Angela Downey facts for kids

Angela Downey-Browne, born in Kilkenny in 1957, is a famous retired Irish camogie player. She played for her local clubs, St Paul's and Lisdowney. She also played for the Kilkenny county team from 1970 to 1995. Many people think Angela is the best camogie player ever!

During her 25 years playing for Kilkenny, she won an amazing 12 All-Ireland medals. She also won 13 Leinster medals and 8 National League medals. With her clubs, St. Paul's and Lisdowney, she won 22 county titles. She also won 6 All-Ireland club medals.

Angela received special awards during her career. In 1977, she won the B&I Player of the Year Award. In 1986, she became only the third camogie player to win a Texaco Award. In 2004, she was named on the Camogie Team of the Century. This showed how great she was.

Biography

Angela Downey was born in Kilkenny in 1957. Camogie was a big part of her life from a young age. Her twin sister, Ann Downey, also played. Their father, Shem Downey, won an All-Ireland medal with Kilkenny in 1947. Angela started playing camogie when she was just nine years old. She grew up to be one of the best players in the sport's history.

Playing Career

Club Success

Angela played most of her club camogie with the St Paul’s Camogie Club in Kilkenny. Before the club stopped playing in the early 1990s, she had won 20 county titles. During this time, Angela won six All-Ireland club titles. Her first club All-Ireland win was in 1970. She won her last club All-Ireland medal 19 years later, in 1989. Later, she joined the Lisdowney club. There, she won two more county medals with her twin sister, Ann.

Playing for Kilkenny

Angela was only 13 years old when she first played senior camogie for Kilkenny in 1970. Two years later, in 1972, she played in her first All-Ireland final. Cork won that game.

In 1974, Kilkenny reached the All-Ireland final again, playing Cork. The first game was a draw. In the replay, Kilkenny won a very close game. Angela got her first All-Ireland medal!

Kilkenny lost their All-Ireland title in 1975. But Angela played in her third All-Ireland final in 1976. Kilkenny played Dublin and won. This was Angela's second All-Ireland medal.

In 1977, Angela was the captain of the Kilkenny team. She led her county to the All-Ireland final again. They played Wexford and won. This was Angela's third All-Ireland medal, and she lifted the O'Duffy Cup as captain. She was also named the B&I Player of the Year.

Kilkenny had a few quieter years after that. But Angela won her first National Camogie League medal in 1980. This was Kilkenny's first time winning that competition. In 1981, Kilkenny played Cork in the All-Ireland final. The first game was a draw. In the replay, Kilkenny won, and Angela got her fourth All-Ireland medal.

All-Ireland wins were not as frequent for a few years. But Angela won her second National League medal in 1982. Three years later, in 1985, she won her third League medal. Kilkenny then reached another All-Ireland final against Dublin. Kilkenny won, giving Angela her fifth All-Ireland medal.

In 1986, Kilkenny played in their second All-Ireland final in a row. They played Dublin again and won. This was Angela's sixth All-Ireland title. She also received a Texaco Award, a very special honor.

In 1987, Angela won her fourth National League medal. Kilkenny beat Dublin in that final. Later that year, Kilkenny played Cork in the All-Ireland final. Kilkenny won, which gave Angela her seventh All-Ireland medal. This was Kilkenny's third All-Ireland title in a row, a new record for them!

In 1988, Angela was the captain of Kilkenny again. She started the year by winning her fifth National League medal. Then, she led her county to the All-Ireland final against Cork. Kilkenny won. This was Angela's eighth All-Ireland medal, and she had captained the team to more than one All-Ireland win, which was very rare.

In 1989, Kilkenny beat Cork in the National League final. This was Angela's sixth League title. The All-Ireland final was against Cork again. Kilkenny won, giving Angela her ninth All-Ireland medal.

At the start of 1990, Kilkenny won their fourth National League title in a row. This was Angela's seventh League medal. The All-Ireland final was against Wexford. Kilkenny played very well and won easily. This gave Angela her tenth All-Ireland medal. This made her one of the top All-Ireland medal holders ever.

In 1991, Angela was captain of Kilkenny again. Kilkenny's winning streak in the National League ended that year when Cork beat them. But Angela's team still reached the All-Ireland final against Cork. Kilkenny won, making it their seventh All-Ireland title in a row! This was Angela's eleventh All-Ireland medal. She lifted the O'Duffy Cup for the third time.

In 1993, Angela won her eighth National League medal. In 1994, Angela played in her next All-Ireland final. Kilkenny played Wexford and won. This gave Angela her twelfth All-Ireland medal on the field. Her sister Ann won her eleventh medal on the same day. Angela was later named Camogie Player of the Year.

In 1995, Angela played her last season for Kilkenny. It had been 25 years since she first played at age 13. She played in her final All-Ireland final against Cork. Cork won this time, stopping Angela from getting a thirteenth medal. Angela retired from playing for her county after this game.

Playing for Leinster

Angela also played for Leinster in the inter-provincial camogie championship. She won ten inter-provincial titles with her province.

Retirement

When Angela retired, only two other players had won more All-Ireland medals than her. In 2004, Angela was chosen for a special team to celebrate 100 years of the Camogie Association of Ireland. She was named in the left corner-forward position. Angela is a teacher at Grennan College in Thomastown, County Kilkenny.

Teams

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005). ISBN 9780340896952
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005). ISBN 9780955111501
• Fullam, Brendan, Captains of the Ash, (Wolfhound Press, 2002). ISBN 9780863279003