SUNDAY 13 AUGUST
All-Ireland JFC final
Down v Limerick, Croke Park, 11.45am
All-Ireland IFC final
Clare v Kildare, Croke Park, 1.45pm
All-Ireland SFC final
Dublin v Kerry, Croke Park, 4pm
ONLINE
Live score updates and a blog on the senior final on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live commentary and updates on the intermediate and senior finals on Sunday Sport, RTÉ Radio 1. Coverage also on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an Lae.
TV
Live coverage of the three finals on TG4, beginning at 11.35am. Highlights on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm.
WEATHER
Sunny spells and showers. The showers will be frequent in the north and west. Highest temperatures 18 to 21 degrees in mostly moderate southwesterly winds. For more go to met.ie
Half a century of showpiece deciders
To mark the 50th year of the ladies championship, winning captains from the 49 previous All-Ireland Senior finals will be honoured at Croke Park before the action on Sunday.
The first winning captain in 1974 was Tipperary's Kitty Ryan-Savage, when the Premier defeated Laois in Durrow, Co Laois.
In the finals played to date, there have been 42 different winning captains.
The players who have lifted the Brendan Martin Cup on more than one occasion are Dublin's Sinéad Aherne (2017-2020 inclusive), Cork’s Juliet Murphy (2005-2007 inclusive), Cork’s Ciara O’Sullivan (2015 and 2016) and Meath’s Shauna Ennis (2021 and 2022).
Prior to 2006, when Juliet Murphy captained Cork to what was a second successive title at the time, there had been a different winning captain in every year since 1974.
Kerry and Dublin unchanged
Both keep faith with the sides that won their respective semi-finals against Cork and Mayo.
The Kingdom will continue to monitor the fitness of Hannah O'Donoghue until throw-in, after she went off injured in the semi-final.
The finalists have met twice already this year in competitive football. Back in February, Kerry produced a powerful display in Division 1 of the Lidl National League to claim a 3-15 to 1-10 victory in Tralee.
That was an early indication that the Munster would be a force to be reckoned with in 2023 and they would finish the league as top-tier champions, having captured the Division 2 title in 2022, while also contesting the TG4 All-Ireland Senior final against Meath last year.
Fast forward to Parnell Park in June and the two sides played out a close encounter, with Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh contributing 1-6 as Kerry claimed a 2-8 to 1-9 win.
Given the quality on show that day, there was a feeling that these two sides might meet again in Championship 2023 – and so it proved.
As the championship has progressed, Dublin and Kerry have both grown in stature and confidence – and now they will meet for the very first time in the showpiece event.
'After last year, I was gone. Definitely' - Mick Bohan
Alongside Cork, with 11 titles each, Kerry have won this competition more times than any other county.
But the Kingdom haven’t tasted Brendan Martin Cup success since 1993, while Dublin, five-time winners, go in search of the silverware for the first time since 2020, when they defeated the Rebels.
For Dublin, this is a first final since the 2021 defeat to Meath. They reigned supreme in Leinster, while Kerry lost out to Cork in Munster, and having come through the group phase of the All-Ireland series, Sunday’s finalists have built up considerable heads of steam.
Thoughts from the @kerryladiesfoot and the @dublinladiesg camps ahead of the @TG4TV
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) August 11, 2023
All-Ireland SFC final @MartyM_RTE #rtesport #sundaygame pic.twitter.com/M887ar4cVx
Dublin powered past Donegal at the quarter-final stage, as Kerry ended Meath’s three-in-a-row hopes and gained revenge for last year's loss.
In the semis, Kerry’s excellent first half paved the way for victory over Mayo, as Dublin overwhelmed Cork.
Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh comes into this final in a rich vein of form, the recently-crowned Croke Park / LGFA Player of the Month for July and scorer of 1-10 against Mayo.
She’s amassed 2-24 in the All-Ireland series and is the championship’s top scorer, with Dublin captain Carla Rowe, on 4-13, hot on her heels.
Sadly, team captain Síofra O’Shea misses out for Kerry and she’d been motoring so well before injury struck in advance of the semi-final.
Kerry bosses: 'Louise isn't our sole attacking threat'
In her absence, Ní Mhuircheartaigh took up even more scoring responsibility but Kerry will need contributions from other players to get the job done.
