'It's like a group of sisters': Mothers & Others teams are taking the GAA by storm

Gaelic4Mothers & Others is a fast-growing movement in the world of Gaelic football. While its obvious benefits centre around encouraging women to participate in sport, its impact is far-reaching, into the clubs themselves, and making a difference in women’s lives.

Some members of the Midleton Wagpies team

“Mothers & Others is the best thing that’s happened to me in my forties,” says Ciara Speight, founder of Mothers & Others Midleton GAA, a.k.a The Wagpies.

In early 2023 Ciara was helping out with her daughter’s camogie/football team and during her time on the sidelines it struck her that she’d love to get back into playing a team sport. “I was always sporty and wanted to be able to play sport again. There was no Mothers & Others team in Midleton at the time so I briefly joined the Carrigtohill Cougars, but I really wanted to be playing with my own crowd in Midleton. So I told the club I’d organise everything and I begged and cajoled people to come along on the first day, and so on April 2023 we launched the team – we haven’t looked back since.” 

Now around 50-members strong, the Wagpies are an active team on the East Cork circuit and Ciara says the friendships and bonds they’ve formed are a joy. “It’s like a group of sisters you didn’t know you needed. The social aspect and the camaraderie is unreal, and the sense of being part of the community too. I now know so many people around the town and my kids know their kids, it’s great.” 

The team meets every Sunday evening for an hour, and this is precious ‘me time’ for the women, says Ciara. “It’s our time. We deliberately chose Sunday evening as we’re all winding down after the week of running around and getting everyone else sorted. It’s a good time to take that hour for ourselves.” 

The Gaelic4Mothers&Others, which is a Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) initiative, was borne out of the Women in Sport 2008 programme, which sought to increase women’s (and girls’) participation in sports - from playing, all the way through to leadership and governance roles.

“In most sports clubs, there’s an avenue for kids and dads to stay involved, but for women, it has not been as obvious. Mothers & Others is changing that,” says Lyn Savage, National Development Manager at LGFA. “It’s about women playing Gaelic football in a fun, and non-competitive way.” 

Since the launch of the initiative in 2008 it has grown rapidly; there are now over 550 Mothers & Others teams at clubs across the country, according to Lyn. “Gaelic4Mothers&Others is in almost half of all GAA clubs in Ireland - in clubs where there isn’t even a women’s team. And all aspects of those clubs are benefitting from it. Women are becoming a driving force in these clubs, whether it’s through coaching or refereeing, and more are taking leadership roles in the clubs as a result of being involved with Mothers & Others.” 

In Dublin, Jillian Bolger joined the St Vincent’s Marino Mothers & Others team (or GAA4Mas as it’s called in Dublin) six years ago. At the time her three kids were playing for the club, and Jillian wanted to be more involved on the coaching side of her daughter’s team. “I could see that my daughter needed some extra encouragement and so I decided to become a coach. But I’d never played GAA growing up and was keen to get some training myself. I joined the GAA4Mas team initially for that reason but it’s become so much more than that now.” 

Jillian loves the social side of being part of the team. “We have our one hour every week but we also visit other clubs to play a match or a blitz, and we’re always made to feel so welcome - there will be tea and sandwiches and cake. At our club it’s become a tradition to bring out a cooler filled with prosecco and strawberries for after a blitz.” 

Fiona Delamere and Jillian Bolger

The social and fun side of this initiative is front and centre at the annual Festival of Football, which takes place this year on the 7th September. “It’s been described as a ‘massive hen party’,” says Lyn, who is part of the group who organise the event each year. “This year, the event will include 138 teams from around Ireland and we have probably another 200 teams on the waiting list to be involved. The day is all about having fun and meeting other teams. The women come in fancy dress and we do a giant warm-up followed by a series of games. There’s also live music on the day.” 

Far from making “a skit” of the initiative, Lyn says the day sums up the social, non-competitive, fun aspects of Mothers & Others that makes it so popular nationwide. “At the end of the day, it’s for fun and is very much a relaxed environment. It’s all about removing the barriers, whether that’s time, fitness levels, or feeling like you’re not a good enough player.” 

Even though the ethos of Mothers & Others is non-competitive, that doesn’t mean there isn’t friendly rivalry between teams, according to Ciara. “We know it’s not competitive and no-one takes it too seriously, but who doesn’t like to win every now and then.” 

The beauty of Mothers & Others is that everyone gets something out of it, and everyone brings something different to the table. “There’s space for everyone,” says Jillian. “There is no closed door. Our team has moved and changed so much over the past six years. We’re seeing members who aren’t from Ireland who want to understand our culture a little more or want to meet other women from the community. That’s a wonderful part of it.” 

Jillian herself has found value in gaining a connection with one of our heritage sports, and she is also enjoying the physical side of the game. “Since I’ve been playing I’ve chipped a bone and broken a toe but that’s probably part and parcel of learning a new team sport in your forties.”

Also in her forties, Ciara is relishing the physical side of it too. “I love sport – soccer, camogie, football, and especially team sports. There’s something special about it.” 

"Active participation is a key target area of the Sport Ireland Policy on Women in Sport and ensuring women can enjoy lifelong involvement in sport is essential. Gaelic 4 Mothers & Others is a fantastic example of developing and delivering a programme that retains participants in sport and introduces new participants. We know that a person's journey in sport can involve competing and ultimately, in most cases, some sort of retirement from the sport. However, G4M&O has ensured that women can continue playing Gaelic football at any level they wish. Over the years we have seen the programme has grown from strength to strength and how it continues to inspire other sports to design something similar," says Nora Stapleton, Sport Ireland's Women in Sport Lead.

In November, Ciara and the Wagpies are going on tour. They are participating in a Mothers & Others tournament in Barcelona where 10 teams from Ireland will play against each other. “The numbers were limited to 15 women per team, but there are around 40 of us going over to support and cheer the team on. We can’t wait!” 

Before that, there is the small matter of the annual Mothers & Others event on September 7. “It’s so great to be involved in this huge event, and of course Mothers & Others in general. For those of us with kids, it’s brilliant for them to see us taking part in sport and being part of a team.”