Niall Gartland talks to Rosie Crowe McKeever ahead of Cavan’s All-Ireland final date with Armagh

SUNDAY, August 9 at Croke Park. Camogie’s annual big day with a triple header of All-Ireland finals down for decision – and Rosie Crowe McKeever certainly didn’t expect to be anywhere near it.

The Cavan camogs were conspicuous by their absence from the senior intercounty scene in 2025 and from the outside looking in, it didn’t look like 2026 was going to be any different.

However, the wheels were in motion behind the scenes and they fielded for the first time in nearly two full years in an Ulster Intermediate final against Tyrone. And they won.

That was just the start of a memorable journey to Sunday’s All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship final against an Armagh side with redemption on their minds having lost last year’s showdown to Laois.

Speaking ahead of the game, Rosie Crowe McKeever, a player who has accrued a vast amount of experience across the codes spanning more than 15 years, acknowledges that she didn’t exactly picture herself taking to the hallowed turf of Croke Park this year.

“Never a truer word spoken! But at the same time I’ve been saying for a long time with Cavan camogie that if we could get our best team together, we could be successful because we do have great players.

“Over the last few years, whenever we did have a team, there were only a few players coming in here and there.

“So when Philip [Brady] decided he was going to try and get a team together for this year’s championship, we were thinking it might be another year where we wouldn’t be as successful. At the beginning, we were saying, ‘Let’s see how this goes,’ and from day one it was actually really good and he’s assembled a really strong group of players.. We never envisaged we’d be where we are now, but we are, so let’s go with it.”

The mood in the camp was already positive before their return to the field of play for that aforementioned Ulster Intermediate Championship final victory over Tyrone. That win helped make up the mind of those who were on the fence about putting on the county jersey again.

“Basically, that was our first proper game together. Philip said, ‘Let’s just go and see how it goes. Go and enjoy it, play the game and we’ll see where we’re at. This is just the start of it.’

“We’d only been training for a few weeks before that. When we won, we thought, ‘there’s something here.’

“A few players still hadn’t come in. Niamh Keenaghan was with the Cavan footballers at the time and a few others were still humming and hawing about coming back. I think when we beat Tyrone, those players looked at it and said, ‘Okay, there’s something there.’”

Rosie, who is married to former Cavan footballer Mark McKeever, has already won two All-Irelands in her career – a club title with the Lacken camogs in 2022 and an All-Ireland Intermediate crown with the Cavan Ladies Footballers in 2013. It’d be simpler to put the feet up but she knew she still had something to offer at this level.

“It’s very hard to retire. We won the All-Ireland in 2022 with Lacken and then won the Cavan championship last year. I actually played then against Shanise Fitzsimons, who plays with Denn. It was harder having to mark her than just playing against her!”

“It’s a huge commitment. I’ve two young boys and Thomas is a Type One diabetic. He’s only six now and it was tough when he was diagnosed before he turned two. That was a huge change in our lives. Then I’ve another little boy who’s a year and a half.

“But when you’re fit and able, why not keep playing?”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Their first-half performance against Kildare on their last day out wasn’t quite up to scratch, but they seized the initiative late on to book their place in the final on a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-9. Recognising that they were potentially in a state of peril, Rosie threw down the gauntlet to her younger colleagues during the half-time interval.

ALL-STAR…Rosie, back row, second from left, won a Gaelic Life All-Star for her performances with Lacken in the 2022 season

“At half-time you walk in and everyone’s in a daze. Management takes a while to come in and I think the girls were shocked.

“I remember saying to them, ‘Girls, you have to want to win.’ I was laughing afterwards because Kieran McGeeney said the exact same thing in an interview last week. I thought, ‘So I do know what I’m talking about!’

“I said, ‘I think you’re just expecting to win today because you’ve won every game.’ Kildare weren’t there for the fun of it.

“The girls did sit up and they probably realised I was right. We were expected to win because we’d done so well, but it took us a while to settle.

“At half-time I just didn’t think we’d settled. They were winning the puck-outs and it took us a while to get going. Niamh’s goal really changed things. After that I thought we just had to push on, and we did.

“I think we’re nearly like that as a team. We wait to see what the opposition are like and then maybe go full throttle in the second half. Maybe it’s just a cautiousness because we’re only back together, if that makes sense.”

Cavan’s statement victory came in a group stage clash in early June against Armagh, the very same team standing in their way of All-Ireland honours. Crowe-McKeever isn’t completely dismissive of its relevance, but is expecting a stiffer challenge this time around.

“Not that the league game means nothing, but it doesn’t tell you how either team is going to play in a final.

“They’ve serious players. I don’t think Ciara Hill played that day and she’s back flying now. Ciara Donnelly wasn’t there either and she’s back as well.

“That in itself is a massive difference from the last time we played them, so I don’t think it’s going to be easy. I think it’ll literally go down to the wire.

“I marked Sinéad Quinn the last day and she’s a phenomenal player. The first high ball that came in, she got it and buried it and I thought, ‘Oh God!’ But after that I held her scoreless, so I thought I must be doing something right.

Tit for tat

“They know us now and know what we’re about. It’ll be tit for tat on the day. It’ll come down to whoever wants it more.”

There’s also the Croke Park factor. Only a few elder heads have had that experience of playing at GAA Headquarters, but Rosie isn’t too concerned for her younger teammates.

“Not a lot of the girls have played in Croke Park before. Myself and Róisín O Keeffe have, and Erinn Galligan has as well, although she’s not playing because she’s expecting.

“She’s looking in from the outside now, which is good in a way as she brings a fresh perspective. I played club football with her but camogie against her. She’s one of my best friends and some days I’m actually marking her in camogie.

“She’s a great sport and even at training she’s stepping in, speaking up and helping the girls. They really look up to her and they listen.”

“Armagh have played in Croke Park before, so they’ll know what it’s about, whereas a lot of us don’t.

“But sometimes that can actually be a good thing because you’re heading into the unknown and maybe you’re a bit less nervous.

“We’ll try to keep everyone calm this week and I’ll probably be the most nervous of them all!”

Ultimately though, it isn’t all about a shiny piece of silverware. Whatever happens, 2026 has been a big success story and Crowe McKeever hopes that it will inspire the younger generation to even greater heights in the years to come.

“Some weren’t happy that we just came back in for the championship, but it was never just about this year. It was about getting the team going again.

“My niece is on the team and a lot of people don’t realise because she has a different surname – she’s Amy McIntyre. She started two of the games.

“We had an U23 team with Cavan and she was on that. I said to Philip, ‘Amy is playing really well with Lacken,’ so he brought her in.

“She’s come on really well and so have two or three other young girls, like the O’Sullivan sisters.

“It’s about getting that younger structure in place. Hopefully the girls will see the success this year and want to play next year.

“Football sometimes takes over in Cavan, but I think both sports can be played if it’s managed properly. Camogie hasn’t really had anyone pushing it, so girls haven’t wanted to come in.

“Hopefully this run will change that. You want the team to keep going.

“I’ve another niece who plays both, but she actually loves camogie more than football, and I want to see girls like her coming through because I know how good they are.

“It’s not that I don’t care about the football. I know the football will be successful because it always is. I just want to see camogie push on, and hopefully this is the start of that.”