You can see why Mairéad Dillon is so popular within the Galway dressing room. This is a player who has exhibited patience since getting called into the panel in 2019 by Cathal Murray, maintained her willingness and capacity to improve and capitalised on the opportunity when it presented itself to become a big-time player.
The proud product of junior club, Kilconieron, Dillon won the first of her three All-Ireland medals on the pitch against Cork last August and there is a fair argument that the westerners would not have prevailed but for her contributions.
When Tipperary threatened to spoil the party in the All-Ireland semi-final, drawing level early in the second half, Dillon was among the point scorers as Galway found another gear, finishing with two and clocking up a significant tackle and mileage count.
Better was to come. The Tribeswomen had rattled the champions early on in the final with their aggression but hadn’t a whole lot to show for it approaching the end of the first quarter, until Dillon tracked the marauding Aoife Donohue, who followed an outrageous pick-up with a trademark run through the heart of the Cork defence that drew three defenders.
There was still much to do when she took the pass without breaking stride. This is where the mind can be your enemy or your friend. Dillon carried around 10 metres, tapping the sliotar once off the bas of her hurley. She was just outside the 13 when letting fly, just as Libby Coppinger thought she might get close enough to make a challenge. Amy Lee hadn’t a prayer between the posts.
The reaction was notable too, speaking to the ice in the veins. There was a restrained fist pump but she just kept running, looping around and back out towards her position on the half-forward line. The emotional control was significant.
As expected, Cork fought might and main and it needed a pointed free by captain, Carrie Dolan, in the third minute of injury time to get the Tribeswomen over the line by the minimum margin.
The happiest of memories.
“Yeah, look, it was brilliant,” Dillon declares. “I suppose to be able to be part of the team in itself is such a huge honour and it’s nice to get the reward at the end of it. I’m just glad that we did get over the line, and all our hard work have paid off, and getting to go to New York with the girls this year was incredible. It doesn’t come around too often, so when you get rewards like that, you enjoy them. We celebrated well but once we came home from New York, that was 2025 parked, and we were focusing on this year’s campaign again.”
We will get to New York but let’s stay with the All-Ireland final. What does she recall of the goal?
“When I look back on it now, I just think it was great that it went in! Lucky enough that it did go in. Not too many people can say that they scored a goal in Croke Park on All-Ireland day. Cathal emphasises workrate and supporting the play and Aoife had the ball and it was just one of the moments where you just take the risk. Luckily, it worked out in the end.”
Keeping up with Donohue to make sure you are on her shoulder is no easy feat.
“I think I was more afraid of her reaction if I missed,” a laughing Dillon asserts of the notorious high standards of the dual player of the year.
Clearly this is gang with a good vibe, which made New York such a blast. Storm Hernando brought a snow blizzard that delayed their return for three days. Many of the players did not get to Ireland until a little more than 48 hours before taking on none other than Waterford, Sunday’s opponents in the Centra Camogie League Division 1A final at UPMC Nowlan Park (live on RTÉ2, throw-in 2.15pm). Unsurprisingly, they were a bit flat and lost by four points. Having also lost their opening tie, they were facing down the barrel of relegation but three straight wins earned them a rematch with the Déise.
“There’s worse places in the world that we could have been stuck for an extra few days. It was something out of our control. We kind of just had to make the best of a bad scenario. We celebrated well for the first five days up until then, and it was great to get a chance to go out as a team to New York and look at it. It was great to celebrate last year’s win, after all our hard work. We made the most of it and we had a great time. It was a great bonding session for all the younger girls and older girls as well, to be out there together.”
Dillon’s talents shone through from an early age. After first being selected for Galway at U14, she won two All-Ireland U16 medals (2015-16)and a minor memento in 2017. On the extended panel for the senior triumphs of 2019 and 2021, playing in the intermediate decider on her maiden season at adult inter-county level, she made her senior debut in the League in 2020 but it took until last year to really make her mark.
“I’ve kind of been on the borderline for so long, I suppose. The year before last, I picked up an injury that kind of ruled me out for the championship. I was so disheartened that year, that I wasn’t able to be in the running for competing for a place. So I think that was also a reason for last year, for working so hard. Between the panel that we have, it’s an incredibly hard team to make, and I suppose with all the younger girls coming through as well, there’s just such high competition within the camp.
“Cathal gave me a chance in the League last year, and I just tried my best for all the round games to work as hard as I can. And Cathal obviously seen something in me in the League, and thank God I was able to keep my position for the Championship and finish out the campaign.”
This is a seventh straight League decider for Galway, all under Murray’s management. The Sarsfields man has balanced winning games and blooding new talent brilliantly and Dillon is just one example of his policy of rewarding those that perform in the spring, with starting jerseys in the summer.
Now on Sunday, Waterford lie in wait.
“They’re an excellent side, and they’re a very strong team and they had a lot of pre-season done, I suppose, by the time we came up against them. It’ll be a good contest between the two sides. They were flying it the day we played them. I suppose we’ve a little bit more ground to make up. We’ve had some good games and some good tests, we’ll look back on the game from a couple of weeks ago and try and improve as much as we can, get a performance and hopefully the result will come.”
