The JCBs and diggers were pounding away at the terraced steps of Hill 16 in Croke Park today, exposing great big mounds of brown rubble reports An Fear Rua …

It was slightly eerie to think that the last time those same stones and clay saw the light of day was as the rubble of a strife battered Sackville Street in Easter Week 1916. The contractor who built the original Hill was a thrifty man and he hauled away the city centre debris to lay the foundations and probably charged the 'De Dubbelin Copperation' for doing so.

The difficulty of the Hill demolition work underlines the importance of sound foundations in any enterprise and that if the job is done well first day, the edifice will stand the test of time. Well, a hundred years is a good test of any enterprise and today we gathered in Croker to celebrate the first Hundred Years of An Cumann Camógaíochta, the Camogie Association, and to look forward to the next hundred.

As she took the podium to make what proved to be a sparkling and witty speech, the Association's President, Miriam O'Callaghan, had to battle with the pounding sound of the demolition just a few metres away, as the very walls and floor of the restaurant venue trembled. Undeterred, Miriam hoped that some in her audience, at least, were getting 'a good feeling from the vibration'. Shades of Harry Met Sally at Croke Park … Fortunately, none of the many veterans of the early years of camogie, who were present as guests, piped up to demand: 'I'll have whatever she's having!'

Miriam O'Callaghan recalled that the Association had been founded at a time when taking a hurley in your hand was an act of nationalism, possibly even a crime. It pre-dated the achievement of voting rights for women. She might have added that James Joyce was probably sitting down to pen the first of many drafts of 'Ulysses' around the time the first camogie practice matches were being played in the Phoenix Park. O'Callaghan recalled that in the 1940's there was an 'official' and a 'provisional' camogie association - split down the middle by a row over men. No, not about who was going to go out whom, or who had snaffled someone else's 'fella' after training, but about whether or not mere men should be admitted as members of the Association. This was possibly the first known instance of 'Breaking Ball' in the history of Dis Great Assooosheeayshun of Ours. The ghost of the late Brendan Behan, who was born with a stone's throw of Croke Park itself, must have smiled at this. After all, it was Brendan who suggested that the first item on the agenda of any new Irish movement was 'the split'!

Uachtarán Cumann Lúithchleas Gael, Seán Kelly, expressed the hope that the girls and women of An Cumann Camógaíochta would continue their tradition of 'fighting over men'. He noted with approval the many progressive developments in camogie in recent years - the move to playing on a full-size pitch, from thirteen-a-side to fifteen-a-side, live TV coverage of games and the recent 'Chicks with Sticks' marketing campaign. It is perhaps a measure of how much things have changed in the GAA world that this phrase tripped lightly off Kelly's lips, without the slightest hint of a blush, and he good humouredly corrected himself to say that he was referring to 'Pretty Chicks with Sticks'. Hard though, to envisage the likes of predecessors like Mícheál Mac Domhnaill, Alf Ó Muirí or even the great Padraig Ó Fainín uttering such words within the hallowed precincts of Croke Park … or anywhere else for that matter.

Underlining the changing scene in Gaelic games, everyone leaving the celebration announcement - including the men - received a canvas shopping bag, or 'tote' bag, to carry away a number of goodies provided by generous sponsors. AFR remarked to former Galway hurling manager and RTÉ pundit, Cyril Farrell, that it could be the beginning of a whole new era of handbagging in hurling. Farrell's reply was that this would be alright, so long as there wasn't any other kind of 'bagging' going on. A sentiment with which we heartily concur.

From those early tentative steps, camogie is now played by more than eighty thousand active players and has set down roots among the Irish Diaspora in the UK and the United States. This year saw the highest ever viewership for a camogie final - 250,000 people. However, complacency is not setting in and under the wise leadership of Miriam O'Callaghan and her team, the sport faces the next hundred years with growing confidence.

Go maire siad an chéad Chéad eile!


A hundred years of camogie gear ...L to R: Brenda Quirke, Fiona Quirke, Mary Rose Ryan and Fiona Munnelly
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Lógó na Camógaíochta