By Niall Gartland

LAST Saturday morning, the Tyrone ladies converged on Canavan’s for a meet-and-greet with supporters young and old ahead of this weekend’s Ulster Senior Championship final. The form, as they say, was good.

Speaking for myself, the county’s ladies footballers were something of an unknown quantity before I made the fateful decision to pick up a notepad. They simply weren’t on my radar. Childhood idols included Peter Canavan, Stephen O’Neill, Brian McGuigan – and yes, an undeniable affection for hounds of war like Conor Gormley and Ryan McMenamin. Not a female sporting star in sight – but sometimes that’s how it goes.

Through covering Tyrone ladies (and the camogs) in recent years at venues dotted across Ulster and beyond, I’ve developed a fondness for the county’s other flagship inter-county teams. The national spotlight is drawn like a moth to shinier objects, but again, that’s almost par for the course.

So anyway, this Sunday I’ll navigate the meandering roads through the heart of the Sperrin mountains en route to Owenbeg for Tyrone’s Ulster final showdown with Armagh. It’s a big game but these are amateur players and inter-county football isn’t the only show in town, though it may seem that way in the coming days as they dream of a first title at this level since 2009.

We’ve spoken to three Tyrone ladies stars about the pursuit of excellence both on and off the pitch. Last year’s All-Ireland Intermediate winning captain Aoibhinn McHugh is a Belfast-based solicitor by trade. On the other side of Sunday, Aoife Horisk will pack her suitcase and head down under having signed with Melbourne Football Club for the 2026 AFLW season. Then there’s Galbally goalkeeper Laura Kane, who has returned to the flock this year after a period of absence (well, not quite – she held a coaching remit for a number of years).

Team captain McHugh comes from a well-known Aghyaran family and in the early days of her playing career, she lined out alongside the boys in the club.

“My dad [Kieran] played for Aghyaran and my family have always been very involved . I started in the lowest age groups – we played mostly with the boys, like a lot of country clubs. Then at U12s, we had our own girls team.”

Aoibhinn’s Tyrone story began in earnest a couple of years later. The ambition was to represent the county at the highest level.

“I came in for trials at U14 level. I was in the same group as Chloe McCaffrey and Meabh Corrigan, so we came up through the ranks together.

“I did aspire to play for Tyrone – growing up, the county meant a lot. When I was younger, we had a good Aghyaran ladies team and I enjoyed playing for the club, but I also definitely wanted to play for Tyrone. I looked up to Neamh Woods, Shannon Quinn and players like that.”

Last year, McHugh climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand and held aloft the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup following an All-Ireland Intermediate final victory over Laois. Redemption for the previous year’s defeat at the same juncture to Leitrim, but very much a special day in its own right.

“It’s something I never really thought would happen. It was a massive honour for myself personally, and I was just privileged to be captain of the group of girls, to be the one who got to lift the trophy.”

The good times didn’t end there. She crowned the season with a Tyrone Intermediate title with Aghyaran playing alongside her county colleague Sasha Byrne.

“That was class,” said McHugh. “Obviously there was a big push trying to win an All-Ireland with Tyrone, so a lot of the time I was with the county and wasn’t in Aghyaran as much. Then when Sasha and myself came back to the club, we found that the girls were flying fit, they’d put in a lot of work.

“It was brilliant to come back and then have a good run with the club on the back of winning the All-Ireland, so there was a lot of celebrating last year!”

McHugh juggles her sporting commitments with a busy professional life having recently qualified as a solicitor. She works with the Belfast-based firm Baker McKenzie, but she’s accustomed to a busy lifestyle at this stage.

“I qualified in January, and it is quite busy, but I think I like it that way, it’s what I’m used to at this stage. I work with Baker McKenzie, and they’re understanding. So is Darren [McCann] and the Tyrone management team. Sometimes work comes and has to take priority but in general I’ve managed everything okay.”

It’s a similar story in many respects for talented forward Aoife Horisk, who came through the ranks with her club Errigal Ciaran before linking in with Tyrone.

Aoife will line out in Sunday’s Ulster final, but then her pathway will diverge: Australia is the destination as she’s joined the ever-growing list of Ladies Footballers who are trying their hand at Australian Rules Football.

Needless to say we wish her the very best as she links in with Melbourne.

Horisk said: “If I didn’t do it, I’d regret it. I’ll be away for two years so I’ll only be 24 when I come back, so I’ve plenty of years left in me hopefully!

“There’s 40 Irish girls out there at the minute – they’re going to start up an Irish team I think, where they’ll get to play the Australia girls. It’s nice that all of us will come together to showcase how playing GAA has got us to this point.”

The big attraction for Horisk, who has enjoyed a hugely successful few years across club and county, is the opportunity to live the lifestyle of a professional athlete.

“That’s probably one of the massive things – coming from doing my placement as a nurse into playing football full-time. Being able to give 100 per cent to the sport is something I’m really drawn to.”

Her family will naturally feel pangs of sadness when Horisk departs for the other side of the world, but at the same time recognise that it’s a golden opportunity.

“I suppose it’s a bit in the middle for my family, they’re probably sad to see me go, but at the same time they know I’ve worked hard to get there and they back me all the way.”

Then there’s goalkeeper Laura Kane, who plays her club football for Galbally. In different circumstances, she would have been in attendance on Canavan’s last Saturday as a supporter. She left the panel five years ago, but a fateful phone call brought her back into the fold.

Kane said: “I actually left the panel back in 2021, just to take time away. Then I became involved with the Tyrone minors as a goalkeeping coach.

“I did that for two years, so last year was the first year where I’d no involvement in any Tyrone set-up since I was 13 years of age.

“Then in December time I got a phone call from Barry McManus to see if I was interested in coming back.”

And Kane’s answer was an unequivocal yes.

“Sometimes when you walk away from something, it is difficult. I really did miss it. So when he phoned me I thought ‘ach I might as well, I mightn’t have too many years left in me playing football’.

“This time last year I never would have imagined I’d be standing in Canavan’s as a team member.

“Yes I’d have been there supporting the girls, like I was last year when they brought back the cup after winning the All-Ireland.

“But never in a million years would I have thought I’d be back playing with Tyrone, so I really do have to pinch myself sometimes.”