SATURDAY, MAY 25
Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship round 1
Group 1
Antrim v Derry, Ruairí Óg CLG Cushendall, 2pm
Limerick v Kilkenny, Mick Neville Park Rathkeale, 4pm
Tipperary v Waterford, The Ragg, 4.30pm
Group 2
Clare v Down, Cusack Park, 1pm
Cork v Wexford, Páirc Uí Rinn, 2pm
Dublin v Galway, Parnell Park, 2pm
ONLINE
Scores/reports on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app.
TV
Tipperary v Waterford live on the Camogie Association YouTube channel.
RADIO
Score updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport, and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn.
WEATHER
A cloudy day on Saturday with a spell of rain gradually tracking northeastwards from Munster. Highest temperatures of 11 to 15 degrees in mostly moderate southeast winds. For more, visit met.ie.
It's the first day of the new-look championship format and every team in the two six-team groups is in action.
GROUP 1
With Peter Cleere taking over from two-time All-Ireland winning manager Brian Dowling, and the likes of Denise Gaule and Claire Phelan unavailable this year, Kilkenny used the league to give more game time to less experienced players and managed to be competitive in doing that.
They went on to beat Dublin in the Leinster final and had the Walsh cousins, Grace and Miriam back in the fold after injury. Miriam was the reigning player of the year when she suffered a cruciate injury at the start of last year's league, while Grace is a steadying figure in defence.
Limerick had a solid league but the inability to reach the Division 1B final was a disappointment. Sarah Carey has come back to the fold having retired a number of years ago and Rebecca Delee is recovered from a cruciate knee ligament. Caoimhe Costelloe and Marian Quaid are among the experienced regulars. Joe Quaid’s crew will be hoping to make home advantage count.
All of the established senior camogie teams are very familiar with one another, given the open draw nature of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championships, the National League and the provincial campaigns. But it feels like Tipperary and Waterford are meeting every second week.
For a long time, Tipperary represented a major stumbling block, particularly at around the quarter-final stages of the All-Ireland series. That ended in last year's semi-final and Waterford repeated the trick in the opening round of the league. But of course, Tipp went on to become champions, winning their first national title since sealing a League and Championship double 20 years ago.
Karen Kennedy, Eimear McGrath, Mairéad Eviston and Nicole Walsh are just some of Tipp's go-to operators, while Beth Carton, Lorraine Bray, Niamh Rockett and Brianna O’Regan are recognisable figures in the white and blue. There has never been much between them and there is no reason to expect anything different this time.
Derry's ascension as All-Ireland intermediate champions brings the Ulster representation at senior level to three and they kick off their campaign with a northern derby.
Antrim have been competitive since making the step up themselves, returning to the fold after a lengthy absence in 2022. And this is despite having to compete without Maeve Kelly in that time due to injury. Her return is a huge plus and it will be interesting to see her dovetail with Róisín McCormick at this grade.
They endured a tough league but the wheels were back on the wagon for the second half of the campaign and their attack is something to be reckoned with.
To that end, Derry’s experienced defence, led by the likes of Aoife Ní Chaiside will have to be at their best, while Áine Barton is a handful for anyone at the other end of the field.
The Oak Leafers had a positive league outing, but conceded four goals in a four-point defeat in the Division 2A final. They will have worked on that and we can expect a ding-dong battle in Cushendall.
GROUP 2
Cork begin the defence of their All-Ireland title on home turf and fresh from winning the Munster championship for a 60th time.
The heart of their defence has been impacted with hamstring injuries to full-back Libby Coppinger, whose surgery will keep her out for a minimum of two months, and centre-back Laura Treacy.
They have a very strong squad however, something that was illustrated at the latter end of last year's championship and again, in last Sunday’s Munster final defeat of Waterford when they got four points off the bench.
Colin Sunderland has continued the improvement at Wexford and has managed to negotiate the return of the likes of All-Ireland winner Shelley Kehoe to the squad.
They reached the final of both the Division 1B league and the Leinster Championship, and with Ciara O’Connor a significant scoring threat and Ciara Storey such a strong defensive performer, the Yellowbellies will provide a stern examination.
Dublin v Galway is an interesting tie, pitting the Division 1B League champions with the Division 1A runners-up. Dublin are rebuilding nicely after a period of instability and that League success was very important to them.
They followed that up by reaching the Leinster final, but they really only got going in the final quarter and though they gave Kilkenny a fright, they had given themselves too much to do. Aisling Maher remains an inspirational leader and captain, while Kerrie Finnegan and Aisling O'Neill are just two more talented performers.
Galway are undoubted challengers for the O’Duffy Cup, as they have been throughout Cathal Murray’s tenure as manager.
The addition of Niamh Mallon to their ranks is a considerable boost, as is the return of Niamh Kilkenny, the former player of the year who missed last year after having a baby. Skipper Róisín Black is the fulcrum of a strong defence.
Clare were relegated from Division 1A of the League but their competitiveness improved throughout the campaign, which would have delighted John Carmody as he began the process of blooding a large number of players in what is clearly the beginning of a transitional phase.
Áine O’Loughlin was a goal threat against the very best however, while the four Vaughan sisters established themselves too.
It has been a tough couple of years for Down and having lost Sorcha McCartan to Cork a couple of years ago, are now without the services of one of the best forwards of the modern era in Niamh Mallon, who has transferred to Galway and have had to endure the retirements of some of their greatest players such as Sara-Louise Graffin.
They only avoided relegation from Division 1B of the league by virtue of a superior score difference to Kerry, the draw with the Kingdom giving them their only point of the campaign. They are a proud bunch, however, and can be expected to fight all the way to the final whistle.
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