BALLINASCARTHY camogie has travelled a long road – from struggling to field teams to now celebrating back-to-back county titles and a place in the second tier of Cork club camogie for 2026.

Their rise reached another high point with the county intermediate final win over Sliabh Rua (3-7 to 1-9), a day when captain Moira Barrett led by example, scoring 2-3 and earning player of the match honours.

It was a victory that summed up the club’s transformation – driven by belief, hard work and the leadership of players like Barrett, whose influence went far beyond her scoring tally.

Ballinascarthy's seasoned county winners have won a combined 17 adult county medals for the club. Take a bow, Michelle Dullea, Kate O'Donovan, Martina O'Brien, Clara Crowley, and Moira Barrett.

‘Moira made one of the greatest half-time speeches that could ever be told. It would put the hair up on the back of your neck,’ teammate Clara Crowley explained on The Star Sport Podcast. Bal were leading at the break, 2-4 to 0-3, but having lost to Sliabh Rua already in the group stage, Barrett urged her team to keep pushing.

‘Going back out into the second half, facing that wind, she had 30 girls there that were ready to go to war with her – and I think that really made the difference.

‘Moira was so deserving of the captaincy this year. To go out and captain a team in such a difficult championship, where it was our first year up intermediate, and then get player of the match on the day – it was so deserving. We were all delighted for her. It couldn’t have gone to a better Ballinascarthy woman,’ Crowley added.

Barrett was the heartbeat of this team, but the whole panel deserves credit for the way they stood up. Siofra Patwell scored the other 1-4 in the final, adding to her 0-4 in last year’s premier junior final win over Milford.

What really stood out, though, was the mean Bal defence. The only goal they conceded throughout the entire championship came in the county final. That’s some record.

‘I can’t take all the credit – the ball needs to come to me and I need to put it over the bar or into the back of the net,’ Patwell said.

‘We have brilliant backs. We conceded only one goal, and it was in the last five minutes of this campaign. Honestly, I have to give them most of the credit because I can’t do what I do if they don’t do what they do.’

Bal captain fantastic Moira Barrett receives the cup.

Crowley is part of an elite group of Ballinascarthy players who have won 17 county championships between them – alongside Barrett, Martina O’Brien, Kate O’Donovan and Michelle Dullea.

She’s honoured to be part of that group, but also grateful to all who helped the team, especially through tougher times.

‘I suppose it’s testament to us as players who stuck at it. Times were tough back along. Nowadays it’s “where are we going to put the county trophy?” whereas back along it was “where are we going to get the few players to fill a starting 15?” We stuck with it,’ Crowley said.

‘It’s testament to our trainers as well. Aiden (Cahalane), Kevin (Walsh) and Claire (Collins) have had a great group the last two years. We had 30 players on the panel. We had a winning momentum, but that wasn’t always the case. It was great to have trainers like Michael Patwell, William McCarthy, Micky Mac (Micheál McCarthy) and Francis O’Driscoll, who really kept us in the loop. They encouraged us to stay going.

‘This county title is as much ours as it is theirs – and as much as it is to any girl who has ever worn the Ballinascarthy jersey. It was lovely to bring the cup back to the hall that Sunday evening and celebrate with them as well.’

Patwell agrees.

‘I don’t remember the last time we had less than 20 at training. In previous years, it was amazing just to have 20, even double digits.

‘This year, it was a full panel effort. Anyone could have come in and done a job as good as whoever was there before them.’

Even for a small village, there was always an inkling that good times were coming. The hard work was put in, the talent was there, and the rewards have followed.

‘It’s no mean feat to do two in a row, never mind at intermediate level,’ Patwell said.

‘We started off just taking it as it came. We kept the momentum going once we got past Douglas (1-17 to 0-10 in round one) and we knew we could drive it on from there.

‘We even talked on the day of the final that we’d be sickened if we left it behind us.’

Patwell has been part of a gifted generation coming through Ballinascarthy, one that believed even when success seemed far off.

‘To be fair, I played with a very good team growing up – the likes of Millie and so on. We had been playing in Castle Road before, but never did we imagine that we’d be part of a team that brought Ballinascarthy to premier intermediate. That’s only one grade away from senior – and we’re just a small little place,’ she said.

• Check out the Star Sport Podcast for the full chat with Bal stars Clara and Siofra