BARROWFIELD TRAINING CENTRE is about a 10-minute walk from Celtic Park in Glasgow’s East End.
Celtic’s women’s team and academy’s new base is an impressive redeveloped facility, featuring a domed indoor arena, artificial and grass pitches, and a clubhouse.
The Irish accents are heard loud and clear as The 42 watches training on a crisp February morning, and they get stronger with more time spent in the company of Saoirse Noonan, Claire Walsh and Tara O’Hanlon.
After being put through their paces on the pitch and in the gym, they settle into their seats in the analysis room.
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Emma Duffy (ED): Tara, you’re the last in the door at Celtic out of the three of ye, having arrived on loan from Manchester City in January. How have Saoirse and Claire been helping you settle in?
Tara O’Hanlon (TOH): Ah, they’ve been terrible!
Nah, they’ve been great. Obviously it’s always nice when you’re coming into a new place, new environment, to be surrounded by a few Irish. They’ve been great taking me under their wing and kind of looking after me. I would have played against Saoirse when I was 16, 17 maybe back in the League of Ireland, so it’s nice to play with her again. Claire, I don’t think I ever got the chance to play with you at Peamount?
Claire Walsh (CW): You were too young! I don’t know what that says about me…
An over-and-back breaks out about League of Ireland rivalries; O’Hanlon and Walsh at Peas, Noonan at Shelbourne after starting her career at Cork City. It ultimately ends in harmonious agreement that everyone left Ireland as a league champion.
ED: Coming over to Scotland – via England for Saoirse and Tara – what’s the change like moving into a full-time, professional environment?
Saoirse Noonan (SN): In some aspects, when I was playing with Shels, I was up and down the road (from Cork to Dublin), I was in college and I was working a job, so I actually was a lot busier outside of football and that obviously does make it harder in some aspects, but in terms of lifestyle, it makes it easier to focus in on just your football career when you come over because obviously it’s all you do, it’s your full-time job.
But in terms of intensity and stuff, it’s obviously going to get that extra push. I think the League of Ireland is a good high standard, but you’re training every day, no matter who you are, you’re obviously going to come up a level, whereas (in Ireland) most girls are coming in from college to work and then going training, so you’re never going to be 100% at it. Little things like that make a difference. Coming across, you see what life could be like as a professional footballer and we make these little steps. I’m sure at the top, top clubs, it’s another step up.
But I think the League of Ireland, it’s not miles off in terms of like actual training, I would say, but obviously in terms of lifestyle and stuff, you’re a professional athlete, you’re not a part-time athlete, part-time worker, part-time college student, so you’ve a lot more going on when you’re playing in the League of Ireland and I think the girls have to get a lot of praise for that. If I had to go back to it, I don’t think I’d be able to do it again because it’s just a lot.
A general view of training. Emma Duffy.
Emma Duffy.
ED: Claire, you’re nodding away?
CW: Yeah, I just think it’s a massive lifestyle change. For me, I was working full-time and playing football and you were just on the go 24/7. You’re up to go to work, maybe doing gym on your lunch break and then you get home from work, get dinner, straight to training, home, go to bed, do it again, five, six, seven days in a row.
Not that it’s easier to be playing full-time, but I think there’s that balance of you can really give yourself time to give it your 100% and probably recover, which I don’t think you can do as easily if you’re playing in Ireland and working and in college or whatever the majority of the girls are doing. It’s just a lifestyle change, which also comes with its challenges because you’ve got a lot of free time. I mean I was never used to having free time before I moved away.
ED: What’s that like, Tara? I know you’ve had injury struggles as well, but to go from part-time in Ireland and fitting everything in around football to just being immersed in it 24/7? That’s your main focus, you don’t have as many outlets outside of it?
TOH: I think that’s probably something that most players struggle with when they go from amateur to pro. For me in particular, it was especially difficult because I was injured when I signed my first pro (contract), so I went from rehabbing at home in Ireland and having been surrounded by my family and friends and all that, to up and moving to Manchester and focusing all day, every day on rehab. I didn’t really have much else at the start, so that was quite difficult.
I had moved over to do a job and I couldn’t do that job for the better part of two years. Mentally I did struggle with that quite a bit, but thankfully I’m through the end of it now, touch wood.
