Echo Women in Sport: Three brilliant athletes honoured in 17th year of prestigious awards
Cork camogie player Saoirse McCarthy one of the monthly winners of The Echo Women in Sport awards. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
THE prestigious Echo Women in Sport awards are back for a 17th year.
The hugely popular scheme shines the spotlight on the best of female sport in Cork city and county and every three months we'll be revealing our monthly winners.
The judges aim to honour an electric mix of athletes each quarter and on this occasion, Glanmire basketballer Claire O'Sullivan, MTU Cork camogie captain Saoirse McCarthy and Munster and Ireland rugby dynamo Deirbhile Nic a Bháird were selected.
Given Cork's sporting prowess there is never a shortage of candidates but this trio has set a high standard for the rest of the year.
Claire O'Sullivan returned to the consistent form that saw her wear the Irish singlet at every level as The Address UCC Glanmire retained the Super League and added the Champions Trophy. That made it five out of six trophies across two seasons for Mark Scannell's side, who coped with the loss of some big names before the campaign.
O'Sullivan came up with vital plays when it mattered at the business end of the season while balancing family life off the court after the birth of her daughter Emma.
Saoirse McCarthy, though just 22, is now one of the main cogs in the Cork camogie team. An All-Star last season, she was also nominated the year before and helped her club Courcey Rovers to county glory in 2020.
McCarthy was the leader and marquee performer as MTU Cork got their hands on the Purcell Cup for the first time since 2016. Incidentally, another Courceys star Jacinta Crowley was the college captain on that occasion.
Deirbhile Nic a Bháird was the Player of the Match twice as Munster swept Leinster, Connacht and Ulster aside back in January. The Old Belvedere club member started her career in Cork and excelled in the Sevens game before returning to 15-a-side rugby and earning promotion to the Ireland squad for the Six Nations.
The Ballincollig woman had been capped four times in the tournament in 2019 but clearly, the best is yet to come.
In Wednesday's Echo, we've in-depth interviews with all three winners.
The previous overall winners of the Echo Women in Sport prize include some of the greatest Rebels of all-time with boxer Christina Desmond and rower Sanita Puspure both collecting the coveted trophy twice.
Irish soccer legend Denise O'Sullivan, capped 101 times for her country and off to the World Cup this summer, was picked in 2014, while Cork camogie captain Amy O'Connor was selected as the 2022 recipient at a ceremony in Páirc Uí Chaoimh earlier this year.
Jessica Scannell.
Briege Corkery.
Olive Loughnane.
Derval O’Rourke.
Juliet Murphy.
Orla Barry.
Christina Desmond.
Denise O’Sullivan.
Lizzie Lee.
Rena Buckley.
Saoirse Noonan.
Sanita Puspure.
Christina Desmond.
Sanita Puspure.
Emily Hegarty
Amy O'Connor.
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