A fine sporting spirit that transcends county bounds

Pauric Mahony held fragile hope in his hands. Kilkenny and Waterford stood, battle-weary, on the cusp of the All-Ireland final last year when Mahony faced a last-minute free. His delivery was answering prayers until Eoin Murphy reached above the Kilkenny crossbar to pluck it from the sky. And hope melted away in the Déise camp.

What followed would become an iconic sporting moment. As Mahony lay buckled with emotion on the Semple Stadium turf, a girl in a Kilkenny jersey made her way across the field. All around her, black and amber-clad players and crew hugged and roared and celebrated with joy. But Jennifer Malone only had eyes for heartbroken Mahony. Images of her attempts to comfort him went global. But there was more to the story than that. Jennifer, a Kildare native, has a love of sport that goes, as her mother says “way beyond county boundaries.”

Jennifer, who was born with Down Syndrome, had a tough start in life.

“She wasn’t meant to be here at all,” says her mother Donna. “She got meningitis at three months, which left her on life support for eight weeks. If that wasn’t bad enough, she had cardiac problems and had to have open heart surgery at 10 months. We’re so grateful she’s here. The GAA is her thing, she just loves watching matches. She fought to be here and I’m grateful to have her and I feel I owe it to her to bring her to every match we can get to. She has touched so many people’s lives at this stage.”

After Jennifer’s touching support of Pauric Mahony last year, she earned a special place in Waterford hearts. Mahony sent her a signed hurl, framed picture and the jersey he was wearing for the match. The Waterford supporters group, Club Déise, made her a member. When a recent social media campaign called for Jennifer to be named as a flag bearer for the Waterford team at the All-Ireland final, however, the reaction from the Malone household was typical of the sporting spirit that has put Jennifer in the limelight.

“Jennifer is a huge fan of Waterford,” said her mother Donna.

“But we thought that was an honour that should go to a Waterford person.” It was a similar sporting gesture that led to a decision to pass on hurling final tickets for the Kilkenny-Galway clash a couple of years ago, to a fan they felt was more deserving.

“We got accessible tickets to the match, but when we heard of a Galway fan, a lad whose accessible tickets hadn’t come through, we passed on ours.

“That’s the way it goes. You wouldn’t begrudge a local supporter tickets for their own county. We’ve put in the request for Sunday’s big day with our county board, and Jennifer would love to be there, but Waterford people take priority. We go to a lot of matches.”

Going to matches has been a part of Jennifer’s life since before she could even walk. She was just past her first birthday when she went to Croke Park for the first time. It was to the Leinster final between Kildare and Dublin. It was a day her mother Donna will never forget.

“She spent 14 months of her first two years in and out of Crumlin. I took her out of hospital to take her to that match. I was wondering was I absolutely mad bringing her in my arms, with tubes in her nose and strict instructions I was to get her back to the hospital for her next dose of medicine. Kildare weren’t doing well at half-time and I was going to go, but a Laois supporter persuaded me to stay. It was a great win for Kildare and I’m glad we were there. That’s where it all started for Jennifer.”

Jennifer is one of six children in a family that Donna describes as “GAA mad”. All of her siblings have played either camogie, hurling or Gaelic, and the extended family are big Kildare fans. So how do they feel about Jennifer’s support for other teams?

“Well, she went to the Galway-Wexford semi-final in a jersey made up of both county colours that had been sent to her for her birthday from an anonymous well-wisher. After the match, one of the extended family who is a big Kildare fan who was still feeling the sting of Galway beating Kildare earlier in the year asked me is Jennifer a Galway supporter now? I told him Jennifer supports the GAA.

That sums it up. Joe Canning brought her on to the pitch at the semi-final to wish her a happy birthday. When Waterford beat Kilkenny this year it was Pauric Mahony who came over to her. I had a lump in my throat when everyone started clapping for the two of them.”

So if she had to choose on Sunday? “Jennifer loves Galway, and she will be cheering every score from the team on the day, but if we’re not watching the match at Croke Park we’ll be joining the Déise supporters in Waterford to watch the match on the big screen at the Apple Market. Waterford have just taken her under their wing and that feels very special for her.”

WHO TOOK THE FAMOUS PHOTO?

When 16-year-old Dylan McIlwaine was covering the Kilkenny v Waterford All Ireland semi-final replay for the Kilkenny People in August 2016 he captured a photo that was to become famous. The shot of Kilkenny fan Jennifer Malone consoling Waterford's Pauric Mahony at the end of the game captured the public imagination. The Sky TV screen grab of the incident was all over social media and despite the face that Dylan was the only photographer at the game to get the shot it took a long time before he got any recognition as the Kilkenny People didn't use the pic in their coverage of the epic game. However when Dylan shared his photo on Facebook the following day, it soon went viral and Jennifer's mum Donna was in touch with the Co. Antrim teenager who sent her on the photo which is now proudly framed and hanging in their Kildare home.