Tracy O’Connor and Nuala O’Sullivan must be worn out from congratulating each other on their daughters’ sporting feats when they meet up while out shopping in Knocknaheeny.
After all, Tracy’s girl Amy is the captain of the Cork camogie team, has four senior All-Ireland medals to her name, as well an All Star, and a heap of club honours. Not to mention all the times she played underage football for the Republic of Ireland.
And Nuala’s young one Denise only went and earned her 100th cap for Ireland in Texas last week.
“Yeah, her mother meets my mam every day in the supermarket,” Amy O’Connor laughs, “so they regularly chat about it all. We were delighted for Denise – Jesus, she’s brilliant. It’s some achievement when you think about it, 100 caps – and she’s still young (29), she has a long time left.”
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O’Connor has probably been asked whether she has any regrets about giving up football for camogie as many times as O’Sullivan has played for her country.
The answer had always been the same: none. Camogie was her first love, so no regrets at all. Although... “Do I think about the what ifs? Probably not too much,” she says. “But every now and then when I watch them on telly, yeah, you’d love a game of ball! But no, [I’m] very happy with my decision.”
O’Connor was a member of the remarkable under-19 Irish squad that beat Spain, Sweden and England to top their group at the 2014 European Championships, before being ousted at the semi-final stage by the eventual winners the Netherlands – inspired by a hat-trick-scoring youngster by the name of Vivianne Miedema.
“She was a cut above the rest,” recalls O’Connor of the Arsenal forward, one of the game’s greats. “A level above everybody else on that pitch. There was nobody near her. Yeah, that was a tough day in Norway,” O’Connor laughs.
“When you look back, we would have played England quite a bit, and you think of Leah Williamson (the current England captain) and what she went on to do.
“I actually think Irish football has really benefited from the success of this English team because it’s so close, it’s so relatable, we see them on telly, I think it’s really benefiting the game in Ireland.”
You’re kind of almost grieving because you dedicate so much of your life to it
— Amy O'Connor
Ten of the 18-strong Irish squad that competed in that 2014 tournament went on to become senior internationals, including captain Katie McCabe. Once O’Connor’s call-ups started clashing with camogie, she opted for county rather than country.
O’Sullivan was a couple of years ahead of her in the ranks, but they had played on the same team at under-14 level. She has nothing but good memories of the Irish midfielder.
“You know, as brilliant as Denise is on the pitch, she’s equally brilliant off it,” O’Connor says. “I’ve never heard anybody say a bad word about her. She deserves everything she gets because of the amount of work that she puts in.
“Knocknaheeny is just so proud of Denise O’Sullivan.”
O’Connor is hoping to add to the Cork City suburb’s sporting roll of honour on Sunday when she captains her county in the Very Division 1A league final against Galway at Croke Park (live on RTÉ2, throw-in 1.50pm).
Galway beat Cork in last year’s final, then beat them by a point last month in the final round of matches in the group stage of the league, and will be Cork’s opponents in their Championship opener in June.
Is O’Connor sick of the sight of them?
“We do always seem to end up playing Galway,” she laughs, “but the games are always so competitive we tend to learn a lot about ourselves, so obviously that’s a very good thing. But yeah, we know each other very well at this stage.”
There’s going to be a lot of focus on the Irish women’s soccer team over the next couple of months, but hopefully women’s sport as a whole, including camogie, will be able to tap in to and benefit from that
— Amy O'Connor
Cork were no strangers to pain in 2022, along with that defeat in the league decider, they lost to Kilkenny by a point in the All-Ireland final. There was a lot of healing to be done.
“Unless you’re in the circle, people don’t really understand. You’re kind of almost grieving because you dedicate so much of your life to it,” O’Connor explains.
“But I always try to think then that there’s more important things in life, and that tends to help you get over it a bit. But yeah, on the day or the week, it doesn’t help with the disappointment too much.”
It is 10 years since Cork won the league title, losing three finals since then, the last success coming a year before O’Connor made her senior debut. By her reckoning, only two of the current panel, the Mackey twins, Katrina and Pamela, have a league winner’s medal to their name, so she thinks it’s about time the county added a 17th title to their collection.
She concedes, though, that it won’t be easy for camogie to increase its profile in the months ahead, with so many competing codes and major events in the schedule. But O’Connor hopes it can ride the wave of the heightened profile of women’s sport, not least the one currently being surfed by her former comrades.
“There’s going to be a lot of focus on the Irish women’s soccer team over the next couple of months, but hopefully women’s sport as a whole, including camogie, will be able to tap in to and benefit from that,” O’Connor says.
Her more immediate ambition is having Nuala congratulating Tracy in their local Knocknaheeny supermarket on Monday morning after Tracy’s daughter captains Cork to their first league title in a decade. Worn out, the mams will be.
