Fionnuala and Dervla Crilly

McQuillan’s and family connections:

“My mum lived across the field from the McQuillan’s so when we were younger we would have been in Hannahstown. Apart from the fact that my Granda [John ‘Ginger’ McQullian] and uncles [Sean and Pat ‘Badger’ ] all played- when we were younger the most I did was go across to the club to get my Granda cigarettes. We weren’t involved with the club as children, we were aware of the matches and bits and pieces and we’d have gone to the sports days. That was about 40-years ago and the McQuillan’s are the big family connection. There are so many of us, seven or eight different families connected to the club”.

“We wouldn’t have got up to watch my uncles play, I do remember going up to the old pitch at Budore- my mum would have taken us up there and we would have taken part in the sports days all them those years- not knowing I would have been part of running that in years to come”.

“My Granny, Mummy, Auntie Tessie and Auntie Eileen played darts- in the height of the trouble the four of them travelled up and down them roads in the worst parts of Belfast to play darts. They used to drive to the bottom of the top road and park beside the old Travellers camp at the top of the Monagh Bypass. They used to leave the car there and walk into the heart of Turf Lodge to a club and play and walk back up and drive back to Hannahstown”.

“If I suggested doing that now my mother would craic up – but she did that and they all had kids. They would have went right down into the Docks to play darts in the height of the troubles. Looking back on it now, they think about it- they just did what they always did and thought they’d been fine. I’d say it was very hairy going into some of them places- I wouldn’t have done it”.

Getting involved:

Nicola Martin (my sister) took Donal- he was a year older than Dervla. Then I took Dervla up because Louise Kennedy’s daughters daughter’s had started playing football. I remember bringing Dervla up to play football and she didn’t want to play it. I remember Mary Gibson was taking the team and setting her in the middle of the pitch and saying to Mary Gibson ‘ don’t be letting her off that pitch, she has to learn to play football’. That was it and she played football- she wasn’t overly keen on it, but she went every single week. Mummy Mary and Siobhan [Gibson] took it at that stage. She was four coming five and they played football every single week- there was no camogie at that stage. It was only football”.

“I just found it very sociable- you got to talk to mothers and meet people. It was amazing how many people you knew from past life that were involved with the club. As we were McQuillan’s and we were known, everybody knew who we were and there was even a sense of family at that stage from older people that would have been floating around the club. The likes of Shanty and Fitzy would have known who my mum and Granda was- there was a sense of family even at that stage. That was in the very early days about nine or ten years ago”.

Summer Camps and club activities:

“Dervla did the Saffron Og to start off with, the Cul Camp was big at that stage – there was big, big numbers and I remember Mary Gibson making and feeding them the toast when they came up. Dervla did the Saffron Og and then the next year moved up to the Cul Camp. I wasn’t overly involved and didn’t become involved until Fiontannn came along- I would say I’ve been involved in the club myself seven years”.

“When they would have done the Saturday morning training sessions at the hall in Hannahstown there was a great atmosphere. We used to make tea and coffees and there was a brilliant buzz. It was a real mummy’s meeting place and a mummy’s social end. The kids did their hours training and all the parents stood out in the hallway and drunk tea and coffee, there was a great camaraderie and a great sense of club spirit there- without really being aware of that”. 

“I think that has sorted of faded to some extent, Nicola and I would have been one of the driving forces to ensure that there was tea’s and milk and coffee there every Saturday morning. You saw the same kids and there was a great club spirit there on a Saturday morning in that hall. The numbers were colossal at that stage, there would have been twice the number of kids that there is doing it now. You couldn’t have moved in the big hall”.

“Doing that ended up with me being involved with the presentation dinner- which I organised from seven or eight years with others. It was through the tea and coffee making on a Saturday morning that we progressed to end up helping and run the presentation dinner. That was the link”.

“We would have gone up and did the Christmas parties, but it wasn’t until I started coaching that Bukey started picking on me to get up the front and be part of it. When the kids were wee- the Christmas party was a big highlight. There was such a club and family spirit within it and also it was a good time to meet up with people and the social aspect of it, apart from the training”.

Coaching:

“Linda, Sharon and Aisling had come across to start the Camogie – they were doing it and Louise’s two [Hannah and Sarah] were doing it and Dervla wasn’t interested in it. It was moved to a Sunday in La Salle- she went down and did that and joined in. She was part of that and our Fiontann was two and half or three”.

“He started and I would brought him. We had one of those black fish-bowl helmets and he liked that- but we would have got into the queue and pushed and shoved everybody and wanted to be at the front of the queue every single time – at every drill he wanted to be at the front and that’s how I got involved. Removing him from the front of the queue and putting him at the back to let other kids get. That was it, I went from standing at the side-line and intervening with him to actually saying ‘where do you want me to go, where do you want me to be’?”.

