Far from doom and gloom for McGrath after another near miss with Tipp

By Thomas Conway

It goes without saying that Eimear McGrath and her Tipperary teammates yearned for a longer inter-county summer. If any team was going to disrupt that epochal Cork-Galway All-Ireland final rivalry, it was Tipp, but ultimately it didn’t happen. James Heffernan’s side were upstaged by a slightly superior Cork side in the semi-final before the Rebelettes wrestled the O’Duffy Cup off Galway in a ferociously physical final.

McGrath reflected on the semi-final defeat candidly, speaking last week at the launch of Clubber TV’s club season coverage, back at FBD Semple Stadium where the inter-county season came to an end, her voice tinged with regret.

“If we had played for even twenty minutes in that first-half, we would have been right in that game,” she acknowledges.

The way it ended was desperately hard on Tipp, and McGrath says she doesn’t know whether Cork going on to win the All-Ireland makes her feel better or worse about the situation. She dismisses the narrative that this Tipp team are doomed to forever fall at the semi-final stage and does so with the kind of defiance that convinces you that they will, ultimately, reach the promised land and win an All-Ireland title.

However, she also admits that Tipp’s form in 2026 was inconsistent, mercurial even. “The year was probably a bit up and down in all,” she added.

“In the league we probably only fired in fits and starts. The Munster campaign was very positive, and then look, the group stage was what it was – we obviously didn’t get any wins but there was always a potential for that with the way the structure was,” she says. Tipp subsequently brushed aside Clare in the quarter-final in Croke Park, before succumbing to Cork. “We’re there or thereabouts,” she assesses. “I think, at this level, it’s only one or two small things that could tip it in your favour.”

Intensely competitive

No Tipperary outfit has won the All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship since Cashel in 2009, and although McGrath’s Drom & Inch were certainly in the reckoning in recent years, they were stopped at the semi-final stage by Galway’s Sarsfields and Loughgiel Shamrocks of Antrim.

However, Drom have quite the job ahead of them just to emerge from what is now an intensely competitive Tipperary championship. They have made the perfect start, comfortably dismissing Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams in their first game, with McGrath herself collecting 2-5, including an awesome goal that immediately caught fire on social media thanks to Clubber’s broadcasting of the game.

Naturally, they will be favourites to progress from their group, but beyond that, nothing is certain. The days of one-team domination have faded (Drom completed a five-in-a-row from 2018 to 2023 after Burgess/Duharra had reeled off eight in a row), though reigning champions Thurles Sarsfields have a formidable look about them once again.

McGrath, however, emphasises that Drom & Inch are taking every game as it comes. She notes that the tables have turned in terms of their rivalry with Clonoulty/Rossmore, who have defeated Drom in the past two successive semi-finals.

“Our main aim is just to get back to a county final, and when you’re there you always have a good chance of winning it,” McGrath adds.

Whichever Tipp club does emerge, McGrath feels that Munster is “definitely the most competitive province”, and that navigating it will also prove tricky. As ever, the path to the All-Ireland series is strewn with obstacles.

Championship structure and integration

Asked whether she finds it difficult to settle back into club action following months within the inter-county bubble, McGrath – who has been in the Tipp squad since 2020 – answers that she “is well used to it at this stage”. Both her and most of her Tipperary teammates went on an informal holiday to Portugal following the Cork defeat, which she says was a nice way to round off the season. She was able to watch the All-Ireland final, and not grudgingly either.

On the whole, the Drom forward believes that camogie is in a relatively good place. She credits the Camogie Association for recognising the need for structural change in terms of the championship and for doing something about it fairly rapidly. She says she understands some people’s scepticism in relation to the format and acknowledges that further tweaks and adjustments may have to be made.

“There was probably a lot of talk about the fact that we didn’t win any of our group matches and we were still in the knockout stages. So, look, I didn’t have much of an issue with that but I can see how people would,” she says.

She is slightly hesitant on the issue of integration, noting that both the Camogie Association and the LGFA are massive organisations that probably need their own people in charge.

Having endured a season on the sidelines due to a cruciate ligament injury sustained in 2024, McGrath now appreciates her camogie more than ever. The Drom & Inch woman is showing no signs of mental or physical fatigue either. She’s looking forward to the club campaign, and part of her is already contemplating 2027 with Tipp. “I think when the inter-county season comes around again, everyone will be raring to go,” she concluded.

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