Camogie

Template:Short description Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sport Camogie (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Template:Langx Template:IPA) 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.<ref name="Moran 2011 460">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised by the Dublin-based Camogie Association (An Cumann Camógaíochta).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The annual All Ireland Camogie Championship has a record attendance of 33,154,<ref name="Irish Examiner">2007 All Ireland final reports in Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, Irish Times and Gorey Guardian Template:Webarchive</ref> while average attendances in recent years are in the range of 15,000 to 18,000. The final is broadcast live, with a TV audienceTemplate:When of as many as over 300,000.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

UNESCO lists Camogie as an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The game is referred to in Waiting for Godot by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.

Game and Rules

The game consists of two thirty-minute halves. There is a half-time interval of 15 minutes. In event of extra time, halves must consist of 10 minutes each. Each team has 15 players on the field. Within the 15 players the team must consist of one goalkeeper, three full back players, three half back players, two centre-field players, three half forward players and three full forward players. There is a minimum requirement of 12 players on the pitch at all times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The rules are almost identical to hurling, with a few exceptions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Goalkeepers wear the same colours as outfield players. This is because no special rules apply to the goalkeeper and so there is no need for officials to differentiate between goalkeeper and outfielders.
• A camogie player can hand pass a point over the bar from play (hand passing a goal is forbidden in camogie since 2021 and forbidden in hurling since 1980).
• Camogie games last 60 minutes, two 30-minute halves (senior inter-county hurling games last 70, which is two 35-minute halves). Ties are resolved by multiple 2×10-minute sudden death extra time periods; in these, the first team to score wins.
• A smaller sliotar (ball) is used in camogie – commonly known as a size 4 sliotar – whereas hurlers play with a size 5 sliotar.
• If a defending player hits the sliotar wide, a 45-metre puck is awarded to the opposition (in hurling, it is a 65-metre puck).
• After a score, the goalkeeper pucks out from the 13-metre line (in hurling, he must puck from the end line).
• The metal band on the camogie stick must be covered with tape (not necessary in hurling).
• Side-to-side charges are forbidden (permitted in hurling).
• Two points are awarded for a score direct from a sideline cut (since March 2012).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Players must wear skirts or skorts rather than shorts.

File:Garda V Defence Forces (8121574946).jpg

A camogie match in action

File:Garda V Defence Forces (8121567016).jpg

Players may catch the ball with their hand

Under the original 1903 rules both the match and the field were shorter than their hurling equivalents. Matches were 40 minutes, increased to 50 minutes in 1934, and playing fields Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide. From 1929 until 1979 a second crossbar, a "points bar" was also used, meaning that a point would not be allowed if it travelled over this bar, a somewhat contentious rule through the 75 years it was in use. Teams were regulated at 12 a side, using an elliptical formation, although it was more a "squeezed lemon" formation with the three midfield players grouped more closely together than their counterpart on the half back and half-forward lines. In 1999 camogie moved to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) field-size and 15-a-side, adopting the standard GAA butterfly formation.

Field and equipment

File:Garda 1255 (8121328116).jpg

A camogie helmet lies beside a hurley

Field

The field is not of a fixed size, but must be Template:Convert long by Template:Convert wide.

Sticks

The length of the stick, called a "hurley", varies depending on the player's height.

Goals and scoring

File:Scoring in Gaelic games - H shaped posts.png

Goalposts and scoring system used in camogie

Template:Main H-shaped goals are used. A team achieves a score by making the ball go between the posts. If the ball goes over the bar for a "point", the team earns one point. If the ball goes under the bar for a "goal", the team earns three points.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Foundation

File:Camogie Team, Waterford, 17 October 1915.jpg

A camogie team pictured in Waterford in October 1915

File:Lil Kirby.jpg

A camogie game in 1934

The name was invented by Tadhg Ua Donnchadha (Tórna) at meetings in 1903 in advance of the first matches in 1904.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The term camogie is derived from the name of the stick used in the game. Men play hurling using a curved stick called a camán in Irish. Women in the early camogie games used a shorter stick described by the diminutive form camóg. The suffix -aíocht (originally "uidheacht") was added to both words to give names for the sports: camánaíocht (which became iománaíocht) and camógaíocht. When the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1884 the English-origin name "hurling" was given to the men's game. When an organisation for women was set up in 1904, it was decided to anglicise the Irish name camógaíocht to camogie.<ref name="Moran 2011 460"/>

The experimental rules were drawn up for the female game by Máire Ní Chinnéide, Seán (Sceilg) Ó Ceallaigh, Tadhg Ó Donnchadha and Séamus Ó Braonáin. The Official Launch of Camogie took place with the first public match between Craobh an Chéitinnigh (Keatings branch of the Gaelic League) and Cúchulainns on 17 July at a Feis in Navan. The sport's governing body, the Camogie Association or An Cumann Camógaíochta, was founded in 1905 and re-constituted in 1911, 1923 and 1939. Until June 2010 it was known as Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael.

