Echo Women in Sport award: Laura O'Mahony inspires club rise to the top
Laura O'Mahony of Cork in action against Nicola Ward of Galway. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Like lots of players, Laura O’Mahony’s love affair with the GAA began with a football and family members in her garden.
The O’Donovan Ross and Cork footballer’s story started in familiar surroundings for many and has seen both Laura and her club rise to the top.
But all that may not have been as she didn’t really play any club football until she was ten and at that age gymnastics was another sport that she was big into.
“Gymnastics was the main sport I was interested in when I was younger,” she said. ‘I never had a huge love for any of the sports I was involved in and quit most of them back then.
“I went to Cúl Camps too but didn’t really start playing GAA properly until 2010.
“I played with the O’Donovan Rossa U12 team, before my dad started training the U14 boys. I used to go to those training sessions and that helped improve my skills as I got involved in all the drills and games.”
Laura played in three U12 county championship encounters with Carrigaline, games she will never forget as they brought her and O’Donovan Rossa on in leaps and bounds and in some ways laid the foundation for their Cork, Munster and All-Ireland victories over the last two seasons.
The sides couldn’t be separated after a U12 county semi-final and two subsequent replays went to extra-time. Heartbreakingly, Skibbereen lost in the third and final meeting by a single point. That loss still rankles but taught O’Mahony a valuable lesson.
“It’s a long time ago now but those matches really brought us on even though we were devastated to lose in the end,” she said.
‘We knew we were in each of those games but, even at U12, the disappointment of losing by a point was hard to deal with. At a young age, we would have been watching Cork win All-Ireland championships and kind of expected that we were going to win ourselves at some stage. That wasn’t the case though for a few years.”
In 2023 O’Donovan Rossa had a season to remember as they won the Cork Junior A championship. But they didn’t stop there and added Munster and All-Ireland titles to end the year on a high for the Skibbereen club.
In 2024 outsiders would have considered it a good season to solidify their place at intermediate level, but not Laura and her teammates.
Instead they went on to win the Cork and Munster intermediate championships. It was for her Player of the Game display in the Munster final that Laura was honoured with the December The Echo Women in Sport award.
Unfortunately, they lost out in the All-Ireland semi-final but looking back five championship trophies in two seasons is a magnificent achievement for Laura and O’Donovan Rossa.
“I think looking back we couldn’t even imagine the fact that we would win three major trophies in 2023. Then to think that we get two more in 2024, and the junior team as well, they won two trophies. So to be bringing that amount of silverware back to the club in two years is stuff of dreams.”
The club has a relatively small player base, which is growing all the time, but the bond between players, management and their supporters shows just how much they are all on this journey together as they bid to go on to glory at senior level.
“I think it's a bit of a mix of everything really, our management, the players and supporters. I think when we won two years ago, we were just hungrier for more again last year.
"The amount of people who go to our games is unreal, we got busloads up to the Munster final at Mallow and the same to Galway for the All-Ireland semi-final. So it's the backing and the chanting on the sideline that helps us.
“I hate to talk about the game in Galway, but they were probably there for us even more after we had lost than when we had won. So it just shows that like they're not just there for the good days. It's just like they're so happy to be with us and supporting us on our journey and we are just humbled by that.”
Laura is currently one of the stars of the Cork senior team and said that she always wanted to play for the Rebel county.
In 2017 she made her own little bit of history as the first player from her club to win an All-Ireland medal following her success with the Cork minors.
“I always wanted to play for Cork when I was a child. It was even my ambition at my Sixth Class graduation when I was asked what did I want to do. It was my 'what I wanted to be when I grew up'.
“I remember I was so small and petite and quiet. I was so nervous about it and when I made it, my mom and dad got the text and I was delighted.
“I've done it every year since and I haven't taken a break since then and I love it,” said the now 24-year-old teacher at Kinsale Community School.
Laura is thankful to her family, her parents and sister Grace, who have all helped her along the way and now she is looking forward to competing at senior level with her club and hopefully playing her part in seeing Cork win promotion from Division 2 of the Lidl National Football League back to the top flight.
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