Tyrrell - Gaelic Writers Award Winner
- Nov 10,2023
Hannah Tyrrell feels like she has more to give …
Article By John Harrington as published on www.gaa.ie
Later today Dublin ladies football star Hannah Tyrrell will add another individual award to what must be by now a groaning trophy cabinet when she is honoured as the Gaelic Writers' Association Ladies Football Personality of the Year, in association with EirGrid.
It’s a well-deserved accolade after an outstanding season that was gilded by an incredible individual display in the All-Ireland Final against Kerry when she kicked eight points.
The big question that all Dublin supporters would like to know the answer to is whether Tyrrell will be back in a sky-blue jersey next year, but the 33-year-old still hasn’t made her mind up one way or the other.
“To be honest, no, I haven't,” says Tyrrell. “I obviously haven't ruled it out, there are a number of factors for me at play as to whether I play on for another year or not. It's hugely tempting to walk away on the high that I had this year. But I also feel that maybe there's something more to give.
“I'm going to give it a few more months, spend time with the family. Logistically with a young baby at home I need to see if I can make it work. That remains to be seen. The girls know that if I do come back I'm giving 100 per cent and I'm there for the team and hopefully we go on and do the business.
“I have to know whether it’s the right option for me at this time in my life. When you play football we all know that there are sacrifices to make in other areas of your life. And that can be really tough at times, particularly on your family. So there are various factors there. I'm an all in kind of gal, so if I can't give 100 per cent it's not fair on my team-mates.”
The multi-talented Tyrrell won an FAI Cup winners medal in 2011 and a Six Nations championship in 2015, but rates this year’s All-Ireland title with Dublin as the sweetest sporting triumph of the lot.
Her first sporting love was Gaelic football, and when she returned to it in 2021 after an seven year hiatus from the Dublin team the ambition was always to win the biggest prize of all.
The achievement hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but she’s enjoyed the warm glow of satisfaction that’s still palpable three months after the final victory over Kerry.
“I think I probably won't fully appreciate what we've achieved this year and it won't fully sink until a couple of years down the line,” she says.
“But, yeah, things have calmed down considerably. Just being able to sit and look back and watch the game and enjoy it all again and experience it again and chat about it with my family has been great. It was just an unbelievable year for me personally and obviously for the team as well. I'm just very grateful it all worked out well.
“It still feel very surreal to be honest, to have had the game I had and to win it as well. It's very hard to put into words and describe it because it's been something I've been chasing for a while. So for it to finally come to fruition is brilliant, but also a bit surreal.”
What made the achievement all the more satisfying is that few people tipped a Dublin team that very much looked like one in transition to go all the way this year.
“Yeah, definitely extra-special from the point of view that at the start of the season we weren't really in great shape to be honest," says Tyrrell. "We had a lot of newcomers coming in and we lost a lot of experience. As we went through the league we maybe thought we wouldn't achieve what we wanted to. We still wanted to win the All-Ireland but we didn't really maybe think it was possible this year.
“So, definitely, as things started to really kick throughout the summer and then when we put in that performance against Kerry in the Final, it was hugely satisfying, very sweet. For other people we didn't think too much or care too much about what they thought or whether we were favourites or not.
“Kerry were obviously favourites coming in and were obviously the form team. In fairness to them, they had been phenomenal all year. But, for us, the satisfying bit was more that we changed our own narrative. We didn't believe too much at the start but we put the hard work in and never gave up and we succeeded in the end.”