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Everyone should do so: O’Hanlon is one of the brightest young talents in Irish football, but the 20-year-old has had a nightmare run of hamstring and knee injuries. Having spent the first half of the season on loan at Sunderland in WSL2, the left-back is now building up her minutes at Celtic.
That brings us back around to the settling-in process. Introducing her to the best coffee spots locally has been paramount, with the trio heading for one together after our chat.
They rhyme off some of their favourite Glaswegian establishments, with O’Hanlon mentioning a list of recommendations she was sent by former Peamount teammate Erin McLoughlin, who is now at Glasgow City.
“And that’s from me,” Walsh – who previously played for City before crossing the divide last summer – pipes up. “From Niamh Farrelly to me to Erin!”
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Claire Walsh in action against Hearts. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The life outside of football theme continues, and the importance of switching off. They live separately, within a 10-20 minute radius: O’Hanlon and Noonan with teammates, and Walsh alone.
She doesn’t hesitate when I ask what they do for headspace away from the pitch.
CW: I love to play golf. I started playing about two years ago and I absolutely love it. I mean it’s harder this time of year when the weather’s not great but for the most part that would be my mental break from football. I mean it’s got its own mental challenges…
TOH: I’ve actually recently discovered, Saoirse here is a great golfer. We went to Top Golf the other day, she was unreal.
SN: I done well, in fairness.
CW: Let’s go, let’s get on the course!
TOH: It must be the camogie?
CW: Yeah, camogie I feel is similar movements. Let’s get a game soon.
TOH: I love a good walk, me. Headphones in nature. Get out and go for a walk in the morning.
ED: Music or podcast?
TOH: Sometimes nothing. Sometimes they’re just on. I went into a reservoir the other day and there was a really nice waterfall. I unfortunately didn’t get a picture because it was a bit of a health and safety hazard – I might have fallen! But there was a really nice waterfall, I was listening to that and it was quite peaceful. I do like a walk.
SN: I actually think (switching off is) probably the hardest thing that I find to do, being away from home. As we said, my life was just so busy and I just love being busy. You come here and you’re like, ‘What am I doing from three o’clock onwards?’
Some days a few of us would go to the gym or go to the sauna, but you can only do so much because you’re doing your recovery and what not. I actually find that really tough. Some days, Robbo (Lisa Robinson) will say to me, ‘Do you want to come to soft play with (her son) Lucas?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, absolutely! It’s just to do something completely different.
I’ve tried to start playing guitar – I’m not very good at it though – just to try to do something else, because I think that’s the hardest part of being away from home. Your whole life is football: every night I watch football, I don’t know about ye but I just watch football, I read about football. It’s just football, football, football.
Walsh and O’Hanlon agree, with the former pointing to the challenge of a bad game or injury sitting with you all week without the distraction of work or another sport.
Walsh played inter-county football for Wicklow before turning professional, while Noonan enjoyed a high-profile Gaelic games career with Cork. Ahead of their 2018 All-Ireland defeat to Dublin, former Rebels boss Ephie Fitzgerald said Noonan “could be the face of ladies football for the next 10 years”. Her sporting career took a different turn.
O’Hanlon had a pretty singular focus. “Dad always had me, ‘Football, football, football,” she smiles.
“I played basketball in primary school and I did try camogie but I kept getting hit with the hurl on my hand and I was having none of it.”
‘Soft’ and ‘wet wipe’ are the taunts sent her way.
“What is appealing about somebody running at me with a stick? What is appealing about that?”
“It’s the best sport in the world,” Noonan snipes back.
Walsh has two hurleys in the boot of her car, and loose plans are laid for a puckaround soon.
“A puckaround on the beach is the best thing ever. With a tennis ball, just absolutely launching it.”
“Not a sliotar — I’d break me nose,” O’Hanlon laughs.
******
The welcoming, hard-working nature is evident across the day spent at Celtic. There’s no sign of Martin O’Neill and his men’s side as they train at Lennoxtown, but The 42 meets plenty of friendly staff between Barrowfield and Celtic Park.
Women’s manager Grant Scott comes over to introduce himself mid training, while assistant boss David Haley pops his head into the analysis room for a chat later on.
Back at Paradise, there’s a lunchtime quiz underway for one of the administrative staff going on maternity leave, while everyone you pass in the maze of corridors – and in ‘Celtic Perk’ café – says hello.
