Dublin All-Ireland winners Carla Rowe and Olwen Carey Talk to Hot Press

The past decade has been a golden age for Dublin GAA, and ladies footballers Carla Rowe and Olwen Carey have been right at the forefront of this sporting revolution. The men’s team have accumulated a frightening number of league, Leinster and All Ireland titles, and of late, the ladies team have begun to enjoy a similar level of domination.

Following on from the electrifying men’s All Ireland final between Dublin and Mayo last year, there was a massive surge of interest in the ladies final a short time after, which threw up the same pairing. In what was their first title win since 2010, Dublin triumphed on a scoreline of 4-11 to 0-11, before a crowd of 46,000 – the biggest attendance for a ladies sporting event anywhere in the world in 2017.

They followed it up by capturing the league title this spring – the first time it had ever been won by Dublin – again seeing off Mayo in the decider.

“It’s amazing,” enthuses Carla – a dynamic half- forward on the Dublin team – reflecting on that record final attendance. “There is now a base of young girls from different clubs who follow us everywhere with their parents. They go to all the games, which is really nice to see. At the league final this year, there was a massive crowd again.” “Especially after that

match, I felt like there was a lot more people in Parnell Park,” adds Olwen, the team’s midfield star. “There was a huge Dublin support, which is great for us.”

“It just shows where the game is going,” notes Carla. “For the league final last year, we definitely wouldn’ have had that much
support. Then when you see the crowd at the All Ireland final, and again for the league final, it’s obviously growing all the time.”

It all ties in with the unprecedented vibrancy of Gaelic games in the capital, with the ladies team now seeking two-in-a-row as the men’s team bid to win Sam Maguire for the fourth consecutive time. First playing together at U16 level before progressing up the ranks in tandem, Rowe and Carey have had a unique insight into this remarkable era.

Do they feel Dublin GAA is now very much on the crest of a wave?

“Yeah, absolutely,” nods Carla. “Even when I started playing – my club is Clann Mhuire – I was on mixed teams. I don’t think that’s happening anymore; they’re now able to divide it so that girls have the 10 or 12 players they need at underage. That’s really good, it gives you an idea of the volume of players coming through from nursery level.”

“You don’t really notice it when you’re playing,” considers Olwen, who plays with the Thomas Davis club in Tallaght. “But then you start to see more people coming to the games. Definitely, there’s a lot more people playing underage sport than when we were younger. There would have been only a couple of people in your class. But with the amount of interest at the moment, it just shows the work that’s being done at club as well as county level. People are volunteering their time and we’re really reaping the benefits right now.”

With the Dublin ladies’ victory over Mayo in last year’s All Ireland, they managed to break Cork’s stranglehold on the championship, which has been one of the most extraordinary stories in 21st century Irish sport. From 2005-16, the Rebelettes claimed an astonishing 11 out of 12 titles, with the sole break in the run being Dublin’s 2010 victory over Tyrone – the county’s first ever ladies’ championship.

But with their back-to-back All-Ireland and league wins, the Dubs will no doubt be looking to build a dynasty of their own. “That would be great,” acknowledges Carla. “I have thought about it, but you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You always have to focus on the next game – it’s the only way to do it. There are brilliant teams out there, just as good as us. We’ve had many finals where we didn’t perform and if we had, we would have won. On the day of a final, it’s always up for grabs.”

“Ladies sport has grown so much, especially football,” says Olwen, “and there are a lot counties who are constantly pushing each other.
So we know it’s going to be tough to get back to a final, let alone win it.”

As well as the unprecedented attendance for the Dublin-Mayo final last year, there have been numerous other factors that have given the ladies game a boost, including a series of innovative promotional ads by sponsors Lidl; last year’s acclaimed Blues Sistersdocumentary on Dublin; and Mayo star Cora Staunton’s stint playing Australian rules with Greater Western Sydney earlier this year.

“Lidl have been a massive part of it,” says Carla. “The sport was growing before that, but they’ve given it another huge boost. It’s the best marketing the game has had.”