‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’ – Aesop, Greek storyteller
WHAT a year it has been for Courcey Rovers and Cork camogie star Fiona Keating. Not content with winning a second consecutive All-Ireland senior medal, the versatile forward also raised over €10,000 for Self Help Africa.
Joining 50 fellow Irish GAA players and musicians, Keating travelled to Kenya in support of Self Help Africa for the Plant the Planet Games in partnership with Warriors for Humanity in November.
Each of the players involved committed to raise at least €10k and help plant a total of one million trees, leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come.
‘I think it's something I'd always wanted to do, some bit of charity work,’ Keating says.
‘I was after raising €10,000 for Self Help Africa. I just wanted to go out and experience something different in Africa, and give back to the community. Travelling to Africa and planting a million trees in a week was something special.
‘As well as that, visiting nurseries and different communities while we were over there, it was definitely a great experience.’
Before she set foot on the African continent, Keating was especially proud of her local Ballinspittle community and surrounding areas for coming together to contribute to the fundraising total.
‘My local community played a massive role in that I put up a poster in Centra Ballinspittle and I think it raised close to €4,000,’ she says.
‘Our primary school in Ballinspittle raised €1,000 through bake sales and a non-uniform and jersey day. That was close to half the total. Local businesses added sponsorship and then online donations made up the rest.
‘So, you wouldn't be long to make the total when you have a fantastic community and local area like that behind you.’
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Courcey Rovers tea-mates Saoirse McCarthy and Fiona Keating lift the Sean O’Duffy Cup after Cork's All-Ireland win in August.
‘The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important’ – Bobby Knight, USA basketball coach.
2024 was another stellar year for Cork camogie. Twelve months earlier, manager Matthew Twomey stepped away having brought the O’Duffy Cup back to Leeside.
Fast forward 12 months and a new Cork manager in Ger Manley was patrolling the sidelines against a fresh All-Ireland final opponent, Galway. This final proved much closer and pushed Cork to the limit until Katrina Mackey’s goal was the decisive score in a 1-16 to 0-16 triumph. To underline the Rebels’ strength in depth, Cork also claimed the All-Ireland intermediate title on the same day in Croke Park.
‘I think after winning one All-Ireland, you're kind of like, oh God, did that really happen?’ Keating admits.
‘Back in January, we set out right from the start that there was going to be no complacency. Ger had a great management team alongside himself and I think that made a massive impact as well. The likes of Liam Cronin, who will be a huge loss to us this coming year but we wish him all the best with Limerick. Cork’s management team set a high standard and maintained that throughout the whole year which played a massive part in our success as well.
‘No box was left unticked and that really showed on All-Ireland final day.’
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Fiona Keating celebrated the Rebels' All-Ireland senior camogie championship final win against Galway with her friends from Ballinspittle – Olivia Lordan, Dara Wall, Sarah O’Connor, Rebecca Kidney and Niamh Gimblett.
‘You can’t win unless you learn how to lose’ – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA LA Lakers basketball champion
Whilst things went superbly for Keating on the inter-county front, an unfortunate injury curtailed her club ambitions as Courcey Rovers bowed out of the Cork camogie senior championship at the quarter-finals stage.
Watching on as Rovers lost out to Cloughduv was hard but the emergence of a talented crop of newcomers and the club’s juniors claiming a county title bodes well for the Ballinspittle club’s future.
‘Unfortunately, I suffered a grade two hamstring tear,’ Keating says.
‘I was out for about eight weeks after that and it felt like I ended up completing a pre-season in the month of September.
‘It happened during the Sarsfields (group stage) game. I played the St Catherine’s game afterwards but could barely move, to be honest. That probably made the injury worse more than anything.
‘That meant I missed Courcey’s county quarter-final against Cloughduv. We lost that one 2-14 to 0-12 which was hugely disappointing. The week leading up to the game, I was debating: will I, won’t I? My physio was ready to kill me for even thinking I might try to tog out.
‘So yeah, it was hard watching on as the girls lost out. To be fair though, Courcey Rovers has a really young team at the moment. There are girls just up from U16 and minor. There is plenty of talent coming through because our juniors won a county title.
‘It was really disappointing to lose to Cloughduv but they are an up and coming team themselves and beat St Finbarr’s last year. It was a tough challenge but showed us where we (Courcey Rovers) are at right now.
‘To finish the year as one of the top eight senior teams is still a good achievement for us, being such a small club. Hopefully, the experience, especially for the younger ones on the panel, will help us make another step forward next year. We will keep plugging away anyway.’
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‘A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning’ – Billie Jean King, USA, tennis champion
The long winter nights will shortly be replaced by the icy cold air of the new year. That means a return to pre-season training and, whether they like it or not, Cork’s bid for three-in-a-row drawing plenty of headlines. Building on Ger Manley and his management team’s work throughout 2024, Cork will once again look to strengthen their panel ahead of the new season.
‘Last year, probably the first time in a long time, Cork had a panel of players that created a fight for the starting fifteen,’ Keating points out.
‘I think that will be the case again. Even more so this year. There is so much competition for places right now. Look at Orlaith Cahalane, still a young one, who proved that point and ended up getting her starting position.
‘Definitely, there will be no complacency. I think everyone on the Cork senior panel begins the year fighting for a starting position and what it is all about, having a strong panel.
‘Nowadays, success comes down to having 20 players who can deliver on match-day. That was definitely the case on All-Ireland final day for Cork.’
Keating’s experiences, both on and off the pitch, have made the Courcey Rovers stalwart a better player heading into 2025. That’s good news for her local club and Cork, as the Rebels embark on another All-Ireland senior championship final tilt.
