Aileen Wall: 'I’d give up every medal I could to win an All-Ireland with Ballymac'
WALL WOULD GIVE UP HAUL: Aileen Wall of Ballymacarbry, Waterford, with the Delores Tyrrell Memorial Cup. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Aileen Wall would give up every medal she’s ever won to captain Ballymacarbry to All-Ireland club glory this Saturday evening.
Lining out for a club that has captured the last 42 Waterford county championships, Wall has a chest of medals to sacrifice and trade for the ultimate piece of club silverware.
But while willing to hand back her 2015 All-Ireland intermediate medal with Waterford, her pair of Munster club medals, and her astonishing haul of 17 county medals, we’re not sure the 30-year-old forward is willing to go through as much drama as she did on county final afternoon in early October for the ultimate piece of club silverware.
The most recent of Wall’s 17 county medals was easily the most memorable - for a multitude of reasons.
The journey to Saturday’s All-Ireland club final - Ballymacarbry’s first final appearance in 25 years - very nearly went off road in the Waterford decider.
Tied at 1-6 to 0-9 approaching the end of normal time, the challengers from Comeragh Rangers went hunting a winner. The challengers were unable to find one and so the decider went to extra-time.
Ballymac eventually prevailed, but only just. Comeragh went home with 12 wides, three missed goal chances, and a gear bag weighed down with regret.
Surviving this county final scare to preserve their Waterford winning streak that goes all the way back to 1982 was easily the least exciting element of Aileen Wall’s October Sunday.
“My sister, Mairéad, was due her first child three weeks after the county final. Her husband went on a trip to Dubai, thinking nothing would happen. He won an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai and brought his brother,” Wall begins.
“I suppose we never thought that Mairéad would go three weeks early.” But of course, labour knocked three weeks early.
“She rings me on the morning of the county final to say, ‘I’m actually in hospital in Clonmel’.” With the husband away, Aileen was her sister’s back-up birthing partner.
Irrespective of the outcome against Comeragh Rangers, her plan was to dash the 35 minutes from Lemybrien to Clonmel once the final whistle sounded. Extra-time meant that journey was delayed a little longer than she would have liked.
“Mairéad made everybody come to the match because she knew that it was probably going to be the tightest (county final), which it ended up being, so she was on her own “I accepted the Cup, did my speech, handed the Cup off to someone and ran to the hospital. Her husband made it home with 15 minutes to spare actually, but I wasn’t allowed leave! We were all in it at that stage.
“She’d a lovely little baby boy at 11pm that night. Little baby Mikey. It was a big day, one that I’ll remember.”
Their other sister, Linda, had given birth three weeks before that. So between the babies and Ballymacarbry building a road to Croke Park, the last few months have not been idle.
New mammy Mairéad is back on the panel for the club’s tilt at a first All-Ireland since 1998. The trailblazing Ballymac women of the 1980s and 90s won 10 in 12 years.
The same women fed into Waterford’s five All-Ireland successes during the same period.
In the 25 years since, there has been only one All-Ireland final victory by an adult ladies football team from the county - the 2015 All-Ireland intermediate triumph.
Linda was captain on that occasion, Mairéad was corner-back, and Aileen top-scored with 2-2. The latter, who is the youngest of the three, has not been involved with the Déise since 2021.
A member of the county set-up since 2010, life has taken priority of late.
“I got married, built a house, and I’m farming back home as well. I’m a teacher but I farm every day with my brother.
“My dad wouldn’t be overly well, he has Parkinson's disease. He signed over the farm to my brother. He’s busy, as well. He has four kids, a job, and so we kind of do it together,” Aileen explained.
“We grew up with it. I was on the farm from the time I could carry a bucket.” The hope this Saturday is to carry the All-Ireland crown out of Croke Park. To do so, they’ll need to overcome three-in-a-row chasing Kilkerrin/Clonberne.
The sides met in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final at Dungarvan. The Galway ladies travelled home west 2-10 to 0-2 winners.
“We set out to win Munster last year and that involved kind of peaking a bit earlier than we probably wanted to.
"We knew Waterford were playing the Cork champions in the Munster quarter-final. That is when we needed to peak to get our best game because we hadn’t beaten Mourneabbey ever.
“It was a bit of a downward spiral after that. Even in the Munster final, despite winning it, it wasn’t one of our best games. When we got to the All-Ireland semi-final, we were a bit spent.
“I’d give up every medal I could to win an All-Ireland with Ballymac. I can’t even fathom what it would mean.”
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