By Daire Walsh

FOR her side’s latest appearance in a Lidl National Football League Division Two final at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones next Saturday, Catherine Dolan is confident Cavan supporters will come out in their droves to get behind the team.

Previous finalists back in 2017 and 2018, Cavan will contest another NFL second-tier decider against provincial rivals Donegal seven days from now in the Monaghan venue.

Whereas it was only the winners during that period who progressed up the league ranks – Westmeath and Tipperary in those instances – the Breffni women and their O’Donnell counterparts are already guaranteed a spot in next year’s NFL Division One in advance of next weekend’s fixture. It will be the first time Cavan will be in the top flight.

This represents significant progress for Cavan, when you consider they only gained promotion from Division Three in 2025. Apart from their loyal base of followers, Dolan believes the various sponsors of the team and the Cavan LGFA committee have also had a big part to play in their impressive form during the current season.

“I think Cavan are always a very proud county when it comes to GAA. We’ve had great support so far, so looking forward to hopefully a big crowd there on the day as well. It’s nice and close for all the supporters and it’s a great venue, we’ve played there before,” Dolan said.

“I think some of our main sponsors this year, they’ve been really great. We’ve Kingspan, Kyte [Powertech], Wilton [Recycling] and Blackstone Motors. They’re driving everything behind the scenes financially. This year we have a full-time person who is doing S&C for us for all the levels [Andy Tsang].

“That’s not possible without serious financial backing, so we really, really appreciate that. Then in terms of the committee, they’ve been unbelievable. Without those volunteers, they’re the backbone of every team at every level. There’s a huge amount of organisation and a huge amount of commitment and dedication from those volunteers. I think they probably don’t get enough recognition for all the work that they do.”

Catherine Dolan in action earlier in her Cavan career

Formerly an underage star with the county, Dolan first came onto the Cavan senior panel in 2018 and started at midfield when the Ulster side narrowly lost that aforementioned Lidl NFL Division Two final to Tipperary at Parnell Park in May of the same year.

Fast forward a little under seven years and the Lurgan footballer was in the slightly more advanced position of wing-forward as Cavan defeated Wexford to earn a Lidl NFL Division 3 title at the Integral GAA Grounds in Drogheda on April 13, 2025.

Coming up into a higher division of league football can be a difficult transition, but while Wexford weren’t able to retain their status, Cavan recorded five wins and one draw to gain promotion to Division One with a round of games still to play. Some might view this as a case of the Breffni outfit defying expectations, but Dolan and her county colleagues were always optimistic they could leave a lasting impression on Division Two.

“Last year we were in Division Three and it was great to get out of there. We felt that we were capable of playing at a higher level. Coming into this year, we would have looked at the teams we were coming up against and said ‘we are able to compete at this level and certainly able to beat most teams’.

“We had a belief that we were good enough to be there and the aim would have been to get to a Division Two final, so it’s just fantastic that has happened for us. We’re, I suppose, fulfilling the goals we set out at the start of the year.”

Stepping away

Although she has been a key figure for Cavan since her club-mate Emmet Daly took over as manager in the winter of 2024, a busy working life had previously led to Dolan stepping away from inter-county football for a few years.

Yet a change in jobs (albeit she is still working in the same profession) has made it more manageable for her to commit to the Cavan jersey for the past two seasons, despite her currently being based in Dublin.

“I trained to be a solicitor up in Dublin and I’m living up in Dublin. So I did it for a couple of years and I was working with a corporate law firm. I just found the juggling of the two quite difficult at points. When I qualified and towards the end of my training contract, I didn’t play.

“I actually was grateful for that breakaway, just when you’re trying to juggle work and it’s a full-time job I think being an inter-county athlete. Last year I moved to a criminal defence firm, who are really, really supportive of me in the fact that I play inter-county football. I’ve managers and colleagues who are interested in sport and who support us doing stuff outside of work.

“That makes a huge difference. I just have more capacity now to play and it’s always enticing to be involved with a team when there’s a chance of silverware and we’re competing, getting to finals. I knew that was possible with this team, so it makes it more attractive to go into a set-up like that.”

Last season

Indeed, last year saw Dolan and Cavan collecting a TG4 Ulster intermediate football title to go along with their Division Three league success. Beaten agonisingly by Westmeath at the quarter-final stage of the All-Ireland series last year, the Breffni side will undoubtedly have strong ambitions for the 2026 championship.

Before then, however, all eyes are on next Saturday’s Division Two final in Clones and a shot at earning a breakthrough triumph in the competition.

“It would be a huge achievement to be the first Cavan team to win a Division Two league title. It would just be a sign of the strength and depth in the squad that we have this year and in future underage teams to come,” Dolan added.

“It’s time now for that to come through at a senior level and the fact that we’ll be playing in Division One, it would be great to win a Division Two title and have that confidence and belief going into the intermediate championship. It would be a great building block towards success later on in the year hopefully.”