THE death of Kathleen Mills earlier this week marked the passing of a remarkable Irish sporting figure.

In a inter county career with Dublin that ended 35 years ago, she won more All Ireland senior medals 15 than anyone else.

The total is unlikely to be passed for a considerable time if ever as many of the leading camogie medal winners were team mates of Mills in the phenomenally successful Dublin sides of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Born in 1923 to a Dublin mother and Cork father, she won her first All Ireland medal in 1942.

The county was to win 21 of the next 25 championships. She played in 15 of them and also won 20 Leinster medals.

Her haul might have been even larger she missed the 1949 victory and a dispute within the Camogie Association kept Dublin out of the All Ireland in 1945 and 1946

With her club CIE (formerly GSR) numerous other medals won as were two inter provincial awards with Leinster.

Throughout her 20 year career, she played on the left wing. In his book Hurling Giants, Brendan Fullam describes her as "devastating. She was a natural left hander, right hand under could strike left and right could even take frees left or right. She had many deft touches including a capacity to send sideline cuts over the bar. She was a speed merchant. Add to this her long striking accurate distribution excellent wrist work and you had a player with a mix of skills rare in the hurling world."