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| Native name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 1966 (age 59) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | FÁS employee, county councillor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Ladies' Football | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | back, goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brenda McAnespie | |
|---|---|
| Monaghan County Councillor | |
| In office 11 June 1999 – 5 June 2009 | |
| Constituency | Monaghan LEA |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse | Vincent McAnespie |
| Children | 7 |
Brenda McAnespie (born February 1966) is an Irish sportswoman. [1] [2] She played ladies' Gaelic football with her local club,Monaghan Harps,with Emyvale,and with the Monaghan county team. [3]
Brenda grew up in Scotstown,County Monaghan. She attended Urbleshanny National School and played Gaelic football on the boys' team at a time when ladies' Gaelic football was not widely played. At 13 or 14 this was no longer allowed and she switched to indoor soccer,playing as a goalkeeper.
She married Vincent McAnespie in 1989. [4]
In 1991 ladies' football began in Monaghan and McAnespie was involved from the beginning. They won the 1992 All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship,and went on to dominate the senior competition in the 1990s. McAnespie played in six All-Ireland senior finals,winning in 1996 and 1997. [5] She won three All Stars,in 1996,1997 and 1999.
McAnespie retired from county football in 2006. [5]
In 2008,she was on an Emyvale team that won the All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Club Football Championship,along with her daughters Ciara and Aoife. [6]
McAnespie was named by the Irish Independent on a list of "The 10 greatest women GAA [sic] players of all time" in 2015. [7] She was the subject of a 2020 Laochra Gael episode. [8] [9]
McAnespie has seven children,twins Aoife and Ciara,Shauna,Ryan,Eimear,Aisling and Darren. She also has six grandchildren,Caiden,Fionn,Zach,Mia,Caela and Iarlaith. [10] Her son Ryan plays for Monaghan men's team. [11]
She was elected to Monaghan County Council for Sinn Féin in 1999 and again in 2004. [12]
Her husband,Vincent McAnespie,is also a longtime Sinn Féin activist. He was accused of involvement in the attempted murder of an Ulster Defence Regiment member in 1981;he was tried in 2010 and acquitted. [13] His brother Aidan was killed by a British Army sniper in Aughnacloy,County Tyrone in 1988. [14]