BABY BLUES? MORE like thriving in blue for new mother Hannah Tyrrell who is on the cusp of finally realising her All-Ireland dream.
The Dublin forward and her wife, Sorcha, welcomed baby Aoife into the world in June.
All three were present in Thurles last month when Tyrrell, with Sorcha and Aoife looking on from the stand, struck 1-2 in Dublin’s semi-final win over Mayo.
The newest member of the Dublin clan — ‘She’s definitely the popular one within the squad at the minute, they don’t really care about me!’ — will be on hand again today at Croke Park.
Dublin will take on Kerry and for Tyrrell it represents not just an opportunity to claim the All-Ireland medal she craves having initially played for her county a decade ago before switching to rugby for a spell, but also the chance to make precious family memories.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling when you become a mother for the first time,” said Tyrrell. “Your perspective on life changes.
“For me, I’m just looking to create some wonderful memories for her and she can look back on them and I can recount some stories with her about going to Croke Park. It’s great to know that when I’m playing that she’ll be in the crowd. Maybe not watching me, because she might be asleep, but we’ll be able to say she was there!”
Tyrrell will certainly have some yarns to recount about the 2021 and 2023 seasons. She called time on her rugby union career in early 2021, returned to play for Dublin, got married and then contested an All-Ireland final against Meath. All within a matter of months.
Two years on, she’s back in her first final since and with an extra addition to the family.
“It’s been a special few weeks,” she said.
But where to from here? Whilst Tyrrell is still chasing that first All-Ireland medal, she’s a sporting veteran with a spell as a soccer player before playing with Dublin in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. She then turned to oval ball games and represented both the Irish sevens and union teams.
Does motherhood make her think about her career and how much more time she has left with Dublin?
“It does and it doesn’t,” shrugged Tyrrell.
“For me, I want to be able to leave a legacy for her and make her proud and kind of…it does put a little bit more pressure on you time-wise because you want to be there, you don’t want to miss anything at home. But I also feel like I have so much to give in sport and I’m not ready to give that up just yet so we’ll see how things go.”
Riding off into the sunset as an All-Ireland winner could be an option, if Dublin can come good on their considerable favourites tag.
Whatever about the future, winning an All-Ireland would certainly be a big item ticked off Tyrrell’s bucket list.
“It’s very, very strong,” she said of her motivation to lift the Brendan Martin Cup. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Each and every player in this squad came here with the desire to win a senior All-Ireland and we’ve all pulled together and put the hard work in and it has culminated in us getting to a final. Hopefully we can get over the line now.”
Tyrrell initially left the Dublin set-up in 2014, midway through the season. She was a goalkeeper at the time before turning to rugby and making her Women’s Six Nations Championship debut in early 2015. Behind her she left a Dublin team that lost All-Ireland finals in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before Mick Bohan’s arrival which sparked an era of dominance between 2017 and 2020.
“I was always an avid fan,” said Tyrrell. “Probably the most heartbreaking thing for me was 2014. Sitting at that final when they were 10 points up, I think it was, and then to lose by one, it was devastating.”
There was more devastation in 2021 when Dublin lost to Meath with Tyrrell this time a key figure up front.
“It seems like such a long time ago, considering all we’ve been through the last couple of years,” she said. “2021 was definitely a whirlwind for me, retiring from rugby and then getting into the Dublin set-up and us doing really, really well. I was coming into a squad that was on the back of the four-in-a-row with some incredible players, whom we’ll probably never see the likes of again.
“To fall at that last hurdle was devastating, really, really heartbreaking. The biggest regret was that we didn’t perform. That was on us and nobody else. To me, it’s been a big driving force to get back to Croke Park and an All-Ireland and to try to right the wrongs. But we know we have tough foes in Kerry ahead so they’re not going to give us anything easy.”
