| Championship Details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Sept 9 | |
| Counties | ||
| Sponsor | ||
| All Ireland Champions | ||
| Winners | Antrim (6th title) | |
| Captain | Mairéad McAtamney | |
| Manager | ||
| All-Ireland Runners-up | ||
| Runners-up | Tipperary | |
| Captain | Maureen Maher | |
| Manager | ||
| Matches played | 2 | |
The 1979 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship was the high point of the 1979 season. The championship was won by Antrim who defeated Tipperary by a three-point margin in the final. The match drew an attendance of 2,900.
Kilkenny disposed of reigning champions Cork at Douglas by 4-5 to 0-10 on June 17 in the first round of the most open championship draw since the open draw was introduced six years earlier. Cork pleaded with some justification that midfielder Clare Cronin was nursing a leg injury, Marie Costine was ill and Pat Moloney had unexpectedly announced her retirement from the game. Antrim then surprised championship favourites Kilkenny by 5–5 to 4–3 at Randalstown on July 29 with two goals each from Kathleen McCaughey and Philomena Gillespie while Angela Downey scored three breakaway goals for Kilkenny.
Antrim went on to defeat Wexford, in the All Ireland semi-final at the same venue. A Margaret Griffin goal in the first half gave Tipperary victory over Limerick who were contesting their first ever senior semi-final.
Irish Press journalist Maol Muire Tynan, who played for Tipperary against Antrim in the 1979 All-Ireland final, wrote about her experience in the following day's newspaper. Her piece reflects the frustrations of a defeated player, as well as those of an inter-county camogie player in the face of the general apathy shown towards women’s sport: