All-Ireland senior champions Meath lead the way with eight representatives on the 2021 TG4 Ladies Football All Star team.
The final 15 was revealed at the TG4 All Star awards banquet, in association with Lidl, at Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel on Saturday evening.
Seven of the eight Meath players honoured are first-time winners, on the back of an historic season which saw the Royal County win a maiden TG4 All-Ireland Senior title.
Meath lifted the Brendan Martin Cup on September 5, less than nine months after winning the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate title, while 2021 also saw Eamonn Murray’s team claim the Lidl National League Division 2 crown, and promotion to the top flight for the 2022 season.
Goalkeeper Monica McGuirk wins a second TG4 All Star award, following her previous success in 2019, while team-mates Emma Troy, Mary Kate Lynch, Aoibhín Cleary, Máire O’Shaughnessy, Niamh O’Sullivan, Vikki Wall and Emma Duggan are first-time recipients.
5 September 2021; Meath players celebrate after their side's victory in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship Final match between Dublin and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
TG4 All-Ireland Senior Final runners-up Dublin have claimed three TG4 All Star awards, with Leah Caffrey claiming her third, while Orlagh Nolan and Hannah Tyrell are first-time winners.
Cork duo Erika O’Shea and Hannah Looney, along with Donegal’s Geraldine McLaughlin, are other first-time All Star winners, while Mayo forward Rachel Kearns earns her second award, following her previous win in 2019.
In total, there are 12 first-time winners on the 2021 TG4 All Star team, with McGuirk and Kearns the only survivors from the 2019 selection.
There are three pairs of clubmates on the 2021 team, with Aoibhín Cleary and Máire O’Shaughnessy from Donaghmore/Ashbourne joined by Vikki Wall and Emma Duggan from Dunboyne, who retained their Meath Senior club title last weekend.
Leah Caffrey and Hannah Tyrrell, meanwhile, are both members of the Na Fianna club in Glasnevin, Dublin.
2021 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star team:
Monica McGuirk (Meath) – 2nd award (previous winner in 2019)
Emma Troy (Meath) – 1st award
Mary Kate Lynch (Meath) – 1st award
Leah Caffrey (Dublin) – 3rd award (previous winner in 2016 and 2017)
Erika O’Shea (Cork) – 1st award
Aoibhín Cleary (Meath) – 1st award
Orlagh Nolan (Dublin) – 1st award
Hannah Looney (Cork) – 1st award
Máire O’Shaughnessy (Meath) – 1st award
Hannah Tyrrell (Dublin) – 1st award
Rachel Kearns (Mayo) – 2nd award (previous winner in 2019)
Niamh O’Sullivan (Meath) – 1st award
Vikki Wall (Meath) – 1st award
Emma Duggan (Meath) – 1st award
Geraldine McLaughlin (Donegal) – 1st award
County by county breakdown:
8 Meath, 3 Dublin, 2 Cork, 1 Donegal, 1 Mayo.
Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Watch: Clare Intermediate Football Final Flips In Dramatic 60 Seconds