A general view of Celtic Park. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Uefa has taken control of the stadium the day before Celtic’s Europa League clash with Stuttgart. Access is limited, but The 42 manages a quick venture out on pitch level and a walk through the home dressing room, where Liam Scales’ #5 jersey proudly hangs.
The history and tradition is felt on every corner, the passion clear as day. They are all fans, first and foremost.
Same applies for a lot of the players.
Talk of what the club means, and the Irish connection, arises naturally. Noonan takes the lead.
SN: Every Irish person’s a Celtic fan, let’s be realistic. Growing up, my granda used to always say he doesn’t watch football, but when Celtic and Rangers were on, it would be on on a Sunday morning on the TV. Just little things like that.
My uncle and aunt met at a Celtic match. It kind of runs through the family. We have Glaswegian cousins over here. It’s a club that my whole family would support.
All the lads back home are die-hard Celtic fans, and they all have their shirts. I suppose when you go home and they’re all wearing it and they just wear it casually, it’s kind of like, ‘Jeez, I play for that club.’ It just means that bit more, having that Irish connection. When you go to a men’s game and you see the Irish flag, I think it kind of just means a little bit more. It’s really nice.
CW: It’s a massive club. There’s obviously massive Irish ties to it. I think back to when I was younger playing football with the boys in school and that, half the kids were wearing Celtic jerseys, half would be Liverpool or Man United or whatever. To think now that you’re actually representing a club like Celtic is class.
TOH: You go back to Ireland and whether you like football or don’t like football, if Celtic are playing, it’s on the TV and everyone’s watching. That’s a really nice feeling as well. Being younger, even coaching in summer camps, all the kids would be wearing their Celtic jersey. I’m really happy to be here and get the opportunity to play for such a big club.
O'Hanlon on her Ireland debut in 2023. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Celtic’s Irish trio are among nine Irish players in the SWPL. Scarlett Herron and Jess Fitzgerald moved from the League of Ireland this season to join Ciara Grant at defending champions Hibernian, while Jenna Slattery and Ellen Dolan represent Hearts and former Armagh Gaelic footballer Alex Clarke calls Aberdeen home.
There has been a long-standing tradition of Irish players at Glasgow City, with Katie McCabe spending a stint on loan there in her early days at Arsenal and Eileen Gleeson a former manager. City won 15 out of 16 titles on offer from 2007 to 2023, with Rangers breaking their dominance in 2022. Celtic triumphed for the first time in 2024, with Hibs reigning supreme last season as the top-five shift to professionalism pays dividends. (Celtic turned pro in 2020).
That is reflected in the current standings ahead of the split: six points separate leaders Glasgow City and fourth-placed Hearts, with Rangers and Celtic locked on 41 points in between. Hibs are a further six points adrift of Hearts.
Celtic beat the Edinburgh outfit 5-3 last weekend, with Noonan scoring a hat-trick (her 50th, 51st and 52nd goals for the club) and O’Hanlon bagging her first for the Hoops.
When we speak four days out from that game, I ask the trio about the standard of the Scottish league.
CW: I think it’s growing massively and I think it’s going in the right direction. When I first signed for Glasgow City (in 2021), they still trained in the evenings – twice a week in the evening and twice a week in the morning. To then see that shift from a more amateur set-up – a lot of the girls still worked to now full-time. The top five teams are professional. To see the likes of Hibs and Hearts really push on is great.
Over the last few years, it’s been Glasgow City, Celtic and Rangers at the top, winning the different trophies. But in the last couple of seasons, Hearts and Hibs have really come on. It’s made it more competitive, and I think you can see that now in the league table. It’s really close. It’s good for the league.
SN: I agree. I think the league doesn’t get enough credit. I think it gets kind of looked down upon compared to England. My thing is, like I always say to everyone, the amount of games we play – we play a lot more games than they do down in the Champ or WSL – which I think for anyone’s career, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing for a top team or a lower team, minutes is minutes and I think that’s really important.
I think it’s just credit to the league for being able to have so much professional teams now and hopefully it can just kick on and keep getting one or two more in and it’ll be a really competitive league. I think the last two years it’s been down to the last day.
CW: I think the last three seasons, actually. Also, the last few seasons, a team from Scotland has competed really, really well in Europe. That just goes to show as well that there is a lot of quality in the league.
A general view of the indoor arena at Barrowfield. Emma Duffy.
Emma Duffy.
ED: Tara, how have you found it since coming in?
