Feature: The sky is the limit for Aquinas

By Shaun Casey

WHEN Paul Evans first joined Aquinas Grammar School over two decades ago, they couldn’t have dreamed of weeks like this. Winning Ulster titles in both football and camogie has created history for the Belfast based school.

The boys kicked off the celebrations, winning the MacLarnon Cup for the first time ever three weeks ago, convincingly seeing off St Eunan’s, Letterkenny in the decider. Now they’re in All-Ireland B semi-final action this Saturday against Cnoc Mhuire Granard in Donagh.

The camogs made it a double delight just 13 days later, Rosina McManus Cup holders for the very first time with a commanding victory over St Joseph’s, Crossmaglen.

The school ran a big breakfast last Saturday morning to not only fundraise, but to celebrate the unique achievements of both teams and to bring the entire community together.

Building that community has been a long time coming, as Evans explains: “That was the dream, right from ’93 when we first entered the competitions. The dream was to build the GAA up in this school, win a MacLarnon and then who knows, maybe in another ten years a MacRory.

“The other thing about it in the last 10 years, and this is down to Mrs (Marie) McCool (head of PE) and Dearbhla Magee from Down, they’ve really pushed the camogie in the school, so it was magnificent with the girls winning as well.

“We’re all guns blazing, everything is going well and all the juniors in the school now are looking up and pushing hard. Our skills and our fitness have always been good, but we were being outmuscled.

“We got a fitness gym in, and we’ve taken our strength and conditioning to a different level and that’s definitely made a big difference. The GAA culture and the sports culture in the school has always been there but now we’re starting to reap the rewards.

“Caitriona Mills has been helping and Vincent Toner from Portaferry has been helping out in the camogie and hurling in the school. The camogie trainer, Finn Hackett, is an ex-pupil.

“Dearbhla Magee’s input in the camogie success cannot be overstated. She joined the school as a coach and while she’s no longer there, she laid the foundations for the recent small-ball success.”

“When we started in Aquinas, there wasn’t much of a senior camogie team and we would have been on the senior team from third year so it’s brilliant that it’s developed to win the shield last year and the cup this year,” said Katie Christie, the team captain.

“It just shows the progression of camogie in the school. Dearbhla Magee came in as a coach a couple of years ago and she pushed camogie and it’s definitely got better since then. Since the shield win last year, we wanted to push on this year.”

Veronica Boyle, player of the match in the Rosina McManus Cup final, added: “Mrs Magee left this year, and we wanted to do it for her. She was a huge stepping stone in our development, and she joined when I was first year.

“She would have saw our potential and she pushed us all the way and honestly, we were so happy to do her proud. She brought us up from a young age and we know we can compete at this level because she gave us the fundamentals to do that.”

In footballing terms, Evans is still hugely involved at all levels, but he rests most of the praise at the feet of team manager John McAteer, who has been a major driving force over the last 10 seasons.

“I was one of the first 10 teachers to start in Aquinas back in 1993,” Evans added. “Back then, there wasn’t much Gaelic football around here. Yes Bredagh and Carryduff were going but they weren’t as strong as they are now.

“We were struggling at times back in ‘93/94. I entered us into the Ulster Colleges – that was the first year we played in it and we’ve been there ever since. We’ve won six or seven C competitions and have pushed really, really hard in the last number of years.

“About 12 years ago we got into the All-Ireland final of the C competition. We were beaten by a team from Roscommon, Strokestown, but it was a great year because we beat a team from Kerry in the semi-finals.

“Nobody gave us a chance against them and then Strokestown just played better than us on the day. We had that in our pocket for the MacLarnon final this year, that you can’t just show up on the day, you’ve got to get your head right.

“I have to say, John McAteer came into the school about 10 years ago and I passed the baton onto John and he’s taken it to a different level.

“I took the majority of teams for about 25 years and then, God bless him, young McAteer came along.”

A 1-3 tally in the showpiece from JJ Higgins was key and he won the player of the match award.

From the start of the season, they knew they had what it took to create history and win the MacLarnon Cup.

“It was class, but it was more about the whole team winning together. All the work we had done getting to that point, to win the MacLarnon was an unreal feeling,” said Higgins.

“Last year, we got to the semi-finals, and we said this year that if we didn’t win the MacLarnon, then this year was a failure. We set out to win it, that was our goal from the start of the year.

Midfielder Pádhraig O’Hare added: “It’s a great week for the school, it’s not too often that both teams get to All-Ireland semi-finals so it’s great and there’s a real excitement around the place.”

When the men captured the Ulster crown, the ladies knew they had to follow suit. After winning the Rosina McManus Shield competition in 2025, they wanted to go one better this year.

“Obviously the boys had a lot of attention with their win but with us, it gave us more of a push to make a name for ourselves and bringing back the cup was unbelievable, just to match the boys,” Christie continued.

With an All-Ireland semi-final to look forward to this weekend, Aquinas aren’t resting on their laurels and are intent to go all the way, Pádhraig O’Hare insists.

“Everyone in the team has bought into it big time from the start of the year, that’s the main thing. Everyone is here at 7.30am on a Monday morning. A lot of people wouldn’t want to do that. Some of those early morning sessions can be tough but it’s all good.”

There is a belief and a confidence that they can get over the line and reach the All-Ireland final. Evans wouldn’t have thought that was possible when he first joined the school, but the sky is now the limit.

“The performance in the MacLarnon final was unbelievable and it’s installed a lot of confidence but not cockines/

“We know Longford have won Leinster and have beaten Dublin teams and Meath teams so they’re going to be strong and well drilled but so are we.”