Portaferry camog Niamh Mallon has won an All-Star for her performances with her adopted county, Galway. Shaun Casey writes…

BY her own admission, Niamh Mallon isn’t the most emotional person in the world, but the reception she received at her home of Portaferry after accepting an All-Star award last weekend will live long in the memory.

Home is where the heart is of course, but Mallon had to pack her bags and relocate to Galway due to work commitments and signed the transfer papers this season, swapping the red and black of the Mourne County for her adopted colours of maroon and white.

She recorded an individual tally of 1-21 across five championship games for Galway on their run to the All-Ireland final, where they just came up short against two-in-a-row winners Cork, with three points separating the sides in the end.

While she didn’t get to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland final day, something she experienced twice with Down, her impact was instant for the Connacht girls. So much so, she earned a first PwC Camogie All-Star award.

She had been nominated once before, back in 2021 after Down’s campaign in the Senior Championship, but this time around she actually landed the prize that her talent and ability richly deserve. Coming home an All-Star would bring tears to most eyes.

“It’s probably something that you don’t really think too much about but it’s lovely,” said Mallon on becoming an All-Star. “I think the big thing for me is that it’s a lovely recognition for everybody at home, everybody in the club that put work into me from a very young age.

“I think it’s really important that they are made aware of how much they contributed to it and it’s just as much theirs as it is mine. It’s only when things like this happen that you get an appreciation of how much people are invested in you as an individual.”

The club hosted a homecoming to celebrate Mallon’s success, and she couldn’t have been more grateful.

“I’ve been inundated (with phone calls) and I was back in the club house on Sunday, they had a bit of a gathering,” Mallon explained.

“The amount of people that showed up was unbelievable, it was quite overwhelming actually. I wouldn’t really be that emotional of a person but Sunday night in particular got to me. It was very overwhelming and very emotional.

“It’s definitely something that will stick with me for a long, long time. I’m just so appreciative of all the support. The support ever since the move to Galway happened has been unbelievable and I’m very grateful for it to be honest.”

The backing of those around her, both in Galway and up the road in Down, has made the move down south much easier to deal with. But changing her own frame of mind was the toughest task, as Mallon admits.

“It was a huge challenge to be honest and I think a lot of that challenge was down to me. People on both sides have been brilliant. Everybody in Galway has been massively welcoming, massively helpful and they have tried to make the transition as easy as possible.

“I suppose then on the flipside of that, people at home, particularly in Portaferry, have been hugely supportive of the move and have been very receptive of me going down the road and playing camogie for Galway.

“People in both camps have been great and that challenge probably fell on me really to change my own mindset and go down the road and try to enjoy it for what it was.”

On the camogie front, Mallon enjoyed a terrific season for Galway, and while the colour on her jersey may have changed, that unwavering drive to become better, to become a winner, never faltered.

Mallon led the line for Down for many years and twice tasted All-Ireland glory. She was the captain of the team when they landed the All-Ireland Junior Championship crown in 2014, following tough defeats to Waterford and Meath in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

In 2020, they once again sat at the throne as All-Ireland champions, this time at Intermediate level and Mallon was instrumental. The accurate Portaferry attacker top scored with 2-3 as her side brushed aside the challenge of Antrim.

Mallon is back chasing All-Ireland glory and Galway’s first title since 2021.

“For me, the mindset was more around fitting into the group and doing whatever was asked of me, that was the biggest piece.

“In terms of the camogie, my ambition and my drive and my want didn’t and wouldn’t change regardless of what team I’m representing and that didn’t change to be honest. I’ll give my all to everything, whether that’s with Down for 15 years or with Galway or Portaferry.

“My approach didn’t change massively in that regard. I think the difference was just trying to be accepted into the group and become comfortable with my new teammates and the new management and things like that.”

Mallon fully invested herself to the Galway cause, not only on the field, but off it as well. Last year, she received an invitation by Galway football manager Pádraic Joyce to come onboard his backroom team as the side’s nutritionist.

It was an opportunity that Mallon leapt on, and while the Galway camogs had their own All-Ireland ambitions, Mallon was fighting for a winner’s medal on two fronts as the men also reached the decider this season, but came up short against Armagh.

“It came about late in the summer last year,” Mallon recalled. “Pádraic reached out through a contact with the company that I work for in Galway, Orreco, and we had a conversation on what he was looking for and what I was able to offer.

“I took up the role in December last year and enjoyed it massively since then. It’s a multifaceted role really. I’m overseeing the group as a whole and then within that, if there’s any individuals that need one-to-one support, I’m there to offer that as well.

“There’s lots of moving parts to it. It’s really enjoyable and something I got a lot out of. They’re two really, really ambitious groups and I suppose I’m very fortunate that both groups are competing at the latter end of their championships.

“That doesn’t come without its challenges but it’s something that should be enjoyed and something that you have to meet head on, but it was a busy summer, that’s for sure.”

Recently, Mallon once again linked up with Portaferry during the Down Championship and helped her team reach the county final, but they came up against a Clonduff side that proved too strong on the day.

A switch at club level is one thing, but will we ever see her back in the red and black of Down? Probably not in the near future, but never say never.

“It’s probably very open ended with my work situation at the minute,” Mallon continued.

“I’d say Galway is going to be home for the next three, four, five years anyway but life can change and take on a different path.

“If you had have told me a couple of years ago that I’d be working and living in Galway I wouldn’t have believed you.

“Things can change very quickly, and I definitely wouldn’t close the door to anything, but I’d imagine that for the medium term anyway, I’m staying in Galway.”

While she may never return to her native county and play in her beloved Down jersey again, Mallon has represented the entire community with honour and the people of Portaferry are certainly proud to call her one of their own.