MUNSTER intermediate ladies football champions O’Donovan Rossa may be taking all the headlines in West Cork right now. However, there are strong local links to the Munster junior champions, too.
On the same weekend in Mallow when Skibb won the intermediate title, Limerick side Mungret St Pauls were crowned junior winners after beating East Cork side Midleton by 0-7 to 0-5. Their reward is an All-Ireland junior semi-final against Coolera Strandhill from Sligo in Tubbercurry this Saturday at 1.30pm.
The team based near Limerick city centre has three West Cork women involved – Niamh Crowley from Bantry, Carol Bateman from Rosscarbery and Siadbh Redmond from Skibbereen. There are also two other Cork county natives in Shannon Burke from Midleton and Rosin Duffy from Mourneabbey.
Bateman in goal, Burke in defence and Crowley in attack were all in the starting line-up when Mungret won the Munster title.
Former Bantry Blues player Crowley has been living in Limerick for two years and joined Mungret this year; her debut season is going better than expected.
‘My husband is a Limerick man,’ Crowley explained.
‘I was up in Dublin playing for Ballyboden for six years. We made the decision then to move to Athlone first because that’s where his job would be. I work from home so I kind of have the luxury of going anywhere. We stayed for a couple of months in Athlone and then we moved down to Limerick. That’s why I’m here.’
Crowley was there for the rise of her home Bantry club. She won a Munster junior title with Blues in 2015, meaning she has won the junior provincial title with two different clubs.
‘When I started, there wasn’t actually an adult women's team in Bantry. They were a great cohort back then and every year I played, a new team was created. I played on the first U14, U16 and minor teams. When we integrated into adult level, we played junior C, junior B, junior A before we went on to win Munster,’ Crowley explained.
‘That year, when we won Munster I moved to Dublin. I was teaching at the time. You’re fine most of the summer but then when we were playing September, October, November, half of December, it took its toll that last year.
‘When I made the decision to not play with Bantry anymore, they were more than understanding. I have a lot of best friends from Bantry. I’m incredibly lucky that I had the best bunch of players to play with growing up,’ Crowley recalled.
She didn’t play while she was in Athlone and didn’t initially lace up her boots during her time in Dublin. But Crowley just couldn’t stay away from Gaelic football, despite being a long way from home.
‘I thought I was retiring when I left Bantry but I missed it. One of the girls I worked with at the time played with Ballyboden. She suggested coming along and trying to get to know the girls. I played then for the rest of the time I was there,’ Crowley added.
‘When I was leaving Dublin, I was 30 and was thinking I was definitely done this time but you miss it. The team set-up, the excitement, even just the routine of being out for a couple of nights a week with the girls. I was actually lucky enough as I didn’t have any connections at Mungret when I first moved here. I had to email the Limerick county board and just ask them about clubs. Then Siobhan Horgan from Mungret emailed me and said “I know you’re looking for a new team.”
‘They are an incredible club. They’re so welcoming. There was a good shot of new people this year as well. I couldn’t praise them more,’ she added.
Moving to a different club when switching locations can be daunting for some. As Crowley sees it, it is a great way to feel part of the local community.
‘For me, particularly when I came to Limerick, working at home can be very hard to meet people. Going back to football this year has been brilliant. You meet 30 other girls and you have football in common. It makes settling into the area so much easier,’ she explained.
‘Even with Mungret, you get the community feel from it, it’s huge. It was one of the best decisions I made. It is the same with Ballyboden, it helps you feel part of your new place. I would highly recommend it,’ added Crowley, as she gets ready for an All-Ireland semi-final and another chapter in her own football story.