“It progressed from the girls being in doors and the numbers grew and the girls numbers grew to the point that it separated. There was girls and boys and I still would have helped out with the younger ones because Fiontann was there- but also then- I just got more heavily involved with the girls and that was the start of me being involved with the Camogie and the girls”.

“I never played before- I played in Queens, I went to Queens and played in Queens and got split open on my first day and ended up in hospital with stiches in my face. I played Hockey in school, but I really was a runner. In my younger day’s-instead of doing any Gaelic sports- I was running with Belfast Olympic and travelled the length and breadth of Ireland to run with Belfast Olympic. This is completely different because running is singular compared to Gaelic games- which is such a team effort. I had never any exposure to Gaelic games until I went up to the club”.

“I learnt from watching YouTube and watching other people coach, when I first came into it seven years ago there wasn’t an awful lot of Camogie clubs in Belfast. There was only a few but now there has been a massive surge in the last couple of years. There is so many new clubs coming on board. I did my coaching in fundamentals- which is a mixture of football and hurling with Kieran Megraw. That was the start from me- I did that and then did the Camogie one with Gerry McKenna and a few others at Gort na Mona. I did Level One at the club about three years ago up at the club. I have learnt what I learnt from watching other people, watching videos and watching YouTube, looking at books and watching how it should be taught. The girls would learn off each other as well”.

Growth of Camogie in the club:

“There has been so many firsts and funnily I was thinking about this- I don’t even know which one scares me the most. I think it was the first time we won at U-14, we beat Tir na Nog up in Randalstown. It must have been three or years ago- Dervla was in P7 and was 10 and was playing U-14”.

“We managed to beat them, and I literally stood and cried- I was so, so proud of them. We’d won at U-12 because we’d smaller numbers but at U-14 it was a big step-up. It was our first win at U-14 and I was absolutely moved to tears. The players couldn’t believe, and I couldn’t believe it”.

“We competed in our first Championship match at the club and that was a first- the club had never competed at Championship at U-14- that was about three years ago. When we actually got done to the first time I fielded at U-6 team – I put out 5 kids at U-6 and from that U-6 team we now have 19 children who have moved onto play U-8. It was thriving, absolutely and utterly thriving – but it’s constantly building”.

“One year moves up and it’s constantly trying to attract new children and people in to come into fill the teams. We can actually field from U-6 right through to U-16. Last year we got through to the Antrim B Feile semi-final-  which we had never taken part in before. We’ve had so many firsts and Camogie is part of the club now- it’s not in the side. It’s a major part of Lámh Dhearg. We’re known for it and have a name for it, and it will only continue to grow”.

“It was horrendous trying to get it off the ground- I fought with more people. It’s a constant mantra – the girls have to be counted and it was so difficult. In the early days when we didn’t have teams I used to take Dervla and Hannah down and we used to stand on the side-line alongside Peter and say to Peter ‘put those girls on, go on put them girls on’. That was how they ended up so good- because they used to played with the boys”.

“They played right the way through to U-12 and that was how we got the teams off the ground. We weren’t registered so couldn’t be part of the proper Antrim fixtures because we didn’t have enough kids. The girls who were keen enough played with the boys and it did them the world of good. Up until last year- at underage we trained the girls with the boys and we still train and girls and boys together at U-6. This year, because we’ve so many U-8s – we’ve had to separate them, we’ve had no choice. There are 18 girls and 18 boys and the hall at St Gerard’s just couldn’t with 36 children all at once. We’ve had to separate them”.

“It’s a labour of love- its once of those things that I couldn’t take my foot off the peddle because I would be afraid of losing it and it would slip. I constantly, constantly feel I have to work at it to keep the girls profile up. I know that senior ladies football at the club is flying but Camogie is always the poor relation. We’re always playing second fiddle and it’s a constant, constant battle to make sure that we’re recognised somewhere within the club”.

Croke Park:

“We took an U-12 team to ‘Caman to Croker’ we won through in Ulster and got entered into ‘Caman to Croker’ three years ago. The girls played on the hallowed turf of Headquarters and it was an absolutely amazing day. It was fantastic from start to finish. We had girls, coaches, parents and grand parents that travelled down. All got to watch them play and they got their photographs taken with the official Camogie signs and their tours and got to play on the hallowed turf”.

“it was one of those memories that you’ll never forget, and it was an amazing day. Unfortunately, the U-12s this year had got through again and were to get this year and they didn’t get that opportunity because everything has got cancelled. It’s a terrible loss and shame for those children- that U-12 team are a great team and they would have absolutely relished going this year. They’re coached by Conor Fitzsimons”.

