DESPITE the lack of national silverware for Ulster counties and Down and Antrim both being relegated from senior level, there have still been some great performances from Ulster camogs this year.
Here is this year’s selection of the best of Ulster Camogie this season...
Goalkeeper
Catriona Graham (Antrim)
A regular on the Antrim senior team for the past six years, Catriona was in the 2021 Irish News All-Star team.
She is quick off her line and it often seems like she is playing as a sweeper behind her full-back line, that confidence probably coming from playing outfield for her club Ahoghill.
Catriona has plenty of courage and is difficult to beat one-on-one as she throws her body in front of point-blank shots.
She regularly launches attacks from her clearances and poc-outs.
Full-back
Clare McKillop (Antrim)
Clare has been in Antrim panels for half a dozen years but it’s only in the past two seasons that she has managed to secure a starting jersey.
During that period in the team, she has steadily improved and is now one of the quickest corner-backs coming off her marker to attack and clear through balls.
Her consistency over the season has secured her a spot in the full-back line.
Niamh Quinn (Derry)
Niamh excelled last year as a corner-back in the Derry team that won the All-Ireland Intermediate title.
This year she started the league at centre-half back before making the No 3 jersey her own with a string of consistently strong performances.
She was also a leader for others around her while her clearances, short or long, always seemed to find a colleague in space.
Céat McEldowney (Derry)
Céat wasn’t part of the All-Ireland-winning Oak Leaf side last year but linked up this year to become the go-to main marker for PJ O’Mullan’s team.
Despite her young age, Céat had secured two All-Ireland club medals before she left St Patrick’s, Maghera.
She brought that experience to inter-county level this year and the transition from a top club player to a top inter-county player has been very smooth.
Half-backs
Amy Boyle (Antrim)
Last year she picked up her first award as a midfielder and yet again showed her versatility by slotting into the half-back line for her county for 2024.
She still continues at midfield and is often centre-forward with the Shamrocks.
A dynamic performer, Amy never pulls out of a challenge and her fitness levels make her very difficult to mark.
She has produced another solid season for Antrim.
Megan Donnelly (Derry)
A tight-marking corner-back in the 2022 team under her maiden name Kerr, Megan damaged her cruciate at the start of the club championship two years ago.
That meant that she missed out on the All-Ireland Intermediate title last season but she returned to claim the pivotal centre-half back role in this season’s Derry side.
Her switch to midfield for the last ten minutes of the Limerick championship tie immediately delivered an equalising point and she then drove her team to victory.
Now based in Trillick with a one-year-old, her commitment to the team is steadfast and she was in the running for Player of the Year.
Erin Coulter (Antrim)
Coulter, the youngest member of this year’s All-Star team, has just completed her A Levels in St Louis, Ballymena.
She achieved the amazing feat at the start of 2023 of collecting All-Ireland club, school and county minor medals in consecutive months.
Immediately pressed into action on the Saffron senior team, her charging runs through from half-back to pick off a point have unsettled many established opponents.
Coulter was voted Player of the Match in the Ulster senior final with one surging run setting up Caitrin Dobbin for the only goal of the game.
Midfield
Dervla O’Kane (Derry)
Last year’s midfielder has produced another tour de force to earn a second award.
O’Kane has never been afraid to get their hands dirty and will battle all day long for possession in rucks before breaking loose to set up or take vital scores for the team.
Yet another dynamic performer who plays a vital role for her team.
Dearbhla Magee (Down)
The only player to feature in each of the five Irish News All-Star teams to date, Magee was given a new role this season as captain of a younger, less experienced Down team.
Her other four awards were in defence; this season she functioned as a third midfielder in a defensive role, but with a licence to attack and take scores.
An underage international cross-country runner, she was able to break quickly and she scored two of the best points of the Ulster championship from inside her own half in the semi-final in Owenbeg.
Half-forwards
Áine Barton (Derry)
Another long-serving player, Barton again captained Derry and led by example with several Player of the Match performances over the year.
A consistent point scorer from play and the dead ball, the primary school teacher in Magherafelt was at her most dynamic in the first round of the All-Ireland series in Cushendall.
Antrim couldn’t cope with her driving runs and by the end, Derry had avenged their Ulster final defeat a fortnight earlier and were set up to retain their place in the All-Ireland senior championship.
Róisín McCormick (Antrim)
A fourth successive award illustrates the Loughgiel player’s consistency and why she is regarded as one of the top forwards in camogie at present.
McCormick’s profile means that she is now closely watched at all times, but she can still produce moments of magic such as a wonderful solo goal against Derry in Cushendall.
In the final All-Ireland group game in Limerick, she scored 2-10 to bring Antrim back from a deficit of eight points to almost manage to stay afloat at senior level.
A player no team enjoys facing.
Sinéad Quinn (Armagh)
The young Armagh player played a pivotal role for Queen’s in their comeback victory over UUJ in the Fr Meachair final in February and followed it up two months later when she helped her county win the Division Three league final in dramatic fashion.
Laois had taken the lead with a goal in the fifth minute of added time, but Quinn’s point within 30 seconds tied the game.
She won a free from the poc-out and Armagh scored it to take the title.
Despite being plagued with injury through the season, Quinn’s presence on the pitch invariably gave her team the energy to push on to victory.
Full-forwards
Caitrín Dobbin (Antrim)
There is no better goal-scorer in Ulster camogie at present than the Loughgiel flier.
Dobbin was on hand to grab the only goal of a low-scoring Ulster senior final.
Like her club and county colleague Róisín McCormick, she is a feared forward and has attracted added attention since making her mark in Croke Park the 2021 All-Ireland Intermediate final.
Aoife Shaw (Derry)
It was another consistent year from the Lavey forward.
Her goals at the start of each half in Cushendall gave Derry the lift they needed to dominate the opening game of the championship while a return of five points from the Limerick game in Owenbeg more or less secured senior championship status for last year’s Intermediate champions.
Bríd Rogers (Derry)
It’s ten years since Bríd McGourty won an All-Ireland Junior medal as a corner-back with her native Down alongside sister Catherine.
That was her last season at inter-county level until she caught PJ O’Mullan’s eye during her first year with her adopted club Slaughtneil.
She quickly became a regular in the Derry forward line, her off-the-ball movement just as important as the scores she has taken and the frees won.
A second award for her sister last year has been followed by a first for the younger sibling.
