MU Barnhall ‘Buzzing’ For Tilt At Fourth Energia Junior Cup Title

There is a moment, just before the noise gathers and the stakes sharpen, when success begins to feel heavier than ambition. For MU Barnhall, standing on the brink of a fourth successive Energia All-Ireland Women’s Junior Cup title win, that weight is familiar now.

It is carried not as a burden, but as proof of how far they have come, and how relentlessly they have stayed there.

This Sunday afternoon at Dundalk RFC (kick-off 3pm) – with Enniskillen their final opponents – is not about novelty for MU Barnhall. It is about preservation. About remaining the only name etched on the roll of honour of a competition they have defined since its inception.

From Tullamore in the inaugural final, Tuam/Oughterard in the second one, Malone in last year’s decider, and now Enniskillen standing between them and history once more, Barnhall have been the constant presence. The standard others chase.

For Barnhall co-captains, Katelynn Doran and Órfhlaith Murray, who lifted the trophy at this very venue last January, that continuity is deeply personal.

“It’s really exciting (going into our fourth final), just seeing how the team has grown and gelled over the last four years. It’s really good,” Doran told IrishRugby.ie.

“I remember that final against Tullamore, it doesn’t feel like four years ago but it was a really tough battle. Just seeing how much the girls have progressed and grown in confidence over the last few years, it’s been really special.”

That memory matters because it grounds everything that has followed. Barnhall were not born dominant. They were forged through uncertainty, through Sundays when outcomes were unclear and belief was fragile. Those days are not forgotten. They are treasured.

“We’re really looking forward to it, and it’s funny like when me and Órfhlaith started out in Barnhall, we played our matches on a Sunday and you didn’t know whether we were going to win or lose or were we going to get hockeyed off the pitch.

“So, in the last few years, we’ve been really, really lucky that we have a good winning streak going and we have been fortunate enough to make it to these finals and come out on top.”

What has changed is not just results, but culture. The next generation has arrived into an environment shaped by success.

“I think the young girls that have joined the team have really brought on that winning spirit. It’s kind of an environment that they only know as such in the last few years. It’s different for me and Órfhlaith coming from back where we had to come from to now.

“So, we kind of appreciate it and we love seeing the energy of the young ones and the excitement of the young ones when we win and stuff like that. The craic that we have on the bus trips to and from the matches – that is what it’s about.”

This year’s route to the Energia Junior Cup final has reinforced why Barnhall remain favourites in name only. They have been tested. Pushed. Forced to evolve.

A dominant 60-12 quarter-final win away to Shannon in Limerick showcased an early statement that they were ready to retain the silverware.

Their semi-final clash with Queen’s University was something else entirely, a 36-27 battle on home soil that demanded composure and resilience late on from Niamh Fitzgerald’s side.

“Queen’s were an excellent team. They played really good rugby,” admitted Doran. “I think that is what we lacked in the last few years, that competition coming into the final.

“The teams all over Ireland have really stepped up and the growth in Women’s rugby, you can see it. This year we have been tested, but we’re grateful for that test, so hopefully it stands to us.”

It is a sentiment echoed by out-half Murray, who speaks with equal clarity about the privilege of this moment.

“It’s been really good, it’s been really enjoyable,” she said. “The people that we were playing with, the quality of players that we have is amazing and we’re so lucky to be able to, always say how lucky we are to be able to go out on big days and play in big games.

“We’re buzzing for this weekend. We’re looking forward to a tight game, a challenging game. One that we enjoy, that type of rugby I suppose, it’s exciting.”

That expectation of challenge is informed by recent memory. Barnhall were beaten 3-0 by Enniskillen in last March’s Energia All-Ireland League promotion play-off semi-final. A narrow, grinding contest that left lessons behind.

Doran insisted: “We’re looking for a battle. We’re looking for competition, so having that in a final will be great.

“We had a lot of work-ons after that 3-0 defeat last season, but it’s a new year. The girls are raring to go. It’s very exciting.”

There is no sense of revenge framing the occasion, only readiness. Nerves, too, are welcomed rather than resisted, despite this being their fourth Junior Cup final in as many years.

“I think so, but good nerves. I think if you’re not nervous before a match, there’s questions to be asked and the girls prepare for every final.

“Just because we’ve been in the competition for the last four years doesn’t mean it has any less importance to us.

“So the nerves are there, we’re playing against a really strong team, and we’re just going to use the nerves in the right way, hopefully.”

There are absences too. Ciara Faulkner, who has captained the team in the past, is unfortunately ruled out through injury, while Aoife Corcoran is a doubt. She has been involved in the Celtic Challenge, scoring a try last week for the Wolfhounds.

Depth is there, though, and it speaks to a squad that sees itself not just in the present, but as part of a longer story. One that continues to grow.

With Doran and Murray leading Barnhall again this year, and many others who have experienced these finals, they hope the result can follow again this weekend.

Murray remarked: “We’re lucky enough that we have been playing with a bit of consistency. With the same players, we’re used to each other at this stage.

“So we’ve had, maybe, two seasons with this team and we’re just really looking forward to the weekend and trying to get that performance out on the pitch.

“Ciara’s been a cog in our back-line for so long. So good, such a good player, and we’re so excited for her to come back soon. She’s nearing that time to come back, so we’re really happy and excited to see her out on the pitch again.”

There is a buzz and a wider sense of momentum across the Kildare club, as a whole. The Barnhall Women are top of the Leinster League Division 1A table, the club’s Under-20 Men lead the JP Fanagan U-20 Premier 1 standings, and their senior Men’s team are unbeaten at the summit of Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A.

There are nerves coming into this one admits Murray, who said: “I suppose it is just that excitement levels go up another notch and everyone’s raring to go. It’s not just a normal week (of preparations), although we do take it like a normal week.

“But we allow ourselves to feel that excitement and to feel those nerves, because it is all good things and it leads us into having really good performances.

“The Women’s team, we’re at the top of our table, the 20s are at the top of their table, and the Men’s AIL team are at the top of their table, so that was a really nice thing to see.”

On Sunday afternoon in Dundalk, Barnhall will run out not only chasing more history, but defending it. Four finals. Four different opponents. Four years of expectation met head-on. Favourites or not, labels matter little now.

What matters is that when the whistle goes, they will do what they have always done. Trust the work, trust each other, and play for the crest that has come to define this competition.

If they succeed again, it will not be because Barnhall expects to win, but because they have never stopped earning the right to try. Continuity has been key. Preparation, as ever, has been anchored in routine. Perspective is everything. They understand the weight of the moment ahead of them.

“We want to treat the game like any other game. We go out every week to put a performance up to the team that’s in front of us and deliver back to our club. So, I’m just going to reinforce to the girls that this is just another match.

“If we go out and play to the best of our ability, I’ve no doubt in our team that we will come out on top. Once we go out and perform and enjoy the game that we’re playing, that’s all that really matters.

“There is a little bit of extra pressure knowing that Barnhall’s name is the only name on that trophy, but I think that just plays into it all. It gives us an extra kick to fight on and just really retain that trophy in the club,” she added.