Richard Bullick
Armagh may have relinquished their status as ladies gaelic’s National League champions with a heavy defeat to Kerry this month but the Orchard’s heroics of the past year are reflected in the shortlists for the Local Women Sport Awards.
There will be a real orange flavour to the black-tie banquet in Belfast’s Europa Hotel this Saturday night with plenty of Armagh representation at what is the third year of these ground-breaking awards for female sport in Ulster, backed by title sponsor GO Fuels.
On the back of their historic NFL Division One title triumph last April and reclaiming the provincial crown from Donegal with victory in the Ulster Senior Championship showpiece, the Orchard outfit are in the frame for Overall Team of the Year.
Former Armagh gaffer Greg McGonigle is up for both LGFA Manager of the Year and Overall Manager of the Year after steering the county team to those silverware wins and Clann Eireann to a second consecutive Ulster Senior Club Championship success.
Crossmaglen legend Lauren McConville and Clann Eireann captain Niamh Henderson are the leading contenders for LGFA Player of the Year, with the latter’s clubmate Roisin Mulligan a finalist in the Breakthrough Award category open to all sports.
Ulster Ladies Footballer of the Year McConville picked up her first national All Star last November after a season in which she won Player of the Match in the NFL final and both All Ireland Player of the Month awards for April.
Henderson had the distinction of winning Player of the Match in both Armagh and Clann Eireann’s Ulster Senior finals – as well as the Orchard county final – and the Ulster All Star shone on her return to inter-county football after a nine-year absence.
Newcomer Mulligan had the remarkable distinction of winning County Player of the Year at the end of her first senior season for Armagh and, like recent ABC Sportswoman of the Year nominee Henderson, she has received an 2024 Gaelic Life Ulster Clubs All Star.
McGonigle was crowned Ladies Football Manager of the Year at the same event and, given the success he presided over with both Armagh and Clann Eireann last season, it will be a surprise if he doesn’t pick up at least one more gong this weekend.
Orchard icon Caroline O’Hanlon, who made last season’s NFL Team of the League and received the 12th national All Star nomination of her incredible career along with ongoing netball achievements, has been shortlisted for Most Inspirational Sportswoman.
Meanwhile, O’Hanlon, McConville and Henderson’s former Orchard colleague Roisin Murphy has been shortlisted for both the Backroom Award and also the Unsung Heroine category for her significant contribution in two other sports.
The Silverbridge native was head physio for the Ireland women’s rugby team as they qualified for this year’s World Cup by finishing third in last spring’s Six Nations and is also doing good work as the Netball NI Board’s High Performance Director.
Armagh-born Maebh Clenaghan, a rising rugby star who won her second consecutive Celtic Challenge title with Wolfhounds last month followed by the Ulster Cup with Queen’s, has also earned her invitation to tread the red carpet on Saturday.
Local businessman Conor McElmeel joins Wolfhounds head coach Neill Alcorn on the shortlist for Rugby Manager of the Year after steering Dungannon to a resounding Ulster Shield success last April.
There is also recognition for another Clann Eireann woman Denise McDonald, who has been shortlisted for Referee of the Year – a category covering all sports – having officiated for the past three decades including taking charge of men’s club championship matches.
