O’Shea Inspiring Kerry On And Off The Field

Siofra O’Shea is a beacon of inspiration for her Kerry Ladies Football teammates as they take to the field against Dublin for the Senior All Ireland on Sunday.

It has not been an easy few weeks for the 21-year-old Caherdaniel native, having to attend not one but two media events and speak about her side being in the final, knowing she will take no part.

For the second time in 13 months she ruptured her ACL, this time in the other knee, on the same pitch where in 2021, she faced it for the first time. Now she must go through the recovery all over again and to miss the final for her is disappointing.

She has been inspiring through it all, a sports mad woman from Kerry, she has been playing Gaelic Football with the team since making her debut against Westmeath in 2019. She also has played Basketball, where like her footballing ability she is good, very good actually and could have had an international career but Kerry came first.

Lining out with Southern Gaels for her club football, she has played basketball for Ireland from U15 level up to U20 and continues to line out in the National League for St Paul’s, Killarney, all of this side tracked by another ACL injury, despite the injury she has not let that stop her being a message of support for her teammates and cannot wait for Sunday.

“It was gutting to hear that I had torn my cruciate in that week before that All Ireland Semi Final against Mayo, you know I just went over on it on the Sunday before so to hear the news obviously I was heartbroken. 

But as I’ve said, it’s a team game and a team sport, you know I’m just delighted Kerry Ladies are in the Final and no more so than anyone else i’m looking forward to the day and buzzing for the occasion. It’s different not being involved but I’ll be there and I’ll be involved in the best way I can so I’m still looking forward to it and hopefully Kerry can bring some success back to the Kingdom.”

When the news filtered through on the Monday morning after results of a scan on O’Shea’s left knee at the Bons Secours Hospital in Tralee on Sunday evening confirmed the diagnosis, it was almost like a wake in the county.

“Did you hear about Siofra”, “Horrible news about the girl of the O’Shea’s”, most of the words coming around the county that day, it had a huge impact on the preparation for the All Ireland Semi Final, the captain injured in training the week before, however her teammates really answered the call, said joint manager Declan Quill at their media event on Frdiay night in Currans.

“When myself and Darragh made contact with her early on Monday when we found out the news, her first first reaction was look forget about me, it’s about the team now and I’m there to support the team.

I think that’s a massive thing to say for a girl who’s going through massive personal disappointment. I suppose Tuesday night we dealt with it when we came back training, it was kind of a hard thing to deal with. It was very emotional inside in the dressing room, I know that the girl’s hearts went out to her. 

They had dealt with maybe a lot on the Monday a lot of them were in contact with her on Monday, but I knew would we would be okay because on Tuesday after having that meeting, we had a fantastic training session.

And I just think myself, Darragh, the management just left Currans on Tuesday evening and we were like the response of those girls was just fabulous. They were just hopping out of their skins on Tuesday night, I think they realised they had a cause and the cause was Siofra and not letting her down.”

They went out and got the job done against Mayo, afterwards both her joint manager Darragh Long and teammate Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh made passionate statements of support following that result.

“I’ve said it a few times, this one was for Siofra. It was absolutely tragic and heartbreaking to hear the news on Monday that she had done the ACL. She’s only 21 years of age, she’s an absolutely inspirational captain, she still is our captain, she may not be on the field playing with us, but she’s still there. Such a cool head it’s absolutely fantastic to have her, absolutely that was for her today”. Said Ní Mhuircheartaigh, someone O’Shea see’s an an idol from watching her as a young girl.

Long followed suit with a similar message of how big a leader and person she is.

“Síofra is our leader and our captain and we were gutted for the girl when we got the news,” 

“But after she got hurt, her first message to the group within half an hour of hearing her news was ‘no distractions’ and all focus on Saturday.”

“She was first at training on Wednesday night and she spoke early in the dressing-room before this game. I can’t speak highly enough of the girl.”

With a smile on her face on Friday night, O’Shea spoke of the comments made by Ní Mhuircheartaigh.

“Anything that Louise says about you is a nice thing to hear, obviously I’ve looked up to her since I was young. it’s nice to hear things like that you know we’re doing it for everyone, we’re doing it for the whole panel, the extended panel, the management, everyone who’s been involved with us over the last few years’. it’s for us we’re such a tight knit group and I think we’re going out to do it for everyone, there’s no one person that we’re trying to win this for.”

She added to that earlier this week.

“Louise has been a huge inspiration for me and you know being at that 2012 All Ireland, the likes of her playing like she’s been unbelievable and what she’s given to Kerry Ladies football over the last number of years has been unreal like.

