Breffni Park, known for sponsorship reasons as Kingspan Breffni, is a GAA stadium in Cavan, Ireland. It is the home of Cavan GAA. The ground has an overall capacity of about 32,000 with a 6,000 seated capacity. Breffni is the historic name for area of Cavan/Leitrim. Cavan is often referred to as the Breffni County. Kingspan Breffni is located on Park Lane to the south of Cavan town. Breffni Park hosted the first test in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series between Ireland and Australia. It also hosted the first test during the 2013 International Rules Series.
Ladies' Gaelic football is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball towards goals at each end of a grass pitch. The sport is mainly played in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, where the two main competitions are the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship and the Ladies' National Football League. Both competitions feature teams representing the traditional GAA counties. The 2017 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship Final was the best attended women's sports final of 2017. The 2019 final, after the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final, was the second largest attendance at any women's sporting final during 2019. Historically Cork and Kerry have been the sport's most successful counties. Waterford, Monaghan and Mayo have also experienced spells of success. In more recent years, 2017 to 2019, Dublin have been the dominant team.
Women's Australian rules football, also known simply as women's football or women's footy, is a form of Australian rules football played by women, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
The Australia women's international rules football team was organised by Women's Football Australia and represented Australia in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series against Ireland. As of 2019, this is the only series the team has played. Ireland won the series, winning the first test at Breffni Park by 134–15 and the second test at Parnell Park by 39–18.
Shannon McFerran is an Australian rules football player in the Victorian Women's Football League. She currently plays at St Kilda Sharks women's football team.
Penny Cula-Reid is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition.
Natasha Khalila Dowie is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club AC Milan. She represented the England women's national football team at the youth level before making her senior international debut in 2009. Dowie played for the London teams Watford, Fulham and Charlton Athletic, and then spent five years with Everton before transferring to FA WSL clubs Liverpool Ladies in November 2012 and Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2016. She also spent three periods on loan with Melbourne Victory of the Australian W-League in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2016 and 2017.
Rena Buckley is an Irish sportswoman who played for both the Cork senior ladies' football team and the Cork senior camogie team. She has also represented Munster in the Gael Linn Cup and Ireland at international rules. Between 2005 and 2017 she won 18 All-Ireland winners medals, making her one of most decorated sportspeople in Gaelic games. In 2012 she captained Cork when they won the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship and in 2017 she captained Cork when they won the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship. She was the first player to captain Cork to both All-Ireland senior championships. She was also named as an All Star on eleven occasions. In 2015 Buckley and her team mate and fellow dual player, Briege Corkery, were named joint winners of the 2015 The Irish Times/ Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year Award.
Clíodhna O'Connor is a former Dublin senior ladies' footballer. She was a member of the Dublin team that won the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship in 2010. She also played for Dublin in the 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2014 finals. She captained Dublin during the 2011 season. In 2004 and 2009 she was selected as an All Star and in 2010 she was included in the LGFA/TG4 Team of the Decade. She also played for the Ireland women's international rules football team. Since retiring as a player, O'Connor has coached Ladies' Gaelic football and hurling. She was a member of the coaching team at Cuala when they won the 2017 and 2018 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship Finals. In 2019 she became a member of the Dublin senior hurling team coaching staff.
Joanne Butland is an Australian who has played association football, Australian rules football and international rules football.
Jodie Lee Taylor is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Lyon of the Division 1 Féminine. She began her club career with local team Tranmere Rovers and had brief spells in her home country with Birmingham City, Lincoln Ladies, and Arsenal. A well-traveled player, she has also played in Sweden and the United States.
Cora Staunton is an Irish sportswoman. She is best known as a Ladies Gaelic footballer, winning four All-Irelands and three Ladies' National Football League titles with Mayo. She has also been an All Star on eleven occasions. In addition to playing Gaelic football, Staunton has also played three other football codes at a senior level. In 2006, as an association footballer, she won an FAI Women's Cup winner's medal with the Mayo Ladies' League representative team. In 2013, she began playing rugby union for Castlebar Ladies in the Connacht Women's League and in 2018 made her debut in the Australian rules football AFLW competition for the Greater Western Sydney Giants. She has also played for the Ireland women's international rules football team. Staunton works as a HSE liaison officer, working with women from the Irish Travellers community.
Moana Hope is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the AFL Women's competition from 2017 to 2019, including 13 matches over two seasons at Collingwood and a further seven matches over one season at North Melbourne. Each followed an extended career at state-league level before the creation of a national league.
Meg Hutchins is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
Lauren Tesoriero is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). She previously played 11 matches over a two-year tenure with Collingwood.
Caroline O'Hanlon is a Northern Ireland netball international and an Armagh Ladies' Gaelic footballer. She has also represented Ireland at international rules. She was a member of the Northern Ireland teams at the 2003, 2011 and 2019 Netball World Cups and at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the Northern Ireland teams that were silver medallists at the 2012 and 2017 European Netball Championships. She captained Northern Ireland at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 Netball World Cup. She carried the flag of Northern Ireland during the 2018 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. She has played in the Netball Superleague for Team Northumbria, UWS Sirens and Manchester Thunder. She was a member of the Manchester Thunder team that won the 2019 Netball Superleague. As a Ladies' Gaelic footballer she played for Armagh in the 2006 All-Ireland final. She has also been an All Star on three occasions and was named as the 2014 TG4 Senior Player's Player of the Year. In 2010 she was named Northern Ireland Sportswoman of the Year.
Sinéad Aherne is a Dublin senior ladies' footballer. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, she captained Dublin as they won the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship. In 2010, when Dublin won their first All-Ireland title, she was both player of the match and the top scorer in the final with 2–7. She also captained Dublin when they won the 2018 Ladies' National Football League. In 2018 she was named the TG4 Senior Player's Player of the Year and received her seventh All Star award. She has also represented Ireland at international rules.
Sinéad Goldrick is a Dublin senior ladies' footballer. She captained Dublin in the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship Final and was a member of the Dublin teams that won the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was also a member of the Dublin team that won the 2018 Ladies' National Football League. In 2019 she won her seventh All Star award. During the 2010s she was also a prominent member of the Foxrock–Cabinteely team that won Dublin and Leinster titles and played in All-Ireland finals. In October 2019 it was announced that Goldrick has agreed to play for Melbourne Football Club of the AFLW in 2020.
Niamh McEvoy is a Dublin senior ladies' footballer and an Australian rules footballer with Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's. McEvoy was a member of the Dublin teams that won the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship in 2010, 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was also a member of the Dublin team that won the 2018 Ladies' National Football League.
The 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series was the first and, as of 2019, the only ladies' International rules football series played between Ireland and Australia. The series was played at the same time as the men's 2006 International Rules Series. Ireland won the series, winning the first test at Breffni Park by 134–15 and the second test at Parnell Park by 39–18. The series was broadcast live by TG4 and Setanta Sports.
