‘Unbreakable bond’ key to Kerry sealing Division One title, says Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh

Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh believes Kerry’s success is underpinned by an unbreakable bond.

At Croke Park last Saturday, Kerry won their first women’s Division One National Football League title since 1991 following a comprehensive 5-11 to 1-10 victory over Galway in the final. It was the latest milestone for a team whose trajectory continues to trend skyward.

Given the wilderness Kerry had found themselves operating in for many years, the progress of recent seasons, under joint managers Declan Quill and Darragh Long, has pushed this group towards the front of the pack in the race for the Brendan Martin Cup.

Ní Mhuircheartaigh, having made her debut at just 16 years of age in 2008, toiled through plenty of those barren seasons, so it was fitting she was on the field last Saturday evening as Kerry were crowned league champions. The win was further proof something significant is building in the Kingdom.

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“I think we just have this very special bond and togetherness, our bond is fairly unbreakable,” says Ní Mhuircheartaigh, who scored 1-2 against Galway.

“I keep harping on about Darragh and Declan, but they are very special, very professional; the energy they bring to training sessions and games is second to none.

“The group we have, there’s a mix of experience and younger players, and I think everybody just gels very well together.

“We never want to be apart from each other for too long, we are after getting a break now until Friday and that just seems very long to us, because we love each other so much that we just want to train and develop together as a group.”

It would be trite to suggest the league victory meant more to Ní Mhuircheartaigh than any of her team-mates, but there is no question the Corca Dhuibhne player – who celebrated her 32nd birthday on Wednesday – was hugely important in not allowing the green and gold wick burn out during Kerry’s years in the shadows.

Not that it was always easy, mind. Between 2017-19, Kerry suffered heavy championship exits at the hands of Dublin – once at the semi-final stage and twice in quarter-finals. Ní Mhuircheartaigh remembers waking up the morning after one of those losses and grabbing her phone.

“We got absolutely annihilated by Dublin in a quarter-final, I text my brother and his girlfriend saying, ‘I think I’m done’. I just didn’t see what we were chasing was actually going to ever happen,” she recalls.

“There were a few tough times, but I just couldn’t give up either. We’re still here. Again, it comes back to the group of players and the management we have now, I love spending time with them and I love trying to fulfil that dream and that goal with them.”

That dream, of course, is to win the All-Ireland. Kerry’s last triumph was in 1993, but the manner of their victory over Galway last weekend has instilled huge belief in the players and management that they are capable of bridging that gap.

“It meant a huge amount to us, winning on Saturday,” says Ní Mhuircheartaigh. “To win in Croke Park is very special and I think the way we went about it was something else, we were very professional about it. It gives us huge confidence for the championship.

“I think a lot of players that had won the National League Division One title in 1991 were fairly emotional on Saturday. Look, nobody is putting pressure on us from the 1993 team anyway or anything like that, but just it’s something that obviously we want to do and we want to focus on.”

– Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh was speaking at the launch of the 2023 Kellogg’s GAA Cúl Camps. For booking and further information check gaa.ie/kelloggsculcamps