Ladies Gaelic Football

54 | WINTER 2021 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie By KEVIN EGAN I f the measure of a club's success is the number of trophies that have passed through the hands of team captains down the years, then Mungret St. Paul's LGFA club can consider themselves to be quite successful. Since Limerick affiliated to the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in 1991, just seven clubs have won senior titles in the county, and Mungret St. Paul's, having topped the pile in the Treaty County in 1992, 1994 and 2013, are proud to be on that list. Intermediate championships in 2001, 2006 and 2011 and a junior championship in 1999, as well as a number of underage titles at various grades, have also been accumulated. However, if a measure of a club's success is their engagement with the local community and the level of activity that takes place from the youngest underage grade right up to adult, then there aren't MUNGRET ST. PAUL'S CELEBRATE THEIR 30 TH ! too many in the country that can top the work of the club from the South-west frontier of Limerick city. 30 years old this year, Mungret St. Paul's started out like so many other ladies IF A MEASURE OF A CLUB'S SUCCESS IS THEIR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND THE LEVEL OF ACTIVITY THAT TAKES PLACE FROM THE YOUNGEST UNDERAGE GRADE RIGHT UP TO ADULT, THEN THERE AREN'T TOO MANY IN THE COUNTRY THAT CAN TOP THE WORK OF THE CLUB." football clubs of the time. A handful of stalwarts, one in particular, traversed the local area looking to recruit adult players, and they put teams on the field and went from there. In Mungret, Vera O'Brien was the driving force, and she has been officially credited with founding the club. "A good few of the girls in the area at the time played soccer, and Vera recruited them all to come down playing football" says current club PRO Mary Murphy, who said that it was around ten years later when the current focus on underage development and catering for as much of the local community as possible really kicked off. Colette O'Grady and Catherine Murphy organised underage training and while numbers were small initially, the two women kept the faith, kept pitching for new players in the local notes and local schools, worked with those that showed up, and soon the club carved out a place for itself with girls from the area. 2002 brought the first championship titles in U-12B, U-14B and U-16B and Mungret retained their U-12 and U-14 titles in 2003. Neighbouring areas like Patrickswell, Kildimo and Ballybrown provide some players due to the absence of an LGFA club in those regions, and that has also helped bolster numbers. GAA President's Award recipient Catherine Murphy, Mícheál Naughton LGFA president, and Róisín Upton and Naomi Carroll. C LU B F O C U S : M U N G R E T ST. PAU LS

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