As part of the 20x20 movement I pledge to promote more female athletes by writing articles on various Tipperary camogie players throughout their 2020 season. Who better to start with than fellow club woman and Tipperary joint captain Aoife McGrath. I chatted all things camogie and cousins with Aoife as she prepares for this weekend’s Littlewoods Ireland Division 1 game away to Galway.

Two weeks ago 3 McGrath brothers Noel, John and Brian were all named to start for Liam Sheedy’s side against Waterford in the Allianz league. A fantastic achievement and one which didn’t go unnoticed in the media. However a week earlier 2 other McGrath siblings and first cousins of the boys were making their own bit of history. Eimear made her senior inter-county debut lining out at corner forward while sister and newly appointed joint captain Aoife played wing back in their win over Dublin in the Littlewoods Ireland Division 1 League. At only 18 Eimear is the “baby” of the family of 6 children so I put the question to Aoife (7 years her senior) if she ever thought she would play alongside Eimear in the blue and gold? “Growing up I would have always looked forward to someday playing with her with the club at least and I was thrilled to do that over the last 2 years but to finally get a chance to play with Eimear with Tipp was special”. Eimear impressed that day and gets the chance again this Sunday when Tipperary take on current All-Ireland champions Galway in a top of the group clash in which a league final spot faces the winners

The girls grew up in a sport mad family in the parish of Loughmore Castleiney. Where from a young age you played every sport and according to Aoife “as soon as you could walk you had a hurley in your hand or a football at your feet”. With no camogie club in Loughmore Aoife joined the neighbouring parish club Drom-Inch at 10 years of age while also playing with the boys team in Loughmore up until U14. Aoife’s father Frankie was one of 9 children who all loved to hurl and kick football and many of the family represented Tipperary at various levels growing up. But it is the current generation which includes Aoife, Eimear and their first cousins who have really surpassed all achievements. To begin with the McGrath sisters are joined on the Tipperary panel by their first cousin Miriam Campion, a skilful forward who played a key role in Drom-Inch’s success in winning the senior county title last year. The name Campion will ring a bell for any Tipperay hurling follower as John Campion, Miriam’s brother captained the Tipperary minor team in 2019 while another brother Pauric won an U21 All-Ireland medal in 2018 where he starred in defence alongside first cousin Brian McGrath. Brian, Noel and John all played their part in Tipperarys’ All-Ireland senior success last year and have a serious medal haul between them. Noel and Brian have minor, U21 and senior All-Ireland titles. While John is missing an U21 All-Ireland he does boast a coveted minor hurling and football All-Ireland medal along with his senior medals. And then there’s Liam McGrath a Tipperary senior footballer (who will be badly missed this year as he takes a year out to travel Australia), Liam will be forever remembered in Tipperary GAA history as the captain of the Tipperary minor football team who famously defeated a star-studded Dublin team to win the minor All-Ireland football final in 2011. While another first cousin Michelle Shortt has a senior All-Ireland camogie medal. I could go on further as numerous other first cousins on the McGrath side have represented Tipperary at underage and senior level in hurling, camogie and football. I put it to Aoife that all that is missing is a representative on the Tipperary Ladies Football team. She laughs and informs me that she was asked to join the panel a few times by Tipperary manager Shane Roynane. I shouldn’t be surprised as she not only captained her club to a Junior Football title in 2018 but also picked up club player of the year. “To be honest I would love to play football with Tipperary but personally I just think you can’t commit to both. It’s so difficult as both teams are competing at such a high level.”

I wonder what the secret is to the McGrath success and the old Irish saying “An ounce of breeding is worth a tonne of feeding comes to mind”. Aoife believes it’s a mixture of things. From a young age “we were just introduced to all sports and then we would be a very competitive and stubborn bunch!” I imagine there must have been some serious matches in the back gardens growing up. “ Ya there was 6 of us always hurling or playing football or soccer and then often on a Saturday morning after training John and Brian would come down to us or we would go over them for match of some sort”. Aoife has 1 All-Ireland minor camogie medal to her name, won in 2011 alongside current Tipperary teammates such as Ererna Fryday, Nicole Walsh and Julieanne Bourke but when she saw the cousins lifting the Liam McCarthy Cup again last year she was obviously delighted for them but also somewhat envious. Naturally she too would love to win her own senior All-Ireland medal someday. “When you’re a child growing up you want to play at the highest level and I suppose when you get there then you want to win at the highest level”. I put it to Aoife then does Galway winning last year and breaking the Cork and Kilkenny stronghold give her renewed hope. “I think it was definitely good that Galway won last year as up until then it was all Cork and Kilkenny. I think there are a number of teams including ourselves, Waterford and Dublin all pushing hard to narrow the gap to the top 3 but I suppose at present there still is a gap – but that gap is definitely closing”. 

