Thirty DCU Students and Alumni receive All Star nominations

A total of thirty DCU students or alumni have been recognised with All Star nominations for their outstanding contributions with their counties over the course of 2025.

The All Ireland Ladies Football final seen Dublin secure the Brendan Martin Cup with a victory over Meath, in a game that was packed full of DCU Students and Alumni. Winners Dublin have six DCU nominations, while runners up Meath have seven. Five of the team who landed the O’Connor Cup in March are nominated, including
Robyn Murray & Emma Duggan from Meath, Laoise Lenehan from Kildare and Dublin’s Niamh Crowley and Niamh Donlon, while Tipperary’s Aishling Moloney make up the 15 DCU connections in the nominations list.

On the Camogie side, Kilkenny’s Laura Greene and Abby Flynn from Waterford are recognised for their contributions in the Championship. On the hurling side, the nominations are dominated by teams from the south of the country, but there are deserving nominations for Conor Burke and Sean Currie from Dublin, while Billy Ryan from Kilkenny has also been recognised. Three stalwarts of Fitzgibbon campaigns in the early part of the decade.
 

A total of ten alumni are recognised in the Football nominations, with a spread of counties recognised. Michael Murphy is also nominated for Footballer of the Year following his impactful return to the field in 2025, he is joined from Donegal by 2020 Sigerson captain Brendan McCole and Shane O’Donnell. The thread of Sigerson winning captains being nominated is seen as Ciaran Caulfield, fresh off captaining
the Sigerson winning team of this year and being named third level player of the year, is also up for an award, with his county mate Matthew Costello. Monaghan duo Dessie Ward and Michael Bannigan, along with Rob Finnerty, Craig Lennon and Ciaran Kilkenny make up the Football nominees.

Well done to all and hopefully some will be awarded All Star awards at the events over the course of the next month.

Full List of Nominees
Camogie
Laura Green (Kilkenny)
Abby Flynn (Waterford)

Ladies Football
Robyn Murray (Meath)
Abby Shiels (Dublin)
Leah Caffrey (Dublin)
Laoise Lenehan (Kildare)

Niamh Donlon (Dublin)
Aoibhín Cleary (Meath)
Sarah Wall (Meath)
Niamh Crowley (Dublin)
Marion Farrelly (Meath)
Aishling Moloney (Tipperary)
Carla Rowe (Dublin)
Niamh Gallogly (Meath)
Emma Duggan (Meath)
Vikki Wall (Meath)
Niamh Hetherton (Dublin)

Hurling
Conor Burke (Dublin)
Billy Ryan (Kilkenny)
Sean Currie (Dublin)

Gaelic Football
Brendan McCole (Donegal)
Ciaran Caulfield (Meath)
Craig Lennon (Louth)
Dessie Ward (Monaghan)
Michael Murphy (Donegal) *Player of Year Nominee
Shane O’Donnell (Donegal)
Matthew Costello (Meath)
Rob Finnerty (Galway)
Michael Bannigan (Monaghan)
Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin)