With ten minutes gone in the second semi-final, Kilkenny goalkeeper Miriam Holland brought off a fine save only for Tipperary full-forward Deirdre Hughes to score from the rebound.
Three goals in the final from Fiona O'Driscoll prevented Tipperary completing four in-a-row and brought her personal championship total to 9-12, a record for the 15-a-side game.
Diarmuid O'Flynn wrote in the Irish Examiner: "Good game, despite the lop-sided look at the end which didn't do justice to Tipperary, but the real pity was that so few were there to witness such a compelling team and individual performance.
Nobody figured that Tipperary's tyros, bursting at the seams with hurling skills and with a ferocious appetite, would finally put the Premier county on the camogie map.
For the last three years, Cork's players were like the rest of the camogie world, mere witnesses to greatness, as Tipperary first broke their duck at this level, then went on to triple success.