Ladies Gaelic Football

20 | SPRING 2022 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie looking for an outlet to satisfy her sporting needs. "I was a selector with Tony Murphy on the underage teams in Milltown and I was a committee member," said Hernon. "I was a big part of the finance committee that started to develop the Milltown pitch. And I was on the GAA Committee in Milltown as very much a singular female in a male structure. But I was there anyway and in 1998 a woman who had four girls asked the question: 'how come we are not playing Ladies football?' An ad-hoc meeting took place and Hernon became the first chairperson of Milltown LGFA. Milltown junior ladies would contest the All-Ireland sevens final in 2005. "We started playing junior football in 2000 and at the time my youngest girl, Marian, was 11. Claire Hehir, who is my niece, was also 11. And those two girls became junior footballers at that age. "We excelled after that at sevens. We were a small community but we won about four All-Ireland sevens titles in junior and one in intermediate and I was involved on the ground." Marian Hernon ended up playing for Galway at underage level while Claire Hehir went all the way to the senior set-up, even captaining them. "The other person I cannot talk about Milltown football without talking about is Aoibheann Daly," said Hernon. "Aoibheann, when we started the club, she came to the door here to me. She wasn't minor, she was 18. She said can I join your club because there is no club in Kilconly and I said yes. "Yvonne started her football career with Milltown and in 2002 she was on the junior panel that won the All-Ireland. Down the road she also married my son. "Yvonne was nominated for six All-Stars and won two of them, in 2005 and 2006." Milltown was fast becoming a powerhouse for Ladies Football in the west and Hernon continued to provide her nous and experience throughout the club. But she went further afield too and she was a selector with Con Moynihan with the Galway minors. She also got involved as Liaison Officer with Galway seniors with Gay O'Brien. One of Galway Ladies football's greatest days also coincided with Hernon's term as secretary. She became secretary for an extended period beginning in 2003 and she was there when Galway won the All-Ireland in 2004 under PJ Fahy. "So then I took a little bit of break from Galway. I went back again as secretary for another few years. And in 2014, maybe 2015, I left that," said Hernon. "But in 2016 I took secretary of Connacht and I'm there since and I'm ready to retire. It's time for me to put my feet up." Hernon has seven children and 15 grandchildren and she has paved the way for great things in their future too but that night in February was all about her. ...AND I WAS ON THE GAA COMMITTEE IN MILLTOWN AS VERY MUCH A SINGULAR FEMALE IN A MALE STRUCTURE. BUT I WAS THERE ANYWAY AND IN 1998 A WOMAN WHO HAD FOUR GIRLS ASKED THE QUESTION: 'HOW COME WE ARE NOT PLAYING LADIES FOOTBALL?" "The family are so proud. When I got the President's Award about six years ago, on that occasion my son was getting married and his stag party was on that night so they weren't able to come with me," said Hernon. "I wasn't expecting them to change plans and come to Croke Park with me this time but they did and it was absolutely great. "My youngest grandchild was even with us and it was great, they were proud of me." Above: Mary Hernon is presented with the Volunteer Hall of Fame award by Ladies Gaelic Football Association President Mícheál Naughton and Mr Seamus Newcombe, chief executive officer of currentaccount.ie HALL OF FAME VOLUNTEER AWARDS

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