Camogie is in the blood

Séamas McAleenan

When the final whistle sounded last month in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Premier Junior camogie semi-final in Glenisk O’Connor Park, all three Fitzsimons sisters were in the mix for the official Player of the Match award.

Middle sibling Shanise picked it up for her two third-quarter points, that were followed almost immediately by the delivery for Niamh Keenaghan’s goal. Others favoured Hannah for her first half goal direct from a sideline, while the oldest, Rebecca, was part of the unbreachable Cavan half-back line.

The Fitzsimons girls were always destined to wear the blue of Cavan. They come from a sports-mad family. Granny Nancy, who lives next door and is 97, insists on a picture every match day, most of the time along with their first cousin and teammate Alannah Tierney, who lives across the road.

Mum Tina is one of 12 siblings, all of whom played GAA/camogie. She didn’t hang up her hurl until 2018, so that she got the chance to play for Denn alongside Hannah, her youngest.

Tina, Rebecca and Shanise were in the team that won the Cavan Junior Championship two years earlier, the club’s first trophy at adult level.

All three are dual players, although football has taken a back seat temporarily since Cavan’s run to Croke Park gained momentum. But they might well have missed out on camogie completely, like their oldest sister Natasha.

“There was just football for Natasha and she never really got into camogie like the rest of us,” explained Shanise, who has represented Cavan in both codes.

“She never had camogie in primary school. It started when Rebecca was there and then there was interest in the club and that’s when mam got involved with the underage.

“Mam had played with her sisters and she would have had a big influence on us growing up. Football was always there too. You’d have football on a Monday, camogie on a Tuesday and so on for the rest of the week.

“We won the Cavan senior camogie in 2024,” continues Rebecca. “I played at the start of the championship and got to join the celebrations alright. I became pregnant that year with Adrianna, who is now a year and a half.

“She has changed my life – and I suppose everybody’s life in the house. I couldn’t continue to play camogie at this level without the support I get from Mammy and Daddy.

“We have continued playing both games at senior level right up to February this year, when we got the call from [manager, Phillip Brady]. We still play football but are more focussed on camogie at the minute.”

Brady convinced them all, but particularly Rebecca, that it would be worth the effort and that everyone could make the situation work.

“Philip phoned each of us and told us that Cavan could go all the way. He rang me and basically told me that I needed to get into shape. He knew about Adrianna but just saying that drove me on. He knew I would rise to it.

“I thought I was the only one that got that treatment. I found out later that he had said something similar to nearly everyone. He has a way with words, your typical politician!”

All three work within a few miles of home, Rebecca in a local factory, Shanise teaching business and accounting in Monaghan, while Hannah has just finished her first year in primary teaching and is currently job-hunting.

Denn has nine players in the county panel this year, almost all of them starting games.

“Other years there would have been the three of us and maybe one or two others,” said Hannah. “We still consider ourselves a small club in Cavan, so winning the county championship in 2024 was such a huge achievement.

“I think winning the county senior really encouraged a lot more to play with the county,” continues Shanise.

“It’s great for the club that so many of us are in with the county this year, getting the best training, playing with the best girls in the county, playing against the other teams in the championship and now getting to play in Croke Park.

“Getting to play in Croke Park will definitely be a big deal for the family. Mammy has 11 brothers and sisters, all of them played GAA or camogie. Many of them are now in the USA and all over. For our granny to have four granddaughters playing in Croke Park on August 9th is just amazing – and she intends being there too. It’s just so exciting.”

“If someone had told me a few years ago that I would be playing in an All-Ireland final in Croke Park, I would never have believed it,” says Rebecca. “So you can imagine what it’s like for the uncles and aunts and cousins. We’re really living out their dreams as well.

“Look, it’s just massive!”

Will the sisters seek each other out at the final whistle? On previous evidence? Rebeccas offers an answer.

“Well, it depends if we are near each other. Like, I am in the backs, Hannah is in midfield and Shanise is usually at the other end of the field. And Alannah’s up there too. They mightn’t be the first I get to, but yes, we get to hug each other eventually.

“Then half an hour later, we start a fight in the car on the way home.”