"THE IRISH ARE COMING!"
If you’ve never heard thousands of Irish people singing ‘Fields of Athenry’, get ready!
On Saturday, Ireland and Australia will meet in the historic first AFLW representative match at North Sydney Oval, and with plenty of Irish people living in Australia, don’t be surprised if it sounds more like Croke Park than Sydney.
The Irish don’t do things by halves: If Ireland are playing somewhere, we’ll be there to support our country, no matter the sport.
When I first came to Australia in 2019, there were only a handful of Irish players here. Cora Staunton was the first female Irish athlete to make the move, creating a pathway for the rest of us. Now in 2026, there are more than 40 Irish players across the competition, with more girls back home asking questions and dreaming of the opportunity to play here.
People often ask me if AFLW is popular in Ireland and the answer is absolutely!
Every year I’m always surprised by the amount of people asking about it when I return home. What I find even more interesting is that it’s not just me or Brisbane - they know all the Irish players and the clubs they play for. I always spot random AFL jerseys around Ireland now, too.
Australia has given Irish athletes something we never had playing GAA - the dream to play sport professionally. Gaelic football is completely amateur, so players balance full-time jobs while playing with their counties. Because of the similarities between AFLW and Gaelic football, Irish players are able to adapt to AFLW quickly, with many Irish players winning best and fairest awards at their clubs and being selected in All-Australian teams.
During the AFLW season, our national TV channel TG4 broadcasts two games every weekend. There’s also a weekly round-up of all the AFLW that is done in Irish, which I always find funny to hear! It’s another example of how invested people back home have become in the competition and the Irish players themselves.
Sport has always been something that brings Irish people together. I remember in 2023 when Australia hosted the Women’s FIFA World Cup, thousands of Irish fans in Australia gathered to cheer the Irish team on. I expect the same atmosphere at this game. With such a huge Irish community living in Australia, especially Sydney, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more green jerseys than gold.
Being in Australia the past six years has made me appreciate Ireland even more. I love talking about home, but putting on an Irish jersey is different. It brings me back to where it all started - my family, my local GAA club, my county and everyone who has been a part of my journey.
This match feels very patriotic, not just because it’s Ireland v Australia but because it represents the Irish community in Australia. Travelling here after university or taking a career break to experience the ‘Aussie lifestyle’ has been very common for generations of Irish people. Funnily enough, I was born in Sydney after my parents moved here in their late twenties for four years. They didn’t return to Australia until 2022 to watch me play with Brisbane, which felt like a full circle moment.
The thing I’m looking forward to most is coming together with the Irish girls. It feels more like a reunion than a group of strangers. The GAA in Ireland is surprisingly small, so even if you haven’t met someone chances are you know who they are, what county they play for and have mutual friends. There’s already an understanding of how each of us plays and a huge sense of pride of representing our country together. Running out with my fellow Tipperary teammates Aishling Moloney, Aish McCarthy and Niamh Martin makes it even more special.
I can already picture Irish flags waving, ‘Fields of Athenry’ being sung and plenty of Guinness being drunk.
I feel incredibly proud and grateful to get to represent Ireland, and I know every one of the girls feel the same. We’re making history, but more importantly we're celebrating how far women's sport has come. From young girls in Ireland watching AFLW on TG4, to Irish supporters filling North Sydney Oval, to a team of women who left home to chase an opportunity on the other side of the world, this match represents so much more than football.
It's a celebration of women in sport, the Ireland-Australia connection and the journey that brought us here. I can't wait to be part of this historic day!