With just over a month to go before the start of the new hockey season there comes confirmation of the retirement of one of the game's greatest servants, Loreto's Mary Barnwell, and the move of current Irish captain Mary Logue from Railway Union to Leinster champions Hermes.

Barnwell, the former Irish international who first played for Loreto in 1975, struggled with injury for much of last season but still finished in her customary position near the top of the league's leading scorers' list. Loreto, who will be coached by Tom O'Donoghue next season, will now look for goals from young Cathy McKean, another of the leading scorers from the last campaign, who has joined the club from Railway Union.

McKean's departure from Park Avenue is another blow for Railway, following Logue's decision to join Hermes a year after she left Muckross for the club.