The maroon and white flags have stayed up out west – for while the last Sunday in July belonged to Armagh, the first Sunday in August might yet belong to Galway.
Ailbhe Davoren, the current Galway senior women’s football captain, was in Croke Park last weekend shouting on her male counterparts as they came up just short against the Orchard County in the battle for Sam Maguire.
Davoren hopes to be back in the stands this Sunday, but only to walk up the steps of the Hogan to collect the Brendan Martin Cup.
“I was at the game on Sunday, yeah, cheering on the lads,” says Davoren. “I was gutted for them, you’d know a lot of them and you just want the best for them as well.
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“I suppose we empathise with them, we go through the same sacrifices at training and I was just gutted for them that they couldn’t do it on the day.”
It is quite the achievement for Moycullen to provide the county with both the football captains this year – Seán Kelly held that distinction for Padráic Joyce’s side last weekend.
And while Davoren, who has been living in Dublin for three years where she teaches at St Andrews College in Blackrock, transferred to Kilmacud Crokes last year, she has been able to relocate to Moycullen during the school holidays.
Galway enter this Sunday’s TG4 All-Ireland decider against Kerry as underdogs. Kerry have lost the last two finals – against Meath in 2022 and Dublin in 2023 – so the Kingdom are aiming to put all that heartbreak behind them by claiming a first senior crown since 1993.
Kerry are joint top of the roll of honour, alongside Cork, with 11 All-Ireland football titles. Galway’s only previous senior success was achieved in 2004 and their last All-Ireland final appearance was in 2019, when they lost to Dublin.
But even getting to this stage looked unlikely a few months back when Galway lost to Waterford in their final league match, a result that consigned them to Division Two for 2025. On their way to relegation, Galway lost six of their seven league games.
They beat Mayo in the Connacht final but their All-Ireland SFC campaign started with a loss to Cork in the group stages. It remains the last game Galway have lost, however, as wins over Laois, Dublin and Cork helped them cut a path towards Sunday’s decider.
“To be honest, I’m not sure what the difference is,” says Davoren on how Galway turned their season around. “We stayed training the same, we just tried to improve on a few things.
“There is nothing between so many teams, one point here or there, and thankfully we have been on the right side of that recently.
“I suppose you could call us delusional, but we always believed that we could turn it around. Thankfully it has [turned] for us and we’re now involved in the biggest game of the year.”
A talented sean-nós dancer, and a gifted basketball player who was involved with Ireland underage squads, Davoren’s huge work rate around the middle third has been a key component of Galway’s success in recent weeks.
She scored 2-1 in their group game against Laois and raised a crucial green flag in their three-point semi-final win over Cork last time out.
But it was Galway’s quarter-final victory over Dublin in Parnell Park that stands out as a highlight in their season. To defeat in reigning All-Ireland champions in their back yard was huge for the confidence within the Galway dressingroom.
“Maybe from the outside it looks like we over-celebrate our wins but we just were so happy after that win to be kind of achieving, really,” she explains.
“It meant a lot, they are an excellent football side. Dublin are brilliant, they’ve driven the standard for years, we knew it was going to be extremely tight, it went all the way to extra-time.
“We were dropping like flies, I dropped myself with cramp. It just shows the ferocious effort that people put in and we backed it up with our subs coming on and doing brilliantly.”
Kerry have the advantage over this Galway group in terms of big-day experience at Croke Park, and when the sides met at Fitzgerald Stadium for a league clash in March, the Kingdom won 2-11 to 0-12.
“Kerry play a lovely brand of football, a kick-pass style,” says Davoren. “They’re very strong around the middle, they’re a great side and have loads of experience in their panel so we definitely have a challenge on Sunday.
“Probably there’s no pressure, not the same pressure on us. I suppose we’ll just take it as the game that it is, it is a big game and there’s no point pretending it’s not.
“To be honest, my mental approach is the same as always. And always it’s about controlling the controllables. You know, we can’t control how good Kerry are. We can only focus on ourselves.”
– The TG4 All-Ireland ladies’ football finals take place at Croke Park this Sunday. Tickets are priced at €30 for adults and €15 for students, U18s and OAPs. Group rates available for LGFA office.
Sunday’s All-Ireland finals
Junior: Fermanagh v Louth, 11.45am
Intermediate: Leitrim v Tyrone, 1.45pm
Senior: Galway v Kerry, 4.15pm