Máire Ní Chinnéide and Cáit Ní Dhonnchadha, two prominent Irish-language enthusiasts and cultural nationalists, were credited with having created the sport, with the assistance of Ní Dhonnchadha's scholarly brother Tadhg Ó Donnchadha, who drew up its rules. Thus, although camogie was founded by women, and independently run (although closely linked to the GAA), there was, from the outset, a small yet powerful male presence within its administrative ranks. It was no surprise that camogie emanated from the Gaelic League, nor that it would be dependent upon the structures and networks provided by that organisation during the initial expansion of the sport. Of all the cultural nationalist organisations for adults that emerged during the fin de siècle, the Gaelic League was the only one to accept female and male members on an equal footing.<ref>Ríona Nic Congáil “'Looking on for centuries from the side-line': Gaelic Feminism and the rise of Camogie", Éire-Ireland (Spring / Summer 2013): 168–192.Gaelic Feminism and the rise of Camogie</ref> Nonetheless, the creation of camogie was not universally supported - even by women - with leading figures such as president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association and Conradh na Gaeilge member, Kit Ahern (despite her support of GAA clubs for men) describing camogie as "too strenuous for girls".<ref>"Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit')"</ref>

Leagues

Though the finals are given prominent TV slots and efforts to market the game are extensive, this has not stopped media descriptions of attendances of a few hundred at vast arenas like Croke Park (capacity of over 80,000) and Semple Stadium (capacity only 45,000) as "paltry and embarrassing".<ref>"Given the marketing and promotion of camogie and ladies' football, attendances are both paltry and embarrassing": 21 April 2025</ref>

Ireland

An Cumann Camógaíochta has a similar structure to the Gaelic Athletic Association, with an Annual Congress every spring which decides on policy and major issues such as rule changes, and an executive council—the Ard Chomhairle—which deals with short-term issues and governance. The game is administered from a headquarters in Croke Park in Dublin. Each of 28 county boards takes control of its own affairs (all of the Irish counties except Fermanagh, Leitrim and Sligo), with the number of clubs ranging from 63 in Cork to one in Leitrim. There are four provincial councils and affiliates in Asia, Australia, Britain, Europe, New York, New Zealand and North America. However, Ireland does not have as much local coverage of ladies' sport as other countries such as Australia.<ref>Dublin People: 18 July 2024</ref>

Clubs

Ireland

Template:Update section There areTemplate:When 538 camogie clubs, of which 513 are based on the island of Ireland, 47 in Connacht, 195 in Leinster, 160 in Munster, and 110 in Ulster.

Connacht

There are 47 camogie teams in Connacht.

Connacht
Club	Teams	Website
Galway	34
Leitrim	1
Mayo	4
Roscommon	7
Sligo	2

Leinster

There are 195 camogie teams in Leinster.

Leinster
Club	Teams	Website
Carlow	6
Dublin	39
Kildare	19
Kilkenny	33
Laois	7
Longford	0
Louth	6
Meath	14
Offaly	12
Westmeath	13
Wexford	33
Wicklow	13

Munster

There are 160 camogie teams in Munster.

Munster
Club	Teams	Website
Clare	26
Cork	58
Kerry	7
Limerick	25
Tipperary	32
Waterford	16

Ulster

There are 110 camogie teams in Ulster.

