25 Danielle Hill’s Gold in 50m backstroke at European Championships
2024 was a remarkable year for Ireland in the pool. Belfast’s Danielle Hill is one of three swimming entries on this year’s list, the 25-year-old earning her spot after ending Ireland’s 27-year wait for a European long-course medal.
[ Danielle Hill wins backstroke gold at European ChampionshipsOpens in new window ]
In Belgrade, Hill hit the wall in 27.73 to win gold in the 50m backstroke, an event in which she holds one of her four individual senior Irish records. Two days later, she was back in the pool to take silver in the 100m backstroke, just four-tenths of a second off gold. MD
24 Vikki Wall’s performance in AFLW grand final for North Melbourne
Aussie Rules is one of the great appreciators of Irish talent, and Vikki Wall’s performance in North Melbourne’s triumph over Brisbane to win the club’s first AFLW title was a showcase of just how successful the “Irish experiment” has been.
The Meath two-time All-Ireland winner – part of a three-strong Irish contingent in the Kangaroos alongside Cork’s Erika O’Shea and Tipperary’s Niamh Martin – scored two goals in last month’s grand final.
And an honourable mention must go to Tipperary’s Orla O’Dwyer and Dublin’s Jennifer Dunne, who both put in characteristically solid shifts for the Lions in the decider.
Exceptional talents at home and away. Sorry, I’ll see myself out. MD
23 Cork senior camogie team retain O’Duffy Cup
Does winning ever get old? For the Cork senior camogie team, it’s fairly safe to say the answer is no. A record-breaking 30th title was likely just as sweet as the county’s first back in 1934.
A goal, albeit a contested one, was the difference between the Rebels and old foes Galway, the counties having met in nine previous All-Ireland finals, the most recent of which – in 2021 – went the way of the Tribeswomen.
[ Cork record 30th senior camogie title as they see off Galway fightbackOpens in new window ]
In a fiercely close decider, Cork had that little bit extra to seal the win as the clock ticked to the death, sending the O’Duffy Cup back to the Leeside for another year. MD
22 Ireland play Israel in basketball
The Ireland team found themselves in an impossible situation in February. With the war in Gaza playing itself out in grim dispatches every night on the news, a EuroBasket qualifier against Israel in Latvia was always going to present a huge quandary for them.
A boycott would result in a welter of fines and suspensions. Playing the game would result in accusations of supporting the Israeli regime. In the end, they ended up taking criticism from all sides. They went ahead with the game but refused to shake hands, in protest at an Israeli player baselessly calling them antisemitic. Israel got the result but nobody won. MC
21 RTÉ Investigates abuse of players by coaches
If it was a grim year on the pitch for Irish women’s football on the senior international front, it was worse still off it, the lowest moment coming back in July when Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe teamed up for an RTÉ Investigates probe in to what female players had endured at the hands of some of their FAI coaches in the 1990s.
Multiple players alleged they had been subjected to sexual advances, some describing how their international careers were impacted – or ended – by standing up to their abusers. The FAI said they were “shocked and appalled” by the allegations, all of which were deeply depressing. MH
20 Ireland win a first ever World Series title in rugby sevens
This was Lucy Mulhall’s final year with the sevens squad – the Ireland captain retired after the Olympics, capping a decade-long career in which sevens went from a curio that nobody really had much interest in to something far more solid on the sporting landscape.
[ Ireland women win first ever World Series rugby sevens gold medal in PerthOpens in new window ]
This World Series win in Perth in January was unimaginable for most of Mulhall’s career but they pulled it off with wins over Fiji, Great Britain and Australia. The final against the home side – and World Series leaders – was a stunning effort, all coming down to Eve Higgins’s late try to seal the 19-14 win. The high point of the sevens year. MC
19 Athlone Town win league title
Some story, this. It was only in August 2020 that Athlone Town played their first ever senior League of Ireland game, but just over four years later they only went and won the title, wrapping it up on home turf with a 2-0 win over Bohemians. A humdinger of a title battle it was too, with Shelbourne and Galway United pushing them all the way.
[ Athlone Town complete fairy-tale by winning Premier Division titleOpens in new window ]
Athlone’s dreams of a double were, though, well and truly crushed by Shels who beat them 6-1 in the FAI Cup final, after which Athlone manager Ciarán Kilduff stepped down from his role, later appointed boss of Dundalk’s men’s team. Still, a hell of an achievement by a club that should, strictly, still only be finding their feet at this level. MH
18 Missing out on Euro 2025
Not one of the happier moments from 2024, but it was a painfully significant one. After making their World Cup debut in 2023, the hope was that the Republic of Ireland would push on and make qualifying for major tournaments a habit. But a calamitous night in Dublin in December put paid to that ambition.
The killer moment in the second leg of the play-off, the first having ended 1-1 in Cardiff, came in the 67th minute when Wales doubled their lead on the night through Carrie Jones. Anna Patten’s late reply was too little, too late. There’ll be no trip to Switzerland next summer, then, a horror of a conclusion to a difficult year for the national team. MH
17 Orla Prendergast leads way in win over England
The Irish cricket team concluded a year sprinkled with memorable moments by beating Bangladesh 3-0 in their T20 international series, but nothing quite topped that September day in Clontarf when they got the better of England for the first time in the same format.
Once again, Orla Prendergast demonstrated what a world class cricketer she is when she scored 80 runs off 51 balls, despite suffering from a badly grazed hand, her innings interrupted when she had to have the wound cleaned and dressed.
[ Ireland secure first win against England in 20-over women’s cricket at ClontarfOpens in new window ]
Having already played her part with the ball, the all-rounder taking two key wickets in England’s innings, Prendergast then stepped up with the bat, her thrilling knock, which featured 13 boundaries, sending Ireland on their way to a famous victory. MH
16 Lara Gillespie wins bronze at the World Championships
Katie-George Dunlevy described cycling as a “sufferfest”, and Lara Gillespie can attest to that. No more than Dunlevy, she’s been through the mill, her well-documented battle with a debilitating gynaecological condition followed by a heap of injuries, among them a dislocated collarbone and broken shoulder.
[ Lara Gillespie speeds to bronze medal at track world championshipsOpens in new window ]
Despite it all, the Wicklow woman can reflect on a sparkling 2024 that saw her being part of the first Irish team pursuit squad to qualify for the Olympic Games, win the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa and the Antwerp Port Epic, and being awarded a pro contract that saw her step up to World Tour level. And, to round her year off, she won bronze at the World Championships in Denmark. MH
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