“The style of play we had this year allowed us attack from the back”-Dublin Camogie’s Emma O’Byrne

By Paul Keane

The immediate minutes after Dublin's All-Ireland camogie semi-final defeat to Cork in July are still fresh in Emma O'Byrne's memory.

You might have presumed the All-Star nominated full-back, and her Dublin colleagues, would have been keen at that painful stage to pull down the shutters on a long season after a heavy defeat.

In reality, some were already discussing how good it would be if the season had a little more to run and talking about the things they needed to address to be even better again in 2025.

"The minute we lost that semi-final, we kind of looked around at eachother in the dressing-room and said, 'Look, we all need to buy in for next year now'," said O'Byrne at the launch of Dublin GAA's Staycity Aparthotels sponsored new alternate strip for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

The story is a window into a happy camp, keen to go again and to push on after a breakthrough season.

Dublin won Division 1B of the National League and then, in the Championship, reached an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2017.

Beating Kilkenny in the All-Ireland quarter-finals was a huge moment for O'Byrne and her colleagues.

"To be honest, I think the Kilkenny win itself trumps the semi-final, the achievement of getting to the semi-final, if that makes sense," said the Good Counsel Liffey Gaels star. "I don't remember at all in my underage or senior career with Dublin ever beating a Kilkenny team. I think it's probably a big highlight for a lot of the girls. I think the Kilkenny game was really significant in that it was Kilkenny we beat, and also that it was getting to a semi-final for the first time in seven years."

They say success leaves a trail of breadcrumbs, growth moments that are clearly distinguishable in hindsight.

O'Byrne points to the narrow 2023 Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny at Nowlan Park as one of those in Dublin's case. Injuries ruled her out for that campaign but she was there watching as Kilkenny edged a tight provincial decider, thanks in the main to a scrappy stoppage time goal.

"It's crazy how one moment, and that one game, can shape the point of view of your whole year," said O'Byrne. "Last year's Leinster final, yeah, I actually think that's when the belief started. We were like, 'Next year, when we get Kilkenny, we know we have to do this, this and this'. I definitely think there was a small bit of belief carried over from last year into this year."

Backroom stability helped too with the management team headed up by Bill McCormack and Gerry McQuaid and coach Michael McCullough staying on for a second season. Wexford great Mags Darcy has been another key figure and, between them all, they came up with a fresh blueprint for how Dublin should set themselves up.

O'Byrne, for example, moved from the half-back line to full-back. Aisling Maher, one of the best forwards in the game, was also convinced to fulfil a new defensive role. Getting Sinead Wylde, a former Dublin ladies footballer, on board at the back was another interesting move that paid off.

"I think the style of play we played this year really allowed us to attack from the back," said O'Byrne. "We had the likes of Aoife McKearney, who is usually a forward, and Claire Gannon, who nearly scored in all of the games this year, and Kerrie Finnegan there at centre-back. So it was a really attacking team from the half-back line up."

What it did, to O'Byrne's mind, is give the team a new identity and a fresh approach.

"It was nice to be able to play our own game," she said. "Usually we're just reacting to teams and we're almost saying, 'What can we do to stop teams?' But I think it forced other teams to have to adapt to us. I know in the Kilkenny game, it worked really well and they kind of didn't know what to do which is something we never get with Kilkenny. They kind of always have their tactics right and their systems right so it's nice when we're winning games and when the plan does work.

"Aisling (Maher) in the middle of it all was really selfless. It must be really frustrating being that good of a forward and then having to play back with us!"

That's why O'Byrne and her Dublin team-mates were so upbeat after the loss to Cork that ended their season. They see a lot more potential in the current group and are desperate to get going again and to see how far they can take things.

Cork went on to win the All-Ireland, securing back-to-back titles, but while they defeated Dublin by 4-27 to 0-9, O'Byrne said the scoreline failed to tell the true story of events.

"Aisling Maher was playing with an injury, Aisling O'Neill injured herself the Thursday before the match, there were a lot of hurdles that we had that week," she said. "I think if we had those things right, if players had been fit, it could have been a different story. There mightn't have been such a gap."

Back at her Good Counsel Liffey Gaels club, O'Byrne is happy to take an ambassadorial role for the younger camogs to look up to.

"It's a really nice area and I think the culture of the GAA and of the club is really growing and hopefully that keeps going," she said.