TOH: I think it’s been kind of eye-opening in a way. I would confidently say that the top teams in the Scottish league could go and compete in WSL 2. In terms of ability and all that, I think there isn’t anything really in it. I think there’s some really talented players and it’s really exciting to kind of see that and then go, ‘This league could grow so much.’ It’s grown so much, but it still can go so much more.
SN: When I was growing up, Scotland was kind of the place that you’d try get an in. It was where you’d nearly look to go. Obviously, I ended up going down to England, but I think now, with players like Tara coming from such a big club like Man City up here, and then you have Ellen Dolan going to Hearts, I think it’s so good for the Irish kids to see that you don’t have to go to an Arsenal.
Even Katie McCabe – she went to Arsenal, but she got left on loan to Scotland. I just think that says a lot. Clubs don’t leave their players go everywhere and anywhere, they’re picky. Having players like that come in the door, I think it just shows that it is going in the right direction, and people do think it’s a really professional up here, which it is.
CW: There’s a lot more loan players this year. More than before, going to a lot of the top teams.
SN: Whereas before, they’d be like, ‘No, need to go Champ.’
CW: They’d stay in England. I think that kind of tells its own story as well.
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It’s all about visibility. Maybe you see someone that’s gone over. I know myself when I was coming, Niamh Farrelly had moved a few months before me. So to be able to speak to someone that you know personally, then you decide, ‘Right, I’m going to give it a go as well.’ Maybe that spurs someone else on.
You do see a lot more younger players coming to Scotland now, which is brilliant. I also think Scotland culturally is very similar to Ireland, I definitely found it to be quite an easy move to come here. I think that helps as well.
ED: Style of play, how does it compare or differ? Is it more physical, transitional or technical etc?
SN: I would think it is probably more physical and a bit more direct, I think it would kind of align more like WSL2. It’s really hard. Yeah, we all have those few technical players in the teams, but I think a lot of teams kind of divert to using power, strength, speed.
Another view of training at Barrowfield.
CW: In the bigger games, definitely.
SN: Yeah, and I think that’s what it comes down to. Not a lot of teams up here, you’ll see spells of it, but like they’re not all tiki-taka teams. It’s more like, ‘Let’s go at them and let’s punish them hard. Let’s work and run.’
TOH: I think the speed of the game as well and the intensity. Obviously we have a lot of high quality in the League of Ireland, but it is difficult when you’re making that comparison of being semi-professional or amateur to then professional. Obviously there will be gaps, but again, I don’t think there are massive gaps.
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This trip to Glasgow came the day after the Ireland squad was announced for the opening 2027 World Cup qualifiers against France and the Netherlands.
Noonan was called up, while Carla Ward said O’Hanlon was “very close” as she continues on the comeback trail. Walsh hasn’t been involved since before the 2023 World Cup, but still harbours international hopes and ambitions.
As Noonan speaks about the upcoming window, the other pair can’t hide their pride and delight. O’Hanlon claps when the call-up is mentioned, while Walsh smiles away as the Cork striker discusses.
“It’s obviously huge. I think everyone’s had one eye on it for quite some time now – since after the Belgium game. It’s obviously the start of a huge campaign for us It’s really nice to be selected and be in there and hopefully I can kick on and help the team out the best I can.
“I just think it’s so big for Ireland going forward. We’ve such big games, but the girls have done it before when they beat France in Cork. And I think everyone will have that in the back of their minds. I’m sure France will have that in the back of their mind too.
“I think it’s a really nice game to start with, especially at home in Tallaght. But yeah, it’s really, really exciting times for everyone. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Saoirse Noonan celebrates scoring for Ireland. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
While they will watch from afar on this occasion, the target is clear for her clubmates.
“Look, obviously everyone wants the opportunity to play for their country and I did get that chance back in November,” O’Hanlon says.
“But ultimately my focus is getting myself back playing regular minutes and focus on being here right now and I’ll be cheering the girls on from the side.”
Walsh is quick to echo those sentiments, an unfortunate victim of the strength in depth at centre-back.
“Like what Tara said, myself along with probably every other little girl in Ireland has dreamed about playing for Ireland and that’s never stopped for me.
“You need to be performing at your club and I think for me that’s the most important thing and that’s where I try to put my time and energy into right now.”
Time and energy. It has been a day filled with both in the company of Celtic’s Irish trio.
