The 1998

All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship The All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship is a competition for inter-county teams in the women's field sport of game of camogie played in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Camogie Association and are played during the summer mo ...

—known as the Bórd na Gaeilge All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship for sponsorship reasons—was the high point of the 1998 season and the first All-Ireland Camogie Final to be televised live. The championship was won by

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

who defeated

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

by a four-point margin in the final.1998 All Ireland final reports i
Irish Examiner

an

/ref> The match attracted an attendance of 10,436, a then record for the sport of

camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

Semi-finals

Newly returned to senior ranks, Tipperary had a surprise 3-11 to 3-10 victory over Kilkenny through goals from

Noelle Kennedy Noelle Kennedy is a camogie player and five-time All-Ireland winner in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. Career Kennedy was largely responsible for Tipperary’s breakthrough to senior status in 1997. She won an All-Ireland in the 1999 All-I ...

Deirdre Hughes Deirdre Hughes is a former camogie player selected on the camogie team of the century in 2004, and winner of All Ireland medals in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. Background She came to prominence when Toomevara won the Tipperary County Mino ...

and

Eimear McDonnell Eimear McDonnell is a camogie player, winner of an All-Star award in 2005, a Lynchpin award, predecessor of the All Star awards, in 2003, a Texaco award in 2003, and five All Ireland medals in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. She was previous ...

. They played Galway in the All Ireland semi-final without their star forward,

, while Galway played without

Sharon Glynn Sharon Glynn is a camogie player and manager, an All Ireland medalist in 1996 and the star of her county’s 2002 victory in the National Camogie League when she scored three goals in Galway’s 6-6 to 1-7 victory over Limerick. She was nominat ...

. A long free by Colette Nevin to Anne Forde who scored a goal followed by two Galway points to secure a three-point win. Sinéad O'Callaghan and

Irene O'Keeffe Irene O'Keeffe is a former camogie player, scorer of two goals in two minutes during the first half for Cork in their 1998 All Ireland final victory over Galway. Career She won five All Ireland senior medals in all, in 1992, when Cork halted ...

scored goals for Cork in their 2-15 to 1-9 victory over Clare in the second semi-final.

Final

Cork chose to play with the strong wind in the first half and Galway succumbed to two well-taken goals in the first half by

, playing in her last inter-county match. The first came after 17 minutes the second came after Sinead O'Callaghan's shot rebounded off the crossbar. This enabled Cork to build themselves a winning lead and hold on to survive the best challenges Galway offered. Only the impressive scoring form of Nevin kept Galway in touch, leaving them four points down at half time, 2-7 to 0-9. Ian O'Riordan wrote in the

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

Lynn Dunlea was simply outstanding at full forward, drilling over nine points, six from frees, and proving once again how games can be won or lost with dependable free-takers. Added to that was the firepower of
Irene O'Keeffe Irene O'Keeffe is a former camogie player, scorer of two goals in two minutes during the first half for Cork in their 1998 All Ireland final victory over Galway. Career She won five All Ireland senior medals in all, in 1992, when Cork halted ...
, whose two goals in the first half had Galway constantly playing catch-up afterwards. Last year’s captain,
Linda Mellerick Linda Mellerick is a former camogie player selected on the camogie team of the century in 2004, and winner of All Ireland medals in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2002. Background & club career Though born in Tipperary, Linda’s family m ...
, was once again a marvel at midfield and even though she only once made the scoreboard, she created plenty of scores. Considering Mellerick had planned to retire after last season's victory, you just had to wonder where she continues to get her energy and enthusiasm.” Jim O'Sullivan, who described Mellerick’s performance as her “her best ever in the red and white” wrote in the
Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...
:
This was a victory for grit and determination, a never-say-die attitude that many a male side could copy and an absolute will to win that will set this team apart from all the others. Picture the scene: Cork, who could only manage a four-point (2-7 to 0-9) half time lead after playing with the driving wind and rain, were battling with their backs to the wall and a point in front with four minutes to go, as Galway threw everything at them in search of the winning goal. Yet, the Leesiders found reserves of strength to weather the storm and finish with two match-winning points from Lyn Dunlea to give the county its 19th title, and their second in a row over the westerners.

The double goal scorer O'Keeffe said:

We always thought that there wouldn't be much more in it than a couple of goals. They kept coming at us alright but our back line was very strong and that made a big difference in the end. Winning again against Galway adds a little extra buzz because they're probably our greatest rivals at the moment.

Final stages

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References

External links

Historical reports of All Ireland finals
{{All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 1998 in camogie

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...