the Coiste Chontae an Chláir Shield beating a gallant Aughrim from Wicklow 2-00 to 0-00 in the final at Mary Immaculate College. During this Feile, we hosted a U-14 team in our community from Raharney, Co. Westmeath. The girls formed great friendships with our visitors. We followed up our success in Feile by winning the County U-14B Championship that year.

In 1995, we competed in the U-14A championship for the first time, where we managed to reach the final only falling to Granagh/Ballingarry in a replay after extra-time. In the 1995 Feile, we played in Division 3, where we succumbed to a strong O’Donovan Rossa from Antrim who went onto become champions in the semi-final. Success eluded us until 1999, when we won the Junior A championship for the first time. Many new administrators and coaches came on board in the following years. T.J Moloney, Joe O’Donnell, Kieran Canty, Eric Daly and others while Helen Carney was on board as the Honorary Secretary and proved an able Treasurer for many years especially during our formative years.

After the turn of the millennium, the Camogie club enjoyed great success at both underage and adult level. In 2002, we won a U-12B Championship while in 2004 we won a U-12B and U-16B Championship. 2005 could be seen as the breakthrough year for us as we won a Junior League and Championship double, defeating Patrickswell in the Championship final at the Gaelic Grounds. We also managed to win the U-16B Championship and Minor B Championship in that year. In that year Síle Moynihan and Aoife Kenny were members of the Limerick senior panel who reached the All-Ireland Senior Semi-Final ultimately defeated by the All-Ireland Champions Cork.

The period of 2006 – 2008 can be seen as the most successful period of the Camogie club to date. In 2006 and 2007 we achieved an unprecedented ‘double-double’ at the Intermediate grade winning league and championship back-to-back under the guidance of Joe Heaney, James Moynihan and Tom McNamara. At this time, it was necessary to win the Intermediate League and Championship back-to-back to achieve promotion to Senior. In 2006, we also won the U-14A League and Championship for the first time in our history under the guidance of Conor Shields and Nicky O’Carroll. 2007 and 2008 saw us win back-to-back U-12A Championship defeating Ballyagran and Newcastle West in the respective finals. In 2007, we also won the U-14B Championship under the guidance of Nicky O’Carroll. 2008 also saw us win a U-16A double winning the League and Championship again for the first time under the guidance of Christy Campbell (R.I.P) and Nicky O’Carroll. This period concluded with the winning of the Senior B Championship in 2008. Many of the members of these underage teams are now providing the spine of our current Senior team.

In 2007 Síle Moynihan and Aideen McNamara were members of the Limerick team that achieved the All-Ireland Senior B League and Championship double. We also had members of the club on the Limerick teams that won All Ireland Minor B Championships in 2009 and 2011, the All-Ireland U-16B Championship in 2011 and the Munster Intermediate Championship in 2010.

In 2009, we won a low scoring U-12C Championship final against Granagh Ballingarry in Croagh Kilfinny Camogie field. Over the years we have joined up with many different clubs across the county to compete at underage level most notably Milford, Treaty Gaels and Galbally. The most successful of these combinations was with Galbally at Minor level where we won a Minor A Championship in 2010 defeating another combination, Na Fianna. For this team, we provided six players with our own Claire Casey captaining the team.

In 2013, Feile na nGael returned to Limerick, we were selected to play in Division 4 once again. This time we hosted Castleblaney from Co. Monaghan. After many great matches, we reached the final for the second time in our short history. Unfortunately, history was not to repeat itself as we were beaten by a strong Ballina team from Co. Tipperary in the Gaelic Grounds. The team managed to follow up their great progress in Feile by winning the County U-14C Championship that year.

Apart from competing in Feile 2013 was a very successful year for the Camogie club. Our Intermediate team once again annexed the Intermediate League defeating a strong Murroe Boher side in Na Piarsaigh. We also won the U-16B League against Patrickswell in Boher. 2014 was a historic year for Limerick Camogie and Na Piarsaigh was delighted to play a part as Limerick won the All-Ireland Minor A Championship for the first time ever. Aoife Wilson, Jane Wilson, Laura O’Neill and Sinéad McNamara all started in the final replay against Cork, with Limerick winning on a scoreline of 3-11 to 1-9 in Charleville. These girls then went on to join Katie Campbell in winning the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship against Kilkenny in Croke Park. Laura and Sinéad also played a role when Limerick won the All-Ireland Junior A Championship against Carlow. That year we won the Minor 12a side Championship against Murroe/Boher on a scoreline of 4-11 to 0-4, with our All-Ireland Minor Championship winners all playing a starring role.

In 2016, we won the U-14C League against Cappamore/Treaty Gaels on a scoreline of 1-3 to 0-5. 2017 was once again a great year for the club as our Intermediate team won the Intermediate Championship for the third time in our history under the guidance of Dave O’Neill, John Hogan and Tom McNamara against Crecora on a scoreline of 2-7 to 0-7 in Clarina. This capped off a great year for the team as this success followed up a victory in the Munster Camogie 7’s Shield against Clooney Quin of Clare. After our County Championship victory, we went on to represent Limerick in the Munster Junior Club Championship where we defeated Eire Óg (Clare) in a semi-final in Na Piarsaigh on a scoreline 2-13 to 1-6. This victory created a great buzz around the club as we marched on to compete in the Munster Junior Club Final for the first time. Ultimately, we were defeated in the final against a very strong Clanmaurice side from Kerry in Mungret on a scoreline of 2-11 to 1-4.

2018 saw us back-up our Intermediate Championship victory by winning the Intermediate League against Murroe-Boher on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-9 in Monaleen, while we maintained our Senior status later on in the year in the Championship. Over the past decade, the Camogie club has provided numerous players to the Camogie teams of both Laurel Hill schools, who have won Munster Leagues and Championships and competed in All-Ireland Finals at both Junior and Senior level.

In recent years we have continued to enjoy great success across all ages groups winning Senior B Championships in 2020 and 2022 along with an U14 Treaty Championship in 2021 and just last weekend we claimed the U16A Championship alongside Treaty Gaels. Whilst continuing to provide players to Limerick teams who have continued to make history at underage level at both Provincial and National level.

The club continues to compete at all level enjoying success on an off the pitch as we continue to grow our membership, improve our facilities and create an atmosphere of respect, enjoyment and competitiveness for girls of all ages to enjoy and excel at Camogie.