THE ECHO Women in Sport Awards paid tribute to Cork’s most impressive female athletes at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Thursday night.

Camogie superstar Amy O’Connor collected the overall prize, with Mary Newman entering the Hall of Fame after giving a lifetime of service to camogie in Cork.

O’Connor received the award after a year which saw her win the Munster Senior Camogie Championship and the Cork Senior Camogie Championship with Seandún.

The St Vincent’s legend was instrumental in both successes; she scored 10 points in the Munster final and 2-8 in the county final win over Sarsfields.

The award was seen as the perfect way to start the season for the Cork captain to start the season., who will captain Cork.

She joined a list of other top Cork athletes that includes MMA world champion Louise Brady, Olympian Louise Shanahan, and basketball star Claire Melia, who

were recognised for their services to sport in 2022.

Almost every sport was represented on the night and among the monthly winners were All-Ireland, European, and world champions.

EMOTIONAL

It was an emotional evening for Newman who was commended for her lifelong service to Cork camogie and to her club, Glen Rovers.

She has decades of experience, having worked as secretary and PRO of Glen Rovers Camogie Club, and PRO for the Cork County Board.

The evening also saw the guest of honour, former professional footballer Clare Shine, address the crowd.

The striker recently hung up her boots after spending more than 10 years in the professional game, a career which saw her win almost every competition she played in.

Shine is best remembered on Leeside for scoring the winning goal for Cork City in the 2017 FAI Cup Final and she was well reminded of this.

The former Irish international’s speech echoed the underlying theme of the evening: Next summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where Ireland will compete for the first time.

The MC for the evening, The Echo’s sports editor John McHale, said it was a hugely successful night for Cork and for women’s sport.

“It was a fantastic evening that was an all-round success. Some of the biggest names in Cork were here and it was a fantastic celebration of women in sport,” he said.

It was great to see so many sports represented on the night and Amy O’Connor is a worthy winner of the overall prize.

“Everyone in The Echo is so proud of Cork’s female sport stars and we cannot wait to see what 2023 has in store.”