After a great 2019 where Aoife captained her club Drom-Inch to their first senior county title in 8 years 2020 has got off to a pretty impressive start with being named joint-captain along with Cait Devane of the Tipperary Senior team. Captaincy certainly seems to suit Aoife if you followed her club career as she led from the front picking up player of the match in the county final. “I was absolutely delighted to be named joint captain with Cait. It’s an honour to captain any team but to captain Tipp is something I would have dreamed about as a child”. What about the family, how did they react? “The parents were delighted for me, they might not really admit it bit I know they are proud.” An accountant by trade Aoife works with Deloitte in Limerick. A typical working day is up at 6.45am and on the road to Limerick by 7.30am. Usually she’s home by 6.30pm but as this is their busy time it is closer to 8pm at present. Training with Tipperary then involves an individual gym session on a Monday followed by training on Wednesdays and Fridays and then either a match or training on a Sunday. While it’s still early in the year it’s a hectic schedule already. The league this year has seen the introduction of some new rule changes which are on trial. So far Aoife really likes the allowing of “extra contact”. “It’s something I think most players really wanted and it allows the game to flow better and it’s less stop-start. I think not allowing the handpass goal is also a good rule change and it makes it easier for the backs to defend. However I am struggling a bit with not being allowed to drop the hurley to handpass as it’s something I would have often done - but I do think it is a good rule change too”

A versatile player Aoife is currently lining out at wing back for Tipperary but has played in many different positions which poses my next question what is her favourite position to play in? “I would have initially played midfield and then found myself shoved up to the forwards and then back to the backs where I think I’m better suited so I’m happy there”. Depending on how Tipperary or the opposition line out she can be sometimes found in a sweeping role but this would not be her preference. “I definitely prefer to mark a certain player on any given day. I prefer when its just 15 on 15 and everyone has a player to pick up. But you have to be able to adjust to different situations and the way other teams line out”. Speaking of other teams I wonder who the toughest opponent is that she ever had to mark? “There has been plenty of them and a number of Kilkenny forwards spring to mind but the toughest was probably Eimear McDonell of Burgess-Duharra”. Having won 2 senior county titles and one Munster title with Drom-Inch, represented Tipperay at all levels and won 3 Ashbourne Cups with UL Aoife has played alongside some of the most talented players around and she credits Waterford star Beth Carton as the best she has lined out with. Growing up her hero was Joanne Ryan, a current teammate on the Drom-Inch team, Joanne was the last Tipperary captain to lift the O’Duffy Cup in 2004. “She’ll probably kill me for saying this but Joanne would have been a player I looked up to when I was younger and I’ll always remember her captaining Tipperary to All-Ireland glory”. Back to the present and if there was an inter-county camogie transfer market who would you like to see Tipperary buy in? “Niamh Kilkenny of Galway. I think she has savage pace and workrate and still manages to pop up for a score from midfield in nearly every game”.

Finally we end our discussion on the topic of the 20x20 campaign - a movement to shift Ireland’s cultural perception of women’s sport by 2020 with a 20% increase in media coverage of women in sport, a 20% increase in female participation at all levels of sport and a 20% increase in attendance at women’s games and events. Aoife definitely feels the movement has helped camogie and the fact that the quarter-finals along with the semi-finals and finals are being televised now is great for the game. She has also noticed an increase in media coverage both nationally and locally. “It’s all going in the right direction but there is still lots more to be done.” I wonder what other changes she would like to see that will help to promote camogie, “I think it has to start with camogie players supporting camogie. More club players need to go to county games and to other club games. We are looking for more people to attend our games but I think players themselves need to start by going to more games first”.