Féile:

“Last year we had two Féile exhibitions – one week we were playing Féile football and the next week we were playing Féile Camogie. With the Camogie, they split it into north Antrim and Belfast. We played the Belfast teams and won the B Championship in Belfast- which left off us going up to play Brídíní Og, Glenravel. We went out in the first half and handed it to them on a plate- we didn’t perform and then in the second half we came right back to within a point. The girls laid out and left everything on the pitch that day and we lost that semi-final by a point. This year I had high hopes that the U-14s could have did well, this year they had introduced a Féile B and a Féile C for Camogie – like football. They’re equally as good a team than most in Belfast- the only team in Belfast that would have been stronger than us at U-14 would have been St Pauls. They could have done quite well and it’s just unfortunate that it’s stalled”.

“I was part of the Féíle football, and we travelled with the girls to Manorhamilton- that was a magnificent experience and an absolutely fabulous club experience. The whole build-up to it and then going away that weekend just incredible- an amazing feeling and it was such a club feeling. It was a really, positive, positive club feeling. It was an extended family and it’s hard to believe that it’s nearly a year ago”. 

“It’s the whole build-up to it- with the football they weren’t expected to go through, and they won through and got to the next stage, then they won through again and got further. It was building and building and building, the atmosphere with the girls and camaraderie with the girls was building. The hype with having their parents involved and the organising and fundraising to get that weekend sorted. The whole feeling of the girls leaving the club and representing the club- the whole weekend was a fantastic weekend”.

“The Feíle seems to be a very, very positive aspect of the club- being involved and getting away is a big plus for the girls and its always a thoroughly enjoyable weekend for the parents as well. For the team it’s a good bonding weekend and it’s always the best of craic”.

GFM&O:

“I was there at the start of it and was one of the original mothers, the craic was good- the problem was I just couldn’t commit to it. It was Camogie three or four nights a week and matches. I just couldn’t commit to it and it just became more and more difficult- I didn’t have the time to train and there was always something else”.

“Two or three years on- I have went back to do a bit of training with the girls. It’s more for the camaraderie and the craic of it and also the company. It’s something for me rather than being involved 90 per cent of the time with the children and with the teams”.

“The games became quite competitive- at the start it was a fitness thing and a bit of craic, but when you work full-time-I couldn’t take the risk of getting injured. That was one of the things made me shy away a bit. Apart from anything else I didn’t have the guts that the kids have. It’s okay being a coach on the side-line- it’s a different ball game when you’re doing it yourself”.

“The GFM&O is probably one of the most positive features that has come out of the GAA in the last few years. The concept has grown dramatically within the clubs and it’s an outlay for mothers to get together for a bit of craic – without the children and a wee bit of fitness. They get to learn and see what the kids actually do on the pitch, it’s easy to shout at kids from the side-line but when you’re trying to itself yourself it’s a very different ball game. Of late, it has been one of the most positive features within Lámh Dhearg”.

Personal and family benefits:

“My life just revolves around the club- it completely, completely revolves around it. From being on the side-line and shouting and encouraging, when they’re training and I’m walking around the club – I could speak to every person that I meet. I would know 99.9 percent of the children that are floating around that club under the age of 14. Most of them I would have coached or been through my fundamental’s hurling. If not I’ll ask them why not? And if there is a wee girl floating around the club I’ll be asking ‘do you not play Camogie’? and football will be an afterthought”.

“I make it my business to know every child that’s floating around the club and speak to every parent because that’s what it’s all part of. We’re part of the bigger community and knowing the kids that are around in that community is as important to me as nearly my own. It’s just an extended family- just before the season [in theory] was kicking-off, I signed two girls to go down the road and play Minor for Gort na Mona because I couldn’t have a team. I stood in the changing room and cried- I was absolutely heart broken. I had those kids from they were 10 and they were now 17 and I was losing them. I was devastated and totally gutted that I was losing two kids to go to another team. I promised that I would have team to come back to and I would put together a Senior team. That is my aim- my aim is for Lámh Dhearg to have a Senior Ladies Camogie team and I can bring those two children-and a third one- back up the hill to play Camogie for Lámh Dhearg”.

“Conor [Fitzsimons] does the U-12 but I’m involved with every other team from U-6 to U-16. I send out the texts, do all the liaison and do all the bits with all the other Camogie team. I’ve some mothers that have come in with the bottom end of the U-8s and are helping out- which is great. Charlotte helps me out with U-6 but I’m heavily involved because I’m afraid of losing children to only playing football or not playing sports at all- which for me would be a horrendous loss. For kids now-a-days not to be involved in Gaelic sports would be horrendous. The problem is there is too many temptations- unfortunately no sport seems to be the biggest temptation of kids being involved in electronics rather than participating in any sort of sport”.

