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32 | AUTUMN 2019 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie SCHOOL FOCUS COLÁISTE ÍOSAGÁIN O n September 15 th , the Ladies Gaelic Football Association smashed the record for attendance at an All Ireland Final with 56,114 souls bearing witness to Mick Bohan's Dublin troops sealing a trio of successive All Ireland titles with their defeat of Galway. There was also a different kind of history made last Sunday and indeed two weeks previously at the All Ireland semi final against Cork. Incredibly, five of the six starting defenders for Dublin all attended Coláiste Íosagáin, an all girls Irish school on the Stillorgan Road; Éabha Ruitléis, Aoife Ní Chatháin, Niamh Ní Choileáin, Martha Ní Bhroin agus Sinéad Nic Gualraic. The school's pride in their five All Ireland winners is instantly apparent. Scoil Príomhoide, Sean Delap was full of praise for the newly crowned champions, 'we are extremely proud of these young athletes and their commitment and dedication is a great example to the school community. They had no problem mixing sport with academic activity and proved successful in both disciplines. I have a firm belief that both go hand in hand together and hope that they can encourage others to follow in their footsteps.' Indeed, it says a lot about the connection the five girls have to their alma mater when they posed together after the full time whistle and almost immediately contacted their LGFA coach and PE, Geography and Maths teacher Ellen Nic Phiarais. Ellen was delighted to receive the photo; 'Éabha actually sent that to me after the All Ireland and that nearly meant more to me. Despite having left the school years previous, she decides to text me! It just shows how fantastic the girls were and it's a lovely photo of them together.' The connection to Dublin LGFA stretches even wider with Laura Ní Chatháin, Rachel Ní Airtnéada and Cassie Sultan also training with the squad and the team's nutritionist; Kate Nic Dháibhid also a past pupil. The school participates in four main sports; ladies football, camogie, basketball and athletics winning national titles in all four over the last number of years. Ellen explained that the success seemed to happen cyclically; 'Everything goes in rotation. At times basketball was really strong, football was very strong, then camogie and athletics. Between 2011 and 2016 we won four All Ireland titles in football. It kind of just took off.' Niamh and Martha were a year apart from each other and were fortunate to be among a large number of footballers, while a similar situation occurred with Éabha and Aoife. Sinéad had finished Passion, determination & banoffee pie! Clockwise from top left: Team captain Aedín Ní Dhónaill lifts the cup as her team- mates celebrate. TESCO HomeGrown PPS Senior A Final. 2 Sinéad Goldrick, left, and Niamh Collins of Dublin lift the Brendan Martin Cup. 3 Aoife Kane of Dublin 4 Martha Byrne of Dublin by Aisling Clery