From Barrowfield back to Celtic Park and beyond, the journey home begins. But it feels pretty close in Glasgow’s East End.
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'It just means that bit more': A day spent in Glasgow with Celtic's Irish trio
BARROWFIELD TRAINING CENTRE is about a 10-minute walk from Celtic Park in Glasgow’s East End.
Celtic’s women’s team and academy’s new base is an impressive redeveloped facility, featuring a domed indoor arena, artificial and grass pitches, and a clubhouse.
The Irish accents are heard loud and clear as The 42 watches training on a crisp February morning, and they get stronger with more time spent in the company of Saoirse Noonan, Claire Walsh and Tara O’Hanlon.
After being put through their paces on the pitch and in the gym, they settle into their seats in the analysis room.
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Emma Duffy (ED): Tara, you’re the last in the door at Celtic out of the three of ye, having arrived on loan from Manchester City in January. How have Saoirse and Claire been helping you settle in?
Tara O’Hanlon (TOH): Ah, they’ve been terrible!
Nah, they’ve been great. Obviously it’s always nice when you’re coming into a new place, new environment, to be surrounded by a few Irish. They’ve been great taking me under their wing and kind of looking after me. I would have played against Saoirse when I was 16, 17 maybe back in the League of Ireland, so it’s nice to play with her again. Claire, I don’t think I ever got the chance to play with you at Peamount?
Claire Walsh (CW): You were too young! I don’t know what that says about me…
An over-and-back breaks out about League of Ireland rivalries; O’Hanlon and Walsh at Peas, Noonan at Shelbourne after starting her career at Cork City. It ultimately ends in harmonious agreement that everyone left Ireland as a league champion.
ED: Coming over to Scotland – via England for Saoirse and Tara – what’s the change like moving into a full-time, professional environment?
Saoirse Noonan (SN): In some aspects, when I was playing with Shels, I was up and down the road (from Cork to Dublin), I was in college and I was working a job, so I actually was a lot busier outside of football and that obviously does make it harder in some aspects, but in terms of lifestyle, it makes it easier to focus in on just your football career when you come over because obviously it’s all you do, it’s your full-time job.
But in terms of intensity and stuff, it’s obviously going to get that extra push. I think the League of Ireland is a good high standard, but you’re training every day, no matter who you are, you’re obviously going to come up a level, whereas (in Ireland) most girls are coming in from college to work and then going training, so you’re never going to be 100% at it. Little things like that make a difference. Coming across, you see what life could be like as a professional footballer and we make these little steps. I’m sure at the top, top clubs, it’s another step up.
But I think the League of Ireland, it’s not miles off in terms of like actual training, I would say, but obviously in terms of lifestyle and stuff, you’re a professional athlete, you’re not a part-time athlete, part-time worker, part-time college student, so you’ve a lot more going on when you’re playing in the League of Ireland and I think the girls have to get a lot of praise for that. If I had to go back to it, I don’t think I’d be able to do it again because it’s just a lot.
ED: Claire, you’re nodding away?
CW: Yeah, I just think it’s a massive lifestyle change. For me, I was working full-time and playing football and you were just on the go 24/7. You’re up to go to work, maybe doing gym on your lunch break and then you get home from work, get dinner, straight to training, home, go to bed, do it again, five, six, seven days in a row.
Not that it’s easier to be playing full-time, but I think there’s that balance of you can really give yourself time to give it your 100% and probably recover, which I don’t think you can do as easily if you’re playing in Ireland and working and in college or whatever the majority of the girls are doing. It’s just a lifestyle change, which also comes with its challenges because you’ve got a lot of free time. I mean I was never used to having free time before I moved away.
ED: What’s that like, Tara? I know you’ve had injury struggles as well, but to go from part-time in Ireland and fitting everything in around football to just being immersed in it 24/7? That’s your main focus, you don’t have as many outlets outside of it?
TOH: I think that’s probably something that most players struggle with when they go from amateur to pro. For me in particular, it was especially difficult because I was injured when I signed my first pro (contract), so I went from rehabbing at home in Ireland and having been surrounded by my family and friends and all that, to up and moving to Manchester and focusing all day, every day on rehab. I didn’t really have much else at the start, so that was quite difficult.
I had moved over to do a job and I couldn’t do that job for the better part of two years. Mentally I did struggle with that quite a bit, but thankfully I’m through the end of it now, touch wood.
