Legacy Leaders Magazine


I have always been incredibly sporty. I was quite a shy child growing up, and lacked in self-esteem, but sport gave me the opportunity to have another, more confident, persona.

My dad’s job meant we moved around a bit. When I started a new school or was thrust into in a new area, sport was the way I settled in. It was a common language.

I’m now 32 but I didn’t actually start playing rugby until I was 21. I was playing Gaelic football at a fairly high level when I was asked to take part in a tag tournament at my local rugby club. I won the player of the tournament prize.

In my small town – Dungarvan, in Waterford – women’s sports teams would struggle for numbers. So when asked to join, I said: “I’ll come and play rugby if you come and play Gaelic football.” That’s what teams had to do to survive at that stage.

Women’s rugby itself in Ireland is still in its infancy. Professionalism isn’t yet an option. There is still a lot of work to do building the domestic game’s foundations before a professional women’s league is sustainable.

The women’s game only came under the umbrella of the IRFU in 2008 – and there are still big barriers that we have to overcome.

Some clubs still don’t have girls’ teams. We need to make every club accessible – that’s really important. Once they’re in, it’s all about trying to keep them.



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