To see the impact she’s having on young kids and you see after the games the amount of people around her like she had such an influence on all the people of Kerry. It’s just great to see her getting the recognition for that and getting to play on the big days now again.”

Travelling up to headquarters on Tuesday for the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Finals  Captains Day, Siofra was able to soak up the feeling ahead of time, a somewhat quiet stadium ready to be filled by supporters come Sunday, O’Shea hopes for another big crowd to journey from the Kingdom, this weekend.

“I think you saw the crowd that came up last year, it was very loud around the place, we’re expecting a big crowd again the next day. We’ve seen the support we’ve gained from our run to the final last year, the support this year our Quarter Final against Meath was unbelievable down in Austin Stack Park.

A big crowd travelled to Semple Stadium to support us in the Semi Final so we’re expecting a big crowd the next day again and I’m sure Dublin will bring the same.”

O’Shea has gone from being a fan when Kerry were in the All Ireland decider in 2012, to now donning the green and gold jersey as a player, she believes the support they have received from the county including the young kids who go to their games, along with the media outlets has been incredible, also the sponsors have helped the game grow even more.

“I think you can see the huge amount of girls and boys following the Kerry ladies team and I think success probably brings that support as well and I was here for the 2012 All Ireland as a 10 year old girl watching on, you know to see the change in Ladies Football since then has been unbelievable.

The work that Lidl and TG4 and all of them are doing, even down in Kerry like the papers and Radio Kerry, the amount of coverage they are giving us is class, it’s really increasing our profiles and I think more people are buying into it and their following on now so it’s great to have that support base behind us.”

The Southern Gaels Sharpshooter has been a senior football since joining the panel in 2019, coming off the back of playing at Minor level where Long and Quill were the management team.

She now believes that with the growth of the sport in Kerry, all of the squad are now well known, everyone is crowded around after games, young kids looking for selfies and autographs off their heroes, something that brings joy to the panel being able to inspire the next generation.

“This is my fifth season now involved, I think you can even see the changes since I came in and the amount of people coming to our games, the young kids like they actually know us now and I think they actually know who’s who and they know who play’s where.

Whereas before I think they were just looking on and they probably knew the main players like the Louise’s, they knew Lorraine Scanlon and likes but they probably didn’t know all the players, where now I think you know most players are now recognisable around Kerry and around their hometown and stuff, it’s great to see that and it’s great to see the growth, we’re role models now and I think we’re starting to see ourselves as that so it’s great to be inspiring the next generation.”

2023 serves as the first time since the 1989 and 1990 Finals, where Kerry have appeared in consecutive outings. 30 years on since their last success, 2012 bridged the gap of 19 years between final appearances.

Kerry were a dominant force in the 1980’s and 1990’s, winning ten of their eleven All Ireland’s in a row. Mary Jo Curran, Bridget Leen, Annette Walsh Flaherty, Marian Doherty and Marina Barry are just some of the Kerry women who paved the way for the next generation.

Since then however Kerry have been in a famine, a win on Sunday would see them move to 12 wins, making them the top side in the country, appearing in 13 finals they have only lost two, O’Shea believes the impact of the management team of Darragh Long and Declan Quill has been a massive boost to Ladies Football in Kerry.

“30 years is a long time in Kerry, you know when you see the success the men have been having and the success the Ladies had before us, they were a great team back in the 80s and 90s and there hadn’t been a lot of success down in Kerry since.

It’s a very long time but we’re here as a group, we’ve probably been the same kind of group for the last four years under the management of Darragh Long and Declan Quill. The job they’ve done with us and the stability they brought to Kerry Ladies Football has been unbelievable. 

The belief they have in us I think that’s driven us on and I think we’ve came on leaps and bounds since they first came in, we’re starting to see that stability come through now, to be in back to back All Ireland’s is great for us and hopefully we can go one step further on Sunday.”

With O’Shea out for Sunday, Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh will once again take on the role as captain, Kerry hoping to end their wait, O’Shea is not too caught up in just who would lift the Brendan Martin Cup on Sunday should Kerry win, following their league success earlier in the year, they have the taste of success and coming into 2023, they only had one goal in mind.

“We got a bit of a taste of it with our league success that was great for Kerry and to build on that would be amazing like, when we went back training this year, we had one goal in mind that was to go one step further than last year, it would be absolutely huge like.

I don’t think it matters who lifts the cup or who brings it down to Kerry, we’re all in it as a team and between the team, the extended panel, the backroom team, the management, we’re all there we have one goal in mind and we want to bring Brendan Martin back to the Kingdom.”