Camogie player, Aine Keane (St. Thomas’ Camogie, Galway) pictured at the launch of this year’s AIB Club Championships which for the first season sees a single sponsor unite four codes of Gaelic Games, honouring #TheToughest players.
By Cian O’Connell
Another important weekend beckons for St Thomas’.
The hurlers are busy preparing for Saturday’s rearranged Galway SHC semi-final against Cappataggle, while the following afternoon the camogie outfit face Sarsfields in a county decider.
Following an impressive campaign on the inter-county beat with Galway, Áine Keane is delighted to be back contributing for Thomas’.
Galway lost an All-Ireland final to Cork on August 11 at Croke Park. By Wednesday evening Keane was already back featuring in a challenge game for Thomas’, that is simply how she coped with the loss. “It obviously was a very disappointing day, but I think we performed,” Keane reflects.
“Cork were just better than us on the day. That is the biggest thing about it all. It was a tough couple of months. It was my first ever All-Ireland final starting and playing in. The downfall and comeback from that, it was tough initially.
“Throwing myself back into club has helped. Getting involved with the club, getting back playing does help. It was bitterly disappointing, but in sport, you win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, we came out on the losing side.
“Hopefully we will be back again next year. For now, I'm just focusing on the club and that has helped me get over it, to get back into it again. Playing camogie is what I love to do.”
Áine Keane continues to impress for Galway and St Thomas'. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Thomas' won the Senior B title in Galway last year, making a welcome return to the top tier in 2024. “It has been great to get back to the club, to refocus again,” she says.
“It has been good. We've learned a lot from our games, as a group, we've built and got stronger. It has been a good championship so far.
“We won the Senior B last year, we went down in 2020. We were in a Senior A county final in 2019, the following year we went down to Senior B.
“It took us a while to get back to Senior A, but we won Senior B last year, and we've built a good team. We've blooded new players too, that has been great for us. So, we are back in the Senior A Final now.”
As a teenager Keane featured in the 2019 final against Sarsfields, providing a valuable learning experience. Sarsfields have subsequently flourished on the county and national stage.
Keane is relishing being involved in these types of occasions. “As a young player coming through, this is only my third ever year playing with the Galway senior team, so getting to league finals, getting to play in Croke Park in quarter-finals, those things help,” she replies.
“They make the big day easier, you're not as nervous, you're used to your surroundings. It does help, it has been a good experience, getting to play on the biggest day of the year in the camogie calendar.”