M. Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada final: Lynch is queen of the mountain again

​By Paul Keane

Molly Lynch clearly isn't keen on letting the M. Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada title out of her grasp for too long.

The Cork woman, and former county goalkeeper, completed a five-in-a-row of senior camogie successes on Annaverna Mountain in 2025 and returned the cup to organisers upon her return this morning.

But it was only briefly in their possession as at around 4pm, it was handed back to the player after yet another terrific afternoon around the challenging sky-scraping circuit on the Cooley Peninsula.

Even on a relatively calm day, the wind was still a big factor but Lynch made light of the conditions and bestrode the heather and gorse covered course, finishing with 26 pucks and 62.3 metres.

Clare's Chloe Morey came home second with 29 pucks and 58 pucks while Galway's Caoimhe Higgins finished third of the seven that competed.

All of them appear to have their work cut out to reel in Lynch who, with six titles, is now just one behind Waterford's Patricia Jackman - she dominated between 2009 and 2015 - in the overall roll of honour.

"Yeah, someone told me that straight away," smiled Lynch. "So I suppose that's probably the aim now. But I'll enjoy this one for a couple of days."

She deserves it after all the work that she has put into it.

"Jeez, an awful lot of work goes into it," she said. "I've done an awful lot of long striking in the last three or four months. I've been in the gym since last October, looking at gaining strength towards it. So it's something you don't take for granted. I'm always trying to get a little bit better in certain areas.

"But it's very enjoyable, I love it, it's something completely different. And I suppose it suits me, I play in goal. So you're practising for puck-outs too.

"And look, yeah, it's a long puck competition but you still need a bit of accuracy. You're still trying to follow the line of yellow stones which is the shortest route around the course. So there's a good bit of work and thought that goes into it all."

Lynch's overall tally was a puck less, or better, than last year.

"Yeah, but last year the wind was incredible," she said. "There was a yellow wind warning I think last year, so a little bit easier this year! But still, the breeze is always up there. You just never know what you're going to get up there. I think that's the appeal of it, you never know until you're up there on the morning of it."

Lynch feels her experience of the course is standing to her, having won every title that has been contested since Galway's Caitríona Daly took the honours in 2019.

"Everyone goes on about the ravine," said Lynch, referencing the cavernous area late in the circuit which has the potential to ruin an afternoon.

"Now I just take it in my stride. Over the years, I've gone into it, I've stayed out of it, so probably just the experience of things like that has stood to me. But then, as I said, every single time you come up here it's different because of the weather.

"It's like a new course every time, in a lot of ways. You're always trying to adjust and to allow for the wind. And then you've got the rain, which you usually get. You're trying to stay dry, to keep the hurleys dry so every year is different. But I love it!"

Kildare's Eloise McCann claimed the U-16 camogie title, traversing the course in 32 pucks and 59.3 metres to edge out Clare's Sadhbh Whelan.