Royal County wanted to find out how life was treating the camogie players of Killyon and Meath. We were told there was only one person to contact: Killyon and Meath Camogie chairperson Brigid Carney. Brigid Carney has been to the forefront of camogie in Killyon and Meath for more years than she may care to remember and she has enjoyed every minute. It's extremely doubtful whether or not there's anyone that could match her curriculum vitae within Meath camogie circles. The popular camogie officer celebrated a quarter of a century at the helm of the Killyon club when she was returned to the position of chairperson unopposed for the 25th successive year at the club's AGM at the beginning of the year. She is also the club's PRO for good measure. At County Board level, Brigid has occupied the 'top spot' for the past ten years while she has been Meath's Leinster Council delegate for approximately twelve. Together with Mary Gannon and Doreen Clonan, Brigid sowed the seeds of camogie in the local area when establishing the Killyon club in 1975. She was the first chairperson of the fledgling club and it didn't take them long to make an impact on the pitch. Killyon won four titles in 1977, the Junior crown - Brigid was a member of that particular victorious team - as well as the U18, U16 and U14 championships and since then the south Meath club has been one of the main forces in camogie in the Royal County. "There was no sports for girls in the area around that time so myself, Mary and Doreen decided to set up the camogie club and it's been on the go ever since," recalled Brigid. Brigid played camogie in her native Louth - she originally hails from Collon but moved to Killyon 28 years ago on marrying local man JJ Carney - and in Clare with the Cliffs of Moher club. How did the year 2000 pan out for the camogie players of Killyon? "Not too good unfortunately," replied the affable Carney. "The Killyon pitch underwent renovations during the year which meant it was awkward to find a place to train. We did train in Clonard's pitch but our preparations for the championship weren't as good as we would have hoped them to be. "Kilmessan beat us in the semi-final of the championship by five points. There's only a puck of the ball between ourselves and the two championship finalists, Kilmessan and Trim, but this just wasn't to be our year. "Due to the work on the pitch we were unable to field any underage teams in 2000 but we hope to have those teams up and running again next year and give the underage competitions a good lash. "We're fortunate in that we've no shortage of people willing to help out at underage and adult levels. There's too many too mention, I'd be afraid of leaving someone out, but Mary Burke, for example, is a brilliant secretary and does a lot of great work for the club." Incidentally, Brigid's husband JJ, an All-Ireland junior medal winner with the Royal County in 1971, was manager of the Killyon camogie team this year. With the underage talent that's at the club's disposal, she's confident that it won't be too long before they make a return to the winners enclosure. "We a very good number of very talented young girls within the club so hopefully, when they gain the necessary experience, Killyon will be back winning the senior championship. We won the senior crown six times in a row just prior to Trim's recent four in a row." What about the current state of camogie within the Royal County? "Sadly, we were beaten by Carlow in the second round of the Leinster championship after beating Westmeath in the first round," replied Brigid who's also a qualified camogie referee. "We have some very talented players such as Dearbhla O'Carroll, Christine O'Brien, Mary and Margaret Burke, Sharon Raleigh, Stephanie Heavey, Mary Andrews and Darina Smith, to name just a few. Every year we hope that this will be the one that we make the breakthrough in Leinster but it just hasn't materialised as yet." The last time the Royal County sampled the sweet taste of success was in the early nineties when the Leinster Junior 'B' League crown was garnered. Surprise, surprise, but Brigid's GAA activities are not solely confined to the game of camogie as she's also PRO of the Killyon hurling club. "The hurlers went down very badly this year, suffering defeats at the hands of Longwood and Wolfe Tones along the way. In our last game we beat Rathmoylan and that result proved that we have the players here, but consistency is a big problem." Brigid continues: "We have a great club down here, great facilities. A clubhouse with two spacious dressingrooms, a kitchen and a hall. "As I said earlier the pitch was drained, levelled and re-seeded this year with a paling and nets behind the goals erected. We also did work on the carpark. Hopefully everything will be ready by the start of next year. "We held a car draw on the 27th of October to help raise finance for the development work and that was a tremendous success." Success on the pitch is what Brigid and all in Killyon camogie and hurling clubs craves most though. Officers elected at the Killyon camogie club's AGM were: President - Mary Gannon; chairperson - Brigid Carney; vice-chairperson - Christine Raleigh; secretary - Mary Burke; assistant secretary - Theresa McKeown; treasurer - Ann Dempsey; registrar - Michelle Connolly; PRO - Brigid Carney; first aid officers - JJ Carney, Anne Dempsey; senior trainer - JJ Carney; captain - Josephine Giles; vice-captain - Sylvia Rattigan; juvenile committee - Mary Murke, Margaret Burke, Michelle Connolly, Christine Raleigh, Brigid Carney, Theresa McKeown, Sylvia Rattigan. Tweet

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