******
Everyone should do so: O’Hanlon is one of the brightest young talents in Irish football, but the 20-year-old has had a nightmare run of hamstring and knee injuries. Having spent the first half of the season on loan at Sunderland in WSL2, the left-back is now building up her minutes at Celtic.
That brings us back around to the settling-in process. Introducing her to the best coffee spots locally has been paramount, with the trio heading for one together after our chat.
They rhyme off some of their favourite Glaswegian establishments, with O’Hanlon mentioning a list of recommendations she was sent by former Peamount teammate Erin McLoughlin, who is now at Glasgow City.
“And that’s from me,” Walsh – who previously played for City before crossing the divide last summer – pipes up. “From Niamh Farrelly to me to Erin!”
The life outside of football theme continues, and the importance of switching off. They live separately, within a 10-20 minute radius: O’Hanlon and Noonan with teammates, and Walsh alone.
She doesn’t hesitate when I ask what they do for headspace away from the pitch.
CW: I love to play golf. I started playing about two years ago and I absolutely love it. I mean it’s harder this time of year when the weather’s not great but for the most part that would be my mental break from football. I mean it’s got its own mental challenges…
TOH: I’ve actually recently discovered, Saoirse here is a great golfer. We went to Top Golf the other day, she was unreal.
SN: I done well, in fairness.
CW: Let’s go, let’s get on the course!
TOH: It must be the camogie?
CW: Yeah, camogie I feel is similar movements. Let’s get a game soon.
TOH: I love a good walk, me. Headphones in nature. Get out and go for a walk in the morning.
ED: Music or podcast?
TOH: Sometimes nothing. Sometimes they’re just on. I went into a reservoir the other day and there was a really nice waterfall. I unfortunately didn’t get a picture because it was a bit of a health and safety hazard – I might have fallen! But there was a really nice waterfall, I was listening to that and it was quite peaceful. I do like a walk.
SN: I actually think (switching off is) probably the hardest thing that I find to do, being away from home. As we said, my life was just so busy and I just love being busy. You come here and you’re like, ‘What am I doing from three o’clock onwards?’
Some days a few of us would go to the gym or go to the sauna, but you can only do so much because you’re doing your recovery and what not. I actually find that really tough. Some days, Robbo (Lisa Robinson) will say to me, ‘Do you want to come to soft play with (her son) Lucas?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, absolutely! It’s just to do something completely different.
I’ve tried to start playing guitar – I’m not very good at it though – just to try to do something else, because I think that’s the hardest part of being away from home. Your whole life is football: every night I watch football, I don’t know about ye but I just watch football, I read about football. It’s just football, football, football.
Walsh and O’Hanlon agree, with the former pointing to the challenge of a bad game or injury sitting with you all week without the distraction of work or another sport.
Walsh played inter-county football for Wicklow before turning professional, while Noonan enjoyed a high-profile Gaelic games career with Cork. Ahead of their 2018 All-Ireland defeat to Dublin, former Rebels boss Ephie Fitzgerald said Noonan “could be the face of ladies football for the next 10 years”. Her sporting career took a different turn.
O’Hanlon had a pretty singular focus. “Dad always had me, ‘Football, football, football,” she smiles.
“I played basketball in primary school and I did try camogie but I kept getting hit with the hurl on my hand and I was having none of it.”
‘Soft’ and ‘wet wipe’ are the taunts sent her way.
“What is appealing about somebody running at me with a stick? What is appealing about that?”
“It’s the best sport in the world,” Noonan snipes back.
Walsh has two hurleys in the boot of her car, and loose plans are laid for a puckaround soon.
“A puckaround on the beach is the best thing ever. With a tennis ball, just absolutely launching it.”
“Not a sliotar — I’d break me nose,” O’Hanlon laughs.
******
The welcoming, hard-working nature is evident across the day spent at Celtic. There’s no sign of Martin O’Neill and his men’s side as they train at Lennoxtown, but The 42 meets plenty of friendly staff between Barrowfield and Celtic Park.
Women’s manager Grant Scott comes over to introduce himself mid training, while assistant boss David Haley pops his head into the analysis room for a chat later on.
Back at Paradise, there’s a lunchtime quiz underway for one of the administrative staff going on maternity leave, while everyone you pass in the maze of corridors – and in ‘Celtic Perk’ café – says hello.
