Noelle Kennedy is hoping to ring in a new era for Offaly Camogie.

The newly-appointed manager won five All-Ireland senior medals as a player with Tipperary in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004, and is aiming to instil that same winning mentality in an Offaly team that is coming off the back of a couple of difficult seasons and has lost a number of key players, most notably former All-Star Michaela Morkan who announced her inter-county retirement last February.

Kennedy has already received a boost with the news that Offaly have been reinstated to the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship after being relegated to the intermediate ranks last summer. The reprieve comes after the second teams of Galway and Cork contested this year’s All-Ireland intermediate decider. The Westerners won by two points, but neither they nor Cork could be promoted as their first teams already operate at senior level.

Offaly, who lost their senior relegation final to Clare this year, applied to the Camogie Association to be reinstated to the top flight and were successful. In another development, the Faithful County will compete in Division 1A of the restructured National League against teams of a similar level after struggling against the elite counties in Division 1 last season. In spite of this, they retained their status by virtue of a relegation playoff win over Limerick.

“It’s an honour for me. I’m very excited about it and the potential that exists within this group of players,” says Noelle, who was appointed as successor to former Galway star Susan Earner in September.

“I got to see a lot of club matches and to look at a lot of players. Unfortunately, some of the best players haven’t committed, but you’d hope that they would at some stage in the future. One of the things we’re looking for is 100% commitment. You can’t expect to compete if you don’t have that. You can’t be half-hearted about it.

“And to be fair to the players that are on the panel, they’re giving it their all. They’ll have five weeks of strength and conditioning done before Christmas. Some of them won All-Ireland ‘B’ medals earlier this year and they’re eager to kick on from that. By and large, it’s a very young panel with a mix of older, more experienced players.”

The 40-strong panel includes the returning Gráinne Dolan (St Rynagh’s), dual star Becky Bryant (Tullamore) and the prolific Mairead Teehan (Moneygall), but is notable for the absence of Roisín Egan, who has emigrated, and the respective senior and intermediate players of the year, Mairead Jennings (Birr) and Jane Murray (St Sinchill’s).

While acknowledging that Offaly are going through a transitional phase, Noelle will still be looking to win every game in 2023.

“It’s very difficult to replace the likes of Michael Morkan and Covid didn’t help either. It’s all about trying to get the interest going again, re-energising the players and trying to get back to being competitive. We’re looking to restore winning ways.”

While welcoming the fact that the tricolours will be plying their trade in the All-Ireland Senior Championship once again, the Tipp legend is slightly disappointed that they won’t be competing in the highest division of the League.

“We’re looking forward to getting our League and Championship fixtures for 2023,” she continues.

“All that we know at the moment is that our first League game is on February 18 and we’re in the same division as Down, Antrim, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. It’s a tiered system with the big guns in Division 1 and the next strongest in Division 1A. The top-two will contest the final. There are two ways of looking at it. While the teams in Division 1A are more of our level, you always want a crack at the bigger teams to see exactly where you are.

“In the Championship, there are three groups of four, so we’re going to be in with at least one of the big teams. That’s good because everyone wants to be playing at the highest level. We’ll be fielding two teams in the Championship – one in the Senior and the other in the Junior. We’ve decided not to field a second team in the League because we have seven minors and we’ll leave them to concentrate on their own grade for the first half of the season.”

Members of the Offaly camogie team, management and county board are undertaking a 1,000km run in Faithful Fields next Tuesday, December 27 to help raise funds to cover training and team costs for the coming season. Needless to say, Noelle is hoping as many businesses and individuals as possible will support the fundraiser.

“All support would be greatly appreciated, however big or small,” the Toomevara woman says.

“It costs a lot to run county teams nowadays and you saw that this year when Galway GAA went over the €2 million mark. We need funds to pay for things like gym membership, meals, gear and possible trips to Antrim, Down, Wexford and Waterford in the League. It all adds up.

“I would encourage anyone who is around on December 27 to come along to Faithful Fields and support the fundraiser. Players from the 2009 and ’10 All-Ireland winning teams will be there to lend their support.

“There has been a great response from local businesses and a great effort put in by the county board who have big plans to develop their own training base in conjunction with Crinkill GAA. In particular, I would like to thank The County Arms Hotel in Birr and our new main sponsors Glenisk, whose products we have access to.”

Noelle concludes by saying: “We’re looking forward to the new season, but are under no illusions about the task facing us. There is a lot of hard work to be done.”

Offaly Camogie panel 2023: Aisling Feeney (Tullamore), Alana Roddy (Birr), Amy Byrne (Lusmagh/Drumcullen), Amy Sullivan (St Rynagh’s), Aoibhin Walsh (St Sinchill’s), Aoife McLoughlin (St Rynagh’s), Aoife O’Donovan (St Cillian’s), Becky Bryant (Tullamore), Brídín Walsh (St Sinchill’s), Caoimhe Kinsella (Birr), Caoimhe O’Donovan (St Cillian’s), Cathy Fogarty (St Cillian’s), Ciara Maher (Moneygall), Clodagh Leahy (Lusmagh/Drumcullen), Ellen Gilligan (St Rynagh’s), Fay Mulrooney (Birr), Gráinne Dolan (St Rynagh’s), Hannah Feenane (Birr), Kaitlyn Kennedy (Lusmagh/Drumcullen), Keelin Guilfoyle (St Sinchill’s), Labhaoise Glynn (Lusmagh/Drumcullen), Leah Gallagher (Tullamore), Lisa Gorman (Tullamore), Louise Mannion (St Rynagh’s), Mairéad Teehan (Moneygall), Molly Hogan (Naomh Bríd), Niamh Killeen (St Cillian’s), Orla Gorman (Tullamore), Orlagh Phelan (Naomh Bríd), Rachael O’Brien (Tullamore), Rachel Brennan (St Cillian’s), Rachel Dillon (St Sinchill’s), Rebecca Ryan (Birr), Sarah Dillon (St Sinchill’s), Sarah Guinan (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Sarah Harding (Birr), Sarah Walsh (Tullamore), Sinead Moore (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Siobhan Flannery (St Rynagh’s), Siobhan Killeen (St Cillian’s).

Management: Noelle Kennedy (manager), Cathal Murphy (head coach), Nora Dwan (goalkeeper coach), Paddy Murphy (performance coach), Shaun Grassick (S&C), Sharon Ryan (team administrator), Catherine Byrne (team liaison officer), Nicholas Lalor (physio), Ciara Goland (nutritionist).

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