Front-line work:

“The last few weeks have been awful, and we’ve been so, so busy- then again I’m front-line but I’m not front-line. I have protection and we have the Perspex screen; we have protection. When you look at the proper front-line people like the nurses and the doctors who are working in those wards- I take my hat off to them. I’m dealing with patients and ensuring that people get their medication- which is vital- but not to the same extent as the nurses and doctors who are looking after very sick patients. There are different levels and life still goes on, people need their medication to ensure they don’t take heart-attacks and strokes to keep them out of hospital and well in these very challenging times. It doesn’t look like it is going to ease any time soon- I’ve great pride when I can ensure there is a continuity of care there for patients and I can still help people day-in, day-out. It’s challenging times and we just have to stay safe and hope and pray it will ease – if nothing so that I can get back to Camogie- which keeps me sane”.

How you joined:

“I remember my cousin Donal [Martin] coming with a Lámh Dhearg kit on and I said ‘I wanna have a kit, I wanna be better than him’ and that’s why I wanted to play. I remember being in Hannahstown Hall and Gerry McKenna and Mary Gibson and the only person I remember playing in the team with early on was Rhianna McKenna. Rhianna and I have played for the last 10-years and she’s in my class in school as well. We’ve been playing in the same team for a good 10-years and been good friends for 10-years. I remember being with Hannah Kennedy [my cousin] we were in the same primary school class all the way up and playing for the same team all the way up. It’s very much a family thing because all my cousins play”.

Summer highlights:

“The Cul Camp was always the highlight of my summer- everybody just seemed to be playing their best that week. The All-Ireland on the Friday was definitely the highlight and everybody playing against each other and having fun. We always wanted to beat the boys- I think we won more times than the boys to be honest. You feel like one big family at the end of Cul Camp because you’re all wearing the same kit, it’s like you’re all part of the same big massive thing and it’s a really good experience”.

Football and Camogie:

“It’s been the highlight of my life and my whole world revolves around it- playing from the age of four until now and making the county football team, being able to play for the schools team, making new friends, going to Feíle, winning the Championship with the U-16s last year, winning matches and trophies at U-12 and seeing me and my friends progress throughout the ages – is just something really special”.

Féíle experience:

“Féíle was incredible- we played two matches on the Friday night and the sun was setting, it was the most surreal feeling to hear all these people from different places talking and playing against them. Watching you and your team-mates play in this new place against people you’ve never played in was really surreal. This was never going to happen again with us”.

“We took it in our stride and rolled with it and tried our best- all the hard work we done before it paid off. Manorhamilton were our host club and they were so nice to us- we had such great craic with all the girls and our host family came to see our final as well. They were so caring of us and there was a real community aspect- even though we’d never met them before in our life’s”.

Friendships:

“I always remember playing with the same six girls growing up – it was Hannah [Kennedy], Orla Webb, Sarah, Tierna [Fegan], Rocha and Rhianna [McKenna] and myself. I remember starting from them at the start and now we’ve just growing up to be in the same team and play together”.

“One of the coaches I remember a lot from the start is Gerry [McKenna] and now I coach alongside him in the fundamentals sessions. My mummy coaching me from whenever I was younger- our whole world revolves around it. She’s brought me right up through the age groups- the same as everybody else” .

“Last year there was me, Ayla-Anna, Orla Webb and Hannah Kennedy. This year we’ve moved up to U-16 and Rachel Mulholland is our close friend and I’ve been friends with the majority of them for the last five years. We’ve grown together and seen each-other progress”.

County football:

“Being involved in the County is one of the best experiences because you get to make friends from other clubs and play with other girls. You’re improving yourself but it’s up and down the country and it’s also good to take back that little bit you learn at county- back to the club. You feel like a leader within your team and you have to help, County has really improved my standard of football and you get to meet new people. I was U-13 last year- I was the only one but this year Jodie Peoples, and Shannon McCann made the team with me. They’re always if I need them and I’m able to go to them we have the same experiences and to bring back to the club together- the stuff we’re learning at county. We were meant to be U-14 this year – but everything has got cancelled so it’s up in the air”.

Hopes and aspirations:

“This year I was hoping to win the league or Championship and to try to get something for the recognition and hard work we put in. The next couple of years- I want to win a senior Championship with the girls. We’ve worked so hard for it and it’s coming”.

“I would feel so proud if we got a senior Camogie team in the club- we’ve been playing since the age of five together and it’s been brought up as a significant part of our lives and to finally reach senior would be amazing” .

Benefits of playing for the club and identity:

“The club is just your family, it’s always there for you and you make so many friends and everyone is there for you. It’s like a big family feeling- if you’re up in the club you can have a puck-about or a kick-about and there is always somebody there to talk to and play with. It’s my whole social life basically. You’re there to see your friends as well as play and everything is fun. Even your coaches- you get to have a bit of craic with them and relax- but you’re still there to train hard and play hard”.