'We've a squad good enough for senior football' - Fermanagh chairperson

In one sense, it’s hard to believe that it’s just 52 years since the All-Ireland Ladies’ Senior Football Championship was contested for the first time.

In another, it’s not surprising at all, given how women’s sport has had to fight for every inch of recognition gained. Recently, a €4m increase in funding was announced for women in sport and in an upcoming edition of Irish Country Living we will speak to former Ireland rugby international and Donegal footballer Nora Stapleton of Sport Ireland about the benefits that will accrue from that.

For the coming week though, back to on-field matters, with Croke Park hosting the senior, intermediate and junior finals on Sunday.

The Brendan Martin Cup will be contested, as it was in 2024, by Kerry and Galway, who have become something of the ‘new firm’ in the sport along with Dublin and Meath. You have to go back to Cork’s 2020 appearance for the last time another county was involved in the decider.

Kerry won two years ago to end a 34-year wait for the Brendan Martin Cup; Galway were champions for the first and only time in 2004 and made it back to the final the following year but ran into a Cork side that were about to dominate the sport. It took until 2019 for them to get to that stage again but that was a defeat to Dublin.

That game is at 4.15pm, with the junior match at 11.45am providing a novel feel as Antrim – beaten by Louth in last year’s final – take on Carlow, for whom it will be a first occasion to be involved.

Potential can blossom

That their players will experience Croke Park on the big day underlines the value of the triple-header. And, if they were to triumph, they wouldn’t have to look too far to see how quickly potential can blossom.

Two years ago, the junior title was won by Fermanagh, for whom Eimear Smyth scored 1-9 as they beat Louth by 1-11 to 0-12.

Beaten intermediate finalists in 2009 and 2014, the Erne County used relegation to the junior grade as a springboard rather than a source of dismay and the momentum of 2024 brought them to a quarter-final last year, losing by five points to eventual champions Tyrone.

Another year on and they find themselves in the final, aiming to make the senior grade for the first time. Roscommon are the opponents at 1.45pm and Fermanagh chairperson Mark Gallagher is delighted to have a heavy workload for the second time in three years.

“It’d be worse if it wasn’t busy!” he laughs.

“It’s a brilliant complaint to have at this time of the year. We were finding our feet in junior football again and we were successful two years ago, and now we’ve made the step up into intermediate and it’s been great.

“You look at the talent and the belief that was there within the team and the executive. People mightn’t have backed us to be there, but we were full of confidence that our girls could get there and win the intermediate.

“You know, we knew the talent was there, it’s the result of building on what’s been there for the past number of years.”

This year’s semi-final win over Down – Smyth scored 1-10 of 1-11 on that occasion – was therapeutic, as it had been the Mourne County that beat Fermanagh by 6-16 to 1-10 in the 2014 intermediate final.

Survivor squad

Captain Shannon McQuade and Joanne Doonan are survivors from back then, part of a squad that has a varied age-profile.

“I suppose the more experienced girls, they would have been there and played in that last intermediate final that we lost,” Gallagher.

“Then we’re right down to 19- and 20-year-olds. I think after winning the junior two years ago, there’s been a serious appetite across all our age-groups and so that has sort of instilled a real hunger and belief within the county.

“We’ve got a great executive here and we’ve instilled that belief within the girls and a great management team.

“It really has been a whole team effort trying to push the thing on and yeah, it’s going to be an exciting day.”

While Fermanagh may be at the lower end of the scale in terms of footballing population, it is something that has not been allowed to become a negative and they will hope that is shown in the stands and on the turf.

“There’s 18 clubs in Fermanagh,” says Gallagher, “so it is a very small pick but it’s spread right across the county, which is brilliant.

“I suppose for such a small county, people might think we’re punching [above our weight], but I look at it in a different way – if the talent’s there, to me, it doesn’t really matter.

“Yes, it’s great to have large numbers, but sometimes a close, small-knit group can be just as successful, if not more successful, than the larger teams. We fully believe that senior is where we should be. We have a very talented squad, and it’s one of those things where we do believe that that’s where we want to be playing our football.

“We believe we’re good enough to be there and, yeah, let’s hope for a positive result.”