For Dublin, Hannah Tyrrell has chipped in with 1-13 and is a real threat, along with the likes of Kate Sullivan, Jennifer Dunne and Orlagh Nolan, while the return of former captain Sinéad Aherne has been another fillip for the Sky Blues, who have reached the Final despite being in something of a transitional mode.
These are two teams very much here on merit, the best two Senior teams in the land at this point on time, but only one can prevail.
So, a 12th title for Kerry to put them out on top on the all-time honours list, or Dublin’s sixth?
Dublin: A Shiels; N Crowley, L Caffrey, A Kane; L Magee, M Byrne, N Donlon; J Dunne, E O'Dowd; C O’Connor, O Nolan, K Sullivan; H Tyrrell, C Rowe, J Egan.
Kerry: C Butler; É Lynch, K Cronin, C Murphy; A O’Connell, E Costello, C Lynch; L Scanlon, L Galvin; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, A Galvin; H O’Donoghue, D O’Leary, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh (capt.).
Third time of asking for Clare and Kildare
The sides have met twice already this year in the league and there was little to choose between them.
Kildare won a group fixture by 0-9 to 0-7 and when the sides met in the Division 3 Final at Parnell Park, it went to extra-time, where the Lilies prevailed by the bare minimum 2-11 to 2-10 scoreline, with forward Róisín Byrne contributing 0-10 of her side's tally. On the Clare side, Fidelma Marrinan notched 1-06.
Both teams are contesting an intermediate final for the first time since 2016. And, as fate would have it, it was the same duo who also appeared in that decider seven years ago. Kildare came out on top to atone for their loss to Waterford in 2015.
Not surprisingly, Byrne and Marrinan have been influential en route to this showdown
Marrinan is Clare's top scorer with 4-33 to date in the championship and she's also just two points behind Down’s Natasha Ferris in the race for the Golden Boot award, which will be received by the leading scorer in the All-Ireland series across the three grades.
Byrne, meanwhile, has scored 0-18 for Kildare to date, with team-mate Neasa Dooley weighing in with 4-04.
Clare: A Lenihan; Á Keane, S Ní Chonaill, G Harvey; L Griffin, C Harvey (capt.), O Devitt; A Reidy, C Moloney; L Ryan, F Marrinan, A Sexton; L Griffey, C Blake, C Cahill.
Kildare: M Hulgraine; L Burke, L Lenehan, A Clifford; L Gilbert, R Sargent, L Murtagh; G Clifford (capt), A Rattigan; T Duggan, N Dooley, C Sullivan; E Dowling, R Byrne, L Curran.
Down and Clare shuffling the pack
For Down, Ciara Byrne at full-back and midfielder Aoife Laverty come into the starting line-up following the semi-final victory over Carlow, with Paige Smyth and Clara Mulvenna named on the bench.
Limerick's Caoimhe McGrath made a huge scoring impact with six points after coming on in the semi-final victory over Fermanagh, and she earns a starting place, with Iris Kennelly dropping to the bench.
It was a case of fourth time lucky for Limerick in their recent semi-final victory over Fermanagh – and now the Shannonsiders are aiming to get their hands on the West County Hotel Cup for the first time since 2018.
For Limerick’s opponents from the Mourne County, Sunday’s clash will mark a first junior final appearance since 2000, when they got the better of Galway.
That was Down’s one and only time to contest a decider, as Limerick prepare for their fourth.
The sides have met previously in this year's championship, in a group fixture in Newcastlewest last month.
Down ran out 1-13 to 1-08 winners on the day but prior to throw-in, both teams had already qualified for the knockout phase.
On the day, the Munster outfit struggled to get to grips with Down forward Natasha Ferris, who scored 1-08.
Down: A McGivern; A Greene, C Byrne, O Boyle; N McKibbin, M Doherty (capt.), O Duffy; A Laverty, A Brogan; N Scullion, V McCormack, L Duffy; E Fitzpatrick, N Ferris, A O’Higgins.
Limerick: C Bateman; A Quaid, Y Lee, M MacNamara; G Lee, L Walshe, L Ryan; R Ambrose (capt.), F Bradshaw; D Murphy, K O’Leary, C Mee; L Coughlan, A Ryan, C McGrath.
