“IT’S HARD TO put into words what this means and how I feel,” Hannah Tyrrell begins.
“Obviously I’m over the moon…”
Perhaps the big question after her first All-Ireland senior title with Dublin might help.
Where does this sit in the pantheon of her sporting achievements?
The multi-talented athlete doesn’t once hesitate.
“It’s absolutely at the top.
“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a very, very long time. Worked so hard to get… Obviously all the other things I’ve achieved are phenomenal, but this was the one I was going after.”
And perhaps made all the sweeter after her eight-point masterclass in the final against Kerry as the Sky Blues returned to the top table.
WE NEVER STOP is scrawled across her blue wristband.
That, she certainly doesn’t.
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Gaelic football. Rugby. Soccer.
Tyrrell has excelled at all three.
She featured in two FAI Cup finals with St Catherine’s, winning the coveted trophy in 2011 and representing Shamrock Rovers in the inaugural Women’s National League season.
She won a Triple Crown and Six Nations with Ireland in 2015, having pursued the oval ball game at Sevens and 15s, and she also played at the 2017 World Cup.
And her Gaelic football career has been incredible, too. This is her second coming, the sharpshooter making her impact felt since returning to the Dublin set-up in 2021. The 33-year-old first excelled as a goalkeeper, making her senior inter-county debut in 2013 after starring in underage and Senior B All-Ireland wins.
She has also starred for Na Fianna and her native Round Towers at club level, Tyrrell’s inter-county comeback all about getting her hands on the Brendan Martin Cup.
“I wouldn’t say she saw last October that she was going to win an All-Ireland,” Mick Bohan reflects.
“In fairness to her, she turned that one around. She put on a huge performance.”
While she stands out on her own, she’s one of several multi-sport stars in the Dublin squad. Orlagh Nolan and Chloe Darby are both accomplished soccer players; Lauren Magee and Jennifer Dunne are past and future AFLW aces; while Sinéad Goldrick who didn’t feature this season due to her Australian commitments is among a big basketball cohort.
“When they’re younger, they should try absolutely everything,” Bohan adds.
“I still look back on my time in coaching, Brian O’Driscoll played underage Gaelic football in my club and I was lucky enough to have him at 10, 11, 12 and 13 and people always talk about the loss for Clontarf GAA Club but I was so proud that that man went on to play for Ireland.
“We’re Gaels and we want people to play our games but if somebody chooses something else and that’s what makes them happy then you only get one crack at this life.”
It hasn’t always been easy for Tyrrell. She opened up on her mental health struggles and eating disorder in 2015 and has been a candid ambassador for Pieta House and Tackle Your Feelings through the years. She has also helped others by speaking out about her sexuality.
After Sunday’s final, she celebrated on the pitch with her seven-week-old daughter Aoife and wife, former Dublin footballer Sorcha Turnbull.
“I don’t know how much of the game Aoife saw, but she was there cheering us on!
“Got her in the cup, some amazing memories created that I’ll be able to look back on with her. Hopefully she’ll be able to achieve something similar down the line.”
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It’s always about the team, never about her, but what about that sensational first-half showing? 0-8, split evenly across frees and open play, all swung over with her wand of a left boot.
Everything Tyrrell touched turned to gold, and her modesty — and high achiever status — shines through as she reflects on it in the bowels of Croke Park.
“I felt good. The team were working really well to create some space for me. I just knew when I was getting on the ball things were happening. I was trying to get on that a little bit more.
“The second half, a little bit more wayward for me, I’d be a little bit disappointed in that but we won so I’ll forget about it for now!
“It probably hit me with about two minutes to go that this was probably going to be it and memories of 2021 were banished fairly quickly. Pure disbelief.”
Tyrrell came into a four in-a-row winning team in ’21, with number five on the horizon.
But Meath stopped the Blue Wave in the decider and reigned supreme again last year, with Donegal consigning the Dubs to a shock quarter-final exit. That hurt and disappointment was put to bed on Sunday, along with the bleak pre-season picture Bohan and co. paint.
“I’m not going to go into details but there were some really tough moments in that October, November period,” Tyrrell concludes.
“We had lost a lot of players, things weren’t going the right way for us, we were very unhappy about a lot of things but we came together, management got things spot on, players put in the work and everybody – all 50 people within our squad and management team – just managed to make it work and it’s all come to fruition.”
Like it has through Tyrrell’s remarkable sporting career to date.
SHE NEVER STOP.
But realising the All-Ireland dream tops all.