Ulster
Club	Teams	Website
Antrim	22
Armagh	18
Cavan	9
Derry	23
Donegal	3
Down	21
Fermanagh	0
Monaghan	4
Tyrone	5

Overseas

• Template:Flagicon Europe 4
• Template:Flagicon London 7
• Template:Flagicon New South Wales 5
• Template:Flagicon Toronto 2
• Template:Flagicon United States 7
• Template:Flagicon Western Australia 1

Competitions in Ireland

All-Ireland Championship

File:Sean O’Duffy(c. 1885-1981) in his volunteer uniform from the 1916 Rebellion.png

The O'Duffy Cup, named after Seán O'Duffy, is the prize presented to the winners of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship

The county is the unit of structure in elite competition, responsible for organising club competitions within the county unit and for fielding inter-county teams in the various grades of the All-Ireland championships and National Camogie League. The All Ireland Club Championship is staged at Senior, Intermediate and Junior level, usually reaching the final stages in November–December or the following March. London competed in the National Camogie League in the 2010 season, but not in 2011.

Counties compete for the elite All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in which the O'Duffy Cup is awarded. The All-Ireland Final is held every year in Croke Park during September, usually on the week between the hurling final and Gaelic football final, and attracts attendances of up to 33,000.<ref name="Irish Examiner"/>

There are age-graded All Ireland championships at Minor A, Minor B, and Minor C, and Under-16 A, B and C level.

Six teams contest the fourth-tier Nancy Murray Cup (or Junior A championship), Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan, Tyrone, Westmeath, and the second team of Offaly.

Three teams contest the fifth-tier Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup, (or Junior B championship), Wicklow, and the second teams of Kildare and Meath.

Although six counties do not compete at adult level: Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo and Sligo do not compete at adult level, clubs from Fermanagh, Kerry and Mayo have won honours and Donegal have contested divisional finals at under-14 Feile na nGael level. Both Louth (in 1934 and 1936) and Mayo (in 1959) have contested the All Ireland senior final in the past.

National League

The National League is staged during the winter-spring months, with four divisions of team graded by ability.

Provincial championships

Provincial championships take place at all levels, independent of the All Ireland series which has been run on an open draw basis since 1973.

International and inter-provincial

Ireland plays a camogie-shinty international against Scotland each year. The Gael Linn Cup is an inter-provincial competition played at senior and junior level. The sport is closely associated with the Celtic Congress. Two former Camogie Association presidents Máire Ní Chinnéide and Agnes O'Farrelly were also presidents of Celtic Congress and exhibition matches have been held at the Celtic Congress since 1938. The first such exhibition match, on the Isle of Man in 1938, marked the first appearance of Kathleen Cody, who became one of the stars of the 1940s.

Inter-collegiate

The Ashbourne and Purcell Cups and Father Meachair seven-a-side are the principal inter-collegiate competitions.

Schools

There is also a programme of provincial and All Ireland championships at secondary schools senior and junior levels, differentiated by the years of secondary school cycle, with years 4–6 competing in the senior competition, and years 1–3 competing at junior level. Cumann na mBunscoil organises competitions at primary school level.

Féile na nGael

Camogie competitions for club teams featuring under-14 players are played in four divisions as part of the annual Féile na nGael festival. The county that is selected for a particular year, all their clubs host teams from all around the country representing their county. Host clubs get families to take in two or three children for a couple of days.

International presence

Though camogie is played predominantly in its native homeland of Ireland, it has spread to other countries, largely among the Irish diaspora due to immigrants and the immigrant population. The sport is known to have arrived in places in such as Great Britain, North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Southeast Asia has teams in Vietnam, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur. In North America camogie is played in the United States, Canada, and in parts of the Caribbean. Camogie has also been included as a part of the GAA World Games.

GAA World Games

2019 Renault GAA World Games

Renault GAA World Games - Camogie (Native Born)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2019 Camogie (Native Born) final standings <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pos	Country / Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Twin Cities (USGAA)	10	9	1	0	119	26	19
2	Template:Flagicon The Warriors (USGAA)	10	5	3	2	56	36	13
3	Template:Flagicon Heartland (USGAA)	10	5	2	3	58	35	12
4	Template:Flagicon MidAtlantic (USGAA)	10	4	2	4	67	42	10
5	Template:Flagicon Europe Rovers	10	2	0	8	15	95	4
6	Template:Flagicon Canada Native (CAGAA)<ref name="2019WGAA1">Template:Cite web</ref>	10	1	0	9	13	94	2

North American presence

Camogie teams in North America<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> have existed for at least a century.Template:Citation needed

United States

Template:Main The national organizing body for Gaelic Games in the United States, with the exception of New York City, is the USGAA<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where camogie can be found. It is the governing body which promotes camogie in the United States along with other Gaelic sports. The USGAA also maintains a close relationship with other GAA groups in North America including Canada (Gaelic Games Canada), the New York GAA, and the Caribbean.

