Mahopac Trio Bring Home Gaelic football Crown from Ireland

Photo by Suzanne Dolan

In February, 24 girls were selected from the Gaelic Athletic Association of NY to play in the Féile Gaelic Football Championships. The tournament played on July 2 in Dublin, New York was obviously a long way from home and had a pretty tall order competing in Europe’s game. Still, the Irish didn’t thumb their noses at their little American sisters and were genuinely welcoming, according to Mahopac’s Gianna Dolan. “Everywhere we went, wearing the New York gear made me feel like a celebrity. People wanted to meet us and take pictures. It was a wonderful experience, and I am proud to be a part of the team.” So the field was probably just as obliging to send New York home with the Irish version of a participation trophy. But these girls had other things in mind and weren’t quite as hospitable as guests.

Among teams from Boston, Dublin, Continental Europe and London, New York swept the five game tournament and took home the Féile All-Ireland Division 1 Cup. “We were so excited to run onto the field and be all together as champions,” said Gianna.

Joined by Mahopac’s Fiona and Niamh Kelleher, Gianna was indoctrinated at an early age. “My Dad is from Ireland. He played the sport when he was a kid,” said the ninth grader. “That’s how I got into it.”

Eleven players on the field, the round ball moves off the foot and the hands. Kick passed or punched, the players can catch and run and then kick or punch a pass into the goal for three points or drop kick between the uprights for one.

Locally, Westput Setanta fields teams across several age groups and Dolan found a home on defense. Liking the tough physical play, she said, the idea is to not let anyone near the goal, and do whatever you can to get the ball back.

At least one such moment came in Dublin. “My player had the ball right in front of the net, and I ran and blocked the ball,” Dolan remembered. “The play made me feel pretty good.”

The big crowd wasn’t so easy to block out at first, though. “It was kind of scary, but I learned to not look at the crowd and concentrate on the game,” said Gianna.

Niamh Kelleher, on the other hand, had crowd control in her pocket from the start. “I didn’t really pay attention to the stands because it distracts me,” said Niamh. “So I focused on the game.”

Apparently, she wasn’t alone. In the first three games, New York beat Mayo 26-3, Kilkenny 27-7 and Kerry 22-6.

But the test of the tournament came in the semifinals. Cork jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 30 seconds, and there was nothing polite about their play. “They were very physical. It was a real fight to the death,” Niamh recalled.

Right at home, the soon to be ninth grader takes a “stand your ground” approach and welcomes the difficulty of playing defensive halfback. “A lot of really good players play half forward so it can be a challenge,” Niamh said.

Nonetheless, New York regrouped, took the game 14-4 and despite the chippy play, the Cork team played excellent hosts afterwards. The teams traded jerseys, and it was onto the finals.

Anticlimactic as it turned out, New York coasted to a 17-2 victory over Galway, and Niamh’s twin sister Fiona would end up tallying among the tournament’s top scorers.

A game three outburst really let her settle in. “I scored three goals,” said Fiona. “It was really exciting to me that I was able to do that in Ireland.”

The ball bending just right, the real onslaught took place when the clock struck zero. “We all ran over each other and couldn’t ’believe it,” beamed Fiona.

Still, the success didn’t come out of nowhere. “The chemistry between us,” said Niamh, “we worked so hard. We put in so much work. We practiced three times a week, did a bunch of running and so much ball work. Then we built such friendships and relationships, I think that made us play better.”

The cup running over in McDonald’s afterwards doesn’t sound like the kind of celebration the accomplishment merits, but the fast food perfectly hit the spot. “We had a diet, because our coaches didn’t want us to eat anything bad. So it was funny that we went to McDonald’s, and we actually got a little bit too much food,” joked Fiona.

Back home, there’s just one more serving, and each girl getting the Féile All-Ireland Division Cup for two weeks, Gianna will have no problem getting her fill. “It will mean a lot knowing that I won that,” she concluded.