Youth and hunger drove Dublin back to top - Caoimhe O'Connor

Caoimhe O'Connor admits that winning a third All-Ireland title with Dublin this year came as somewhat of a surprise.

After winning four on the trot between 2017 and 2020, the Jackies had to watch Leinster rivals Meath take over for back-to-back success.

The likes of Lyndsey Davey, Noelle Healy, Siobhán McGrath and Niamh McEvoy retired. In 2023, Niamh Collins and Ciara Trant took the year out while Sinead Goldrick focused on Aussie Rules and Siobhán Killeen soccer.

Manager Mick Bohan brought in 16 new players and it looked like a rebuilding year was in store. But the Dubs finished third in the league and pipped Meath to the Leinster championship. They were beaten by two points by Kerry in the group stages of the All-Ireland championship but turned the tables to gain revenge in the final by five.

"To get back on top this year was great," O’Connor, who started a final for the first time this year, told RTÉ Sport, at the launch of Staycity as the new Dublin GAA sponsor.

"We had so many new players come in at the start of the year, we didn't really know how it was going to go. From the start of the year, we didn't really know what was going to happen. Mid-season maybe, everyone was driving each other on, driving the standards of each other and individually you think 'Oh, yeah, okay, we could be successful’.

"We took each game as it came and we seemed to be improving as a squad and as a team and in our performances. We probably peaked at the right time. We performed well in the All-Ireland final and we got Brendan Martin back.

"Not being successful the last two years really drove us on and put that hunger inside you and built the hunger as a group. We just drove on this year, we wanted to be successful and we got there."

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