GAA World Games

The United States has sent a number of camogie teams from the US to compete in the GAA World Games in 2016 and 2019.

Canada

Template:Main The national organizing body for Gaelic Games in Canada is Gaelic Games Canada (GGC) Template:Aka Canadian GAA (CGAA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where camogie can be found.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Canada and the CGAA are home to a number of camogie clubs.

Clubs

Canada

Canadian Camogie Clubs
Club	City/Province	Est.	Website
Montreal Shamrocks<ref name="2019WGAA1" /><ref name="guardian2019">Template:Cite web</ref>	File:Coat of arms of Quebec.svg Montreal, Québec	1948	Montreal Shamrocks GAC
Calgary Chieftains / Chieftainettes	File:Coat of arms of Alberta.svg Calgary, Alberta	1977
Edmonton Wolfe Tones	File:Coat of arms of Alberta.svg Edmonton, Alberta
Le Chéile Camogie Club Toronto	File:Arms of Ontario.svg Toronto, Ontario		Toronto Camogie
ISSC Camogie	File:Arms of British Columbia.svg Vancouver, British Columbia		ISSC Camogie
ISSC Shamrocks	File:Arms of British Columbia.svg Vancouver, British Columbia	2021	ISSC Camogie
ISSC Pearse	File:Arms of British Columbia.svg Vancouver, British Columbia	2021	ISSC Camogie

GAA World Games

Canada has sent a number of camogie teams from Canada to compete in the GAA World Games in 2016 and 2019.<ref name="2019WGAA1" />

Records

Ireland

All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship

Cork have won the most Camogie All-Ireland, winning their 30th championship in 2024.

National Camogie League titles

Cork have won the most National Camogie League titles with 16.

Results

2018 All Ireland Championship

Eleven counties competed for the elite All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 2018: Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Meath, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, and Wexford.

Eleven teams contested the second-tier Jack McGrath Cup in 2018 (All Ireland intermediate championship): Antrim, Carlow, Derry, Down, Kildare, Laois, and Westmeath, and the second teams of Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, and Tipperary.

Seven teams contested the third-tier Kay Mills Cup (All Ireland junior or 'Premier Junior" championship) in 2018: Armagh, Kerry, Roscommon, and the second teams of Clare, Dublin, Limerick, and Offaly.

Only fourteen points were scored by the winning team in the 2018 senior final, and most points in the game followed the awarding of frees.<ref name=pain_of_defeat/> Ten points was sufficient to determine the winner of the 2017 senior final.<ref name=pain_of_defeat>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

Camogie All Stars Awards are awarded annually to the elite players who have performed best in each of the 15 positions on a traditional camogie team. Player of the year and other achievement awards have also been awarded to leading players for several decades.

Team of the Century

Picked in 2004<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1. Eileen Duffy-O'Mahony (Dublin)
2. Liz Neary (Kilkenny)
3. Marie Costine-O'Donovan (Cork)
4. Mary Sinnott-Dinan (Wexford)
5. Bridie Martin-McGarry (Kilkenny)
6. Sandie Fitzgibbon (Cork)
7. Margaret O'Leary-Leacy (Wexford)
8. Mairéad McAtamney-Magill (Antrim)
9. Linda Mellerick (Cork)
10. Sophie Brack (Dublin)
11. Kathleen Mills-Hill (Dublin)
12. Joni Traynor (Kilkenny)
13. Úna O'Connor (Dublin)
14. Pat Moloney-Lenihan (Cork)
15. Deirdre Hughes (Tipperary)
16. Angela Downey-Browne (Kilkenny)

Criticism

Partly due to biological and physiological differences between men and women, some argue that Camogie lacks the physical drama found in the male equivalent sport, hurling.<ref name="sundayindependent080320">Template:Cite web</ref>

There are lower score tallies in the senior camogie championship finals than in comparison to men's hurling championships.<ref name=pain_of_defeat/>

See also

• Ashbourne Cup
• Camogie All Stars Awards
• Poc Fada
• Women's shinty
• Field Hockey
• Bando (sport)
• Shinty
• Hurling
• Lacrosse

External links

• Official Camogie Association Website