Chloe Morey aiming to become “Queen of the Mountains” in Camogie Poc Fada All Ireland

ON Monday morning at 11:30am in the beautiful Cooley Mountains in County Louth, our very own Chloe Morey, the newly crowned Senior Camogie Poc Fada Champion of Munster, will travel to the home of Cú Chulainn and attempt to bring home the All Ireland Title.

The Poc Fada

The Poc Fada (long puck) as a general idea is as old as the ancient game of hurling itself, finding some of it’s earliest references in Irish Myth and legend of the pre-Christian era. It’s this connection to Irish Legend that brings the Poc Fada finals to be held in the Cooley range. It is across these mountains that Cú Chulainn, then only known as Setanta, would have travelled to the house of Cullan to meet up with King Conor MacNessa on that famous day as a young boy, driving his sliotar (ball) before him as he travelled.

The modern hurling competition was established in 1961 and the camogie version starting in 2004 and the competition for both has been stiff ever since. The Senior Hurling Final starts at An Fhána Mór. Competitors must puck (hit) a sliotar with a hurley to the top of Annaverna Mountain (An Céide), and onwards to Carn an Mhadaidh. After a short break they continue down to An Gabhlán, before finishing back at the start of the course. The whole course measures 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). The Senior Camogie players use a shorter course of just 2 stages from “An Fhana Mór” to “An Gabhlan” and back, a distance of 2.14 km (1.33 miles). The person who completes the course in the least pucks is the winner.

Clare Connections

Many will be well aware of the Poc Fada as it was won in 1999 and 2002 by Sixmilebridge’s own Davy FitzGerald, but there are still more connections to Clare. The 2022 Men’s Munster Champion is also a Clare man, as Sean Ryan of Kilmaley took the Munster crown in early July and will Join Chloe on the mountains.

Also Poc Fada sponsor Martin Donnelly of MD Sports and myclubshop.ie, hails from Cooraclare and it is his 27th year sponsoring Poc Fada. So it goes without saying that he’s a fan of the tournament and it’s history and it’s place in Ireland’s gaelic games.