Uefa has taken control of the stadium the day before Celtic’s Europa League clash with Stuttgart. Access is limited, but The 42 manages a quick venture out on pitch level and a walk through the home dressing room, where Liam Scales’ #5 jersey proudly hangs.
The history and tradition is felt on every corner, the passion clear as day. They are all fans, first and foremost.
Same applies for a lot of the players.
Talk of what the club means, and the Irish connection, arises naturally. Noonan takes the lead.
SN: Every Irish person’s a Celtic fan, let’s be realistic. Growing up, my granda used to always say he doesn’t watch football, but when Celtic and Rangers were on, it would be on on a Sunday morning on the TV. Just little things like that.
My uncle and aunt met at a Celtic match. It kind of runs through the family. We have Glaswegian cousins over here. It’s a club that my whole family would support.
All the lads back home are die-hard Celtic fans, and they all have their shirts. I suppose when you go home and they’re all wearing it and they just wear it casually, it’s kind of like, ‘Jeez, I play for that club.’ It just means that bit more, having that Irish connection. When you go to a men’s game and you see the Irish flag, I think it kind of just means a little bit more. It’s really nice.
CW: It’s a massive club. There’s obviously massive Irish ties to it. I think back to when I was younger playing football with the boys in school and that, half the kids were wearing Celtic jerseys, half would be Liverpool or Man United or whatever. To think now that you’re actually representing a club like Celtic is class.
TOH: You go back to Ireland and whether you like football or don’t like football, if Celtic are playing, it’s on the TV and everyone’s watching. That’s a really nice feeling as well. Being younger, even coaching in summer camps, all the kids would be wearing their Celtic jersey. I’m really happy to be here and get the opportunity to play for such a big club.
Celtic’s Irish trio are among nine Irish players in the SWPL. Scarlett Herron and Jess Fitzgerald moved from the League of Ireland this season to join Ciara Grant at defending champions Hibernian, while Jenna Slattery and Ellen Dolan represent Hearts and former Armagh Gaelic footballer Alex Clarke calls Aberdeen home.
There has been a long-standing tradition of Irish players at Glasgow City, with Katie McCabe spending a stint on loan there in her early days at Arsenal and Eileen Gleeson a former manager. City won 15 out of 16 titles on offer from 2007 to 2023, with Rangers breaking their dominance in 2022. Celtic triumphed for the first time in 2024, with Hibs reigning supreme last season as the top-five shift to professionalism pays dividends. (Celtic turned pro in 2020).
That is reflected in the current standings ahead of the split: six points separate leaders Glasgow City and fourth-placed Hearts, with Rangers and Celtic locked on 41 points in between. Hibs are a further six points adrift of Hearts.
Celtic beat the Edinburgh outfit 5-3 last weekend, with Noonan scoring a hat-trick (her 50th, 51st and 52nd goals for the club) and O’Hanlon bagging her first for the Hoops.
When we speak four days out from that game, I ask the trio about the standard of the Scottish league.
CW: I think it’s growing massively and I think it’s going in the right direction. When I first signed for Glasgow City (in 2021), they still trained in the evenings – twice a week in the evening and twice a week in the morning. To then see that shift from a more amateur set-up – a lot of the girls still worked to now full-time. The top five teams are professional. To see the likes of Hibs and Hearts really push on is great.
Over the last few years, it’s been Glasgow City, Celtic and Rangers at the top, winning the different trophies. But in the last couple of seasons, Hearts and Hibs have really come on. It’s made it more competitive, and I think you can see that now in the league table. It’s really close. It’s good for the league.
SN: I agree. I think the league doesn’t get enough credit. I think it gets kind of looked down upon compared to England. My thing is, like I always say to everyone, the amount of games we play – we play a lot more games than they do down in the Champ or WSL – which I think for anyone’s career, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing for a top team or a lower team, minutes is minutes and I think that’s really important.
I think it’s just credit to the league for being able to have so much professional teams now and hopefully it can just kick on and keep getting one or two more in and it’ll be a really competitive league. I think the last two years it’s been down to the last day.
CW: I think the last three seasons, actually. Also, the last few seasons, a team from Scotland has competed really, really well in Europe. That just goes to show as well that there is a lot of quality in the league.
ED: Tara, how have you found it since coming in?
