Marie Crowe: After having three sons I was 99% sure this was another boy

Last March, RTÉ sports presenter Marie Crowe and her husband, Billy, welcomed their daughter, Jessie, after having three boys and after a nine-year gap. She describes the moment of finding out this baby was a girl, about what that meant to her — and how Jessie has brought a beautiful calm energy to family life

Marie Crowe: 'I have four sisters and I’m very close to my mother. I’d like to have that relationship with a daughter that I have with my mother.'

Everybody seems to find out now during pregnancy whether they’re having a boy or a girl. I didn’t with any of mine — I felt it’d be nice to have a surprise, also I’d be nervous about getting ahead of myself.

After having three boys, I was 99% sure this baby would be a boy too. I was induced, as with all my babies, so there’s a lot of sitting, waiting for hours for the baby to come, it’s not a quick delivery. I was in the Coombe. People coming in and out of the room all day — midwives, staff who were on shift — asking ‘what are you having?’

I was chatting away, saying I’d had three boys and it was a surprise what I was having — so there was a lot of talk, people on the ward curious about what it would be, invested in the story…

It was literally after she cried, after I knew ‘the baby’s ok’, that I said: "What is it?" And about three midwives in unison shouted: "It’s a girl". Everybody was thrilled. I was shocked but really happy. I
remember putting my hands in the air like I was celebrating winning a match, an all-Ireland. Total euphoria!

Marie Crowe with Jessie, husband Billy, and sons on a skiing trip.

I’d have been thrilled with whatever the baby was, but the surprise! I never thought for a second I was having a girl — a lot of the stats say if you have three of the same, you’ll have four of the same. And I felt like I had when I’d been expecting the boys, I looked the same — the way I carried, the bump. I was wearing the same maternity clothes. I was sick on the boys as well as on Jessie. It was in no way different.

Jessie has looked like my grandmother since the minute I was able to look at her — since day dot she
reminds me of Mrs Crowe, my father’s mother. Everybody says she looks like my dad, I see him in her now too — I send him pictures all the time, of her looking like him.

I have four sisters and I’m very close to my mother. I’d like to have that relationship with a daughter that I have with my mother. As I’ve got older I appreciate the relationship I have with her more — when you’re young you don’t appreciate all your mother does. When you become a mother yourself, your eyes are opened to everything a mother does for you.

When Jessie was born I felt I’d have a pal always. The boys are great but they seem to gravitate towards their dad, because of the sport. With Jessie, I feel I’ll have someone with me to go shopping, to spend a different type of time with, and to chill with, because the boys don’t chill very often — it’s a different energy.

Sometimes I feel with boys you do a lot for them — but with a girl you might be able to do things with them.

She’s the apple of Billy’s eye, he’s mad about her… They’re off somewhere together now, I don’t even know where. She has brought such a calmness to the house. The boys are on the go all the time, playing sports. They don’t sit down — if they do sit down they’re throwing a ball around. If they’re having dinner, they have a hurley in their hand. It’s 90 miles an hour all the time…

But I find when they come in now, they take a moment to find her. Before Jessie, when they’d open the door they’d say: "What’s for food?" Now they say: "Where’s Jessie?" They look for her — even if she’s up in bed, they’ll go up, give her a hug, a kiss, play with her, talk to her. There’s just a different awareness.

Marie Crowe with Jessie, husband Billy, Billy junior, Timmy and Davie. 

I think they’re gentler with her because she’s a girl. They already have brothers — a sister is new and different. I don’t think they’d be as protective of her if she was a boy. There’s something special about having a little sister.

It feels lovely… they’re stopping to think about somebody else. They’re caring for her. If I ask for help around the house, they look at me like I’ve asked them to climb Mount Everest, but if I ask for help with Jessie, they’ll do it in a flash. They’re already planning to be her football coach when she’s older!

She has brought a sense of calm and kindness to the house. And she’s full of personality, a great character, she’ll keep us on our toes. Am I a different mother to her as a girl? I’m at a very different stage in my life. There’s a nine-year gap between her and Davie, the youngest boy. Maybe because of this gap, I’m enjoying everything so much more. Because I know I won’t have any more — Jessie’s going to be my last baby.

So everything’s so precious, even the sleepless nights, because I know I won’t have it again. And it’s a privilege to be able to appreciate the moment.

• Marie Crowe MC’d the launch of the 2026 Lidl National Football League and the ‘Greatness Deserves to be Seen’ campaign at Croke Park recently, celebrating the skill, quality and excitement of ladies’ football. Lidl has confirmed its LGFA partnership will continue to 2030 with a further €7.5m investment, bringing total support for the game to €22.5m