TOH: I think it’s been kind of eye-opening in a way. I would confidently say that the top teams in the Scottish league could go and compete in WSL 2. In terms of ability and all that, I think there isn’t anything really in it. I think there’s some really talented players and it’s really exciting to kind of see that and then go, ‘This league could grow so much.’ It’s grown so much, but it still can go so much more.
SN: When I was growing up, Scotland was kind of the place that you’d try get an in. It was where you’d nearly look to go. Obviously, I ended up going down to England, but I think now, with players like Tara coming from such a big club like Man City up here, and then you have Ellen Dolan going to Hearts, I think it’s so good for the Irish kids to see that you don’t have to go to an Arsenal.
Even Katie McCabe – she went to Arsenal, but she got left on loan to Scotland. I just think that says a lot. Clubs don’t leave their players go everywhere and anywhere, they’re picky. Having players like that come in the door, I think it just shows that it is going in the right direction, and people do think it’s a really professional up here, which it is.
CW: There’s a lot more loan players this year. More than before, going to a lot of the top teams.
SN: Whereas before, they’d be like, ‘No, need to go Champ.’
CW: They’d stay in England. I think that kind of tells its own story as well.
It’s all about visibility. Maybe you see someone that’s gone over. I know myself when I was coming, Niamh Farrelly had moved a few months before me. So to be able to speak to someone that you know personally, then you decide, ‘Right, I’m going to give it a go as well.’ Maybe that spurs someone else on.
You do see a lot more younger players coming to Scotland now, which is brilliant. I also think Scotland culturally is very similar to Ireland, I definitely found it to be quite an easy move to come here. I think that helps as well.
ED: Style of play, how does it compare or differ? Is it more physical, transitional or technical etc?
SN: I would think it is probably more physical and a bit more direct, I think it would kind of align more like WSL2. It’s really hard. Yeah, we all have those few technical players in the teams, but I think a lot of teams kind of divert to using power, strength, speed.
CW: In the bigger games, definitely.
SN: Yeah, and I think that’s what it comes down to. Not a lot of teams up here, you’ll see spells of it, but like they’re not all tiki-taka teams. It’s more like, ‘Let’s go at them and let’s punish them hard. Let’s work and run.’
TOH: I think the speed of the game as well and the intensity. Obviously we have a lot of high quality in the League of Ireland, but it is difficult when you’re making that comparison of being semi-professional or amateur to then professional. Obviously there will be gaps, but again, I don’t think there are massive gaps.
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This trip to Glasgow came the day after the Ireland squad was announced for the opening 2027 World Cup qualifiers against France and the Netherlands.
Noonan was called up, while Carla Ward said O’Hanlon was “very close” as she continues on the comeback trail. Walsh hasn’t been involved since before the 2023 World Cup, but still harbours international hopes and ambitions.
As Noonan speaks about the upcoming window, the other pair can’t hide their pride and delight. O’Hanlon claps when the call-up is mentioned, while Walsh smiles away as the Cork striker discusses.
“It’s obviously huge. I think everyone’s had one eye on it for quite some time now – since after the Belgium game. It’s obviously the start of a huge campaign for us It’s really nice to be selected and be in there and hopefully I can kick on and help the team out the best I can.
“I just think it’s so big for Ireland going forward. We’ve such big games, but the girls have done it before when they beat France in Cork. And I think everyone will have that in the back of their minds. I’m sure France will have that in the back of their mind too.
“I think it’s a really nice game to start with, especially at home in Tallaght. But yeah, it’s really, really exciting times for everyone. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
While they will watch from afar on this occasion, the target is clear for her clubmates.
“Look, obviously everyone wants the opportunity to play for their country and I did get that chance back in November,” O’Hanlon says.
“But ultimately my focus is getting myself back playing regular minutes and focus on being here right now and I’ll be cheering the girls on from the side.”
Walsh is quick to echo those sentiments, an unfortunate victim of the strength in depth at centre-back.
“Like what Tara said, myself along with probably every other little girl in Ireland has dreamed about playing for Ireland and that’s never stopped for me.
“You need to be performing at your club and I think for me that’s the most important thing and that’s where I try to put my time and energy into right now.”
Time and energy. It has been a day filled with both in the company of Celtic’s Irish trio.
From Barrowfield back to Celtic Park and beyond, the journey home begins. But it feels pretty close in Glasgow’s East End.
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