Kerry's Aoife Dillane carries grandmother's memory into All-Ireland final

Kerry play Galway in Sunday's All-Ireland senior ladies football championship final.

Aoife Dillane started wearing a green hair bobble to help her grandmother Dolores Curtin identify her on the pitch. Dillane still wears it in memory of Delores who died following Kerry's 2024 All-Ireland victory. Pic: ©INPHO/Leah Scholes

Wearing her distinctive green hair bobble makes Kerry’s Aoife Dillane stand out on the football field. However, for the flying wing-back, this certainly isn’t a fashion statement, or anything of the sort. It has a much deeper meaning to the 24-year-old.

There is a tattoo on the Austin Stacks player’s upper arm. This isn’t for decorative purposes either. It simply reads ‘Love Lolie.’ Lolie is Dolores Curtin, Aoife’s grandmother. Her biggest supporter. The woman who inspired the hair bobble, and the ink on the skin.

Just over two months after Dillane lit up Croke Park with a stunning chipped goal in Kerry’s All-Ireland final victory over Galway in 2024, her beloved grandmother went to her eternal reward on October 12 of that year. Her memory lives on in the everyday action of the Kingdom number seven.

“It (the tattoo) has a massive personal message. It is my nan’s handwriting, so it says Love Lolie, and I took it off a 21st birthday card that she wrote for me. She would have been one of my biggest supporters. She’s actually the reason that I wear the green hair bobble in my hair,” said Dillane.

“She used to give out that she couldn’t tell which one I was on the field, so I found this at home one day and said that I’m putting that in my hair now to keep her quiet. She loved it, and so I just continued to wear it.

“Unfortunately she passed away a few weeks after we won the All-Ireland in 2024, but I still wear it, just as a memento to her. She was definitely my biggest cheerleader. She was unbelievable, and she was the proudest woman above in the Hogan Stand in 2024. Hopefully we can do her proud again this year.” 

On the field in 2026, Dillane and the rest of her defensive colleagues are enjoying a fantastic championship in the green and gold. Since they lost to Waterford in the opening round of the provincial competition, Kerry are on a seven-game winning streak, keeping six clean sheets in eight matches.

Even though they lost defenders Cáit Lynch and Ava Doherty to long-term injuries in the league, the return of the vastly experienced Emma Costello to centre-back has solidified the entire rearguard. Dillane has learnt so much from those around her.

“Cáit is still a massive part of our panel. She got that injury very early this season, and we all supported Cáit through her surgery, and her rehabilitation and everything. In a team sport like that, we all know that’s why we carry a panel,” she added.

“We have a panel of 36 girls there, and I think Roisín Rahilly got the nod then after that. Roisín has done absolutely fantastically, and I’m sure Cáit is very happy with the way Roisín has played. Obviously we miss her leadership and her experience. You can’t replace that.

“To still have her in and around the dressing room with her nuggets of wisdom, and especially from a back’s point of view, is great. If there’s ever anything I have to question, you can go to girls like that all the time.

“To then gain the experience of Emma Costello was just invaluable to us. We were just delighted that she came back in, and I think she’s having the season of her life.

“She’s just a solid person to have there. I love having her beside me, and she’d be talking away to you out on the field. I never really feel confused or lost, because I know she’ll put me straight out there.” 

The primary school teacher doesn’t remember too much about the All-Ireland decider of two years ago, even her goal that made people sit up and notice. Laughing that she hasn’t raised a green flag since, she is fully aware that Sunday will see a different Galway.

“Honestly I remember very little, it’s just a blur. That was such a fantastic day, and it was great to chip in on the scoreboard. I have scored a few points here and there since, but no goals since that one. That was a great day, but the foundation of that day was these two weeks two years ago.

“Galway are an exceptional team. They’re very fast I find from playing against them and watching them. They’re so tight-knit. They’ve five club All-Ireland medals won with the majority of them together. A lot of their team is made up from that Kilkerrin-Clonberne club.

“They’re going to be a massive challenge on Sunday. They’re going to run at us. They’re going to really fancy their pace against us, so we’re just going to have to come prepared, and just be ready to have them running at us.” 

Dillane and Kerry were ready for what Meath and Dublin (the 2025 All-Ireland finalists) were going to throw at them in the quarter-final and semi-final. Mark Bourke’s side have an ingrained belief in their own collective ability, which could prove to be crucial this weekend.

“We are very much aware that we are very lucky to be in the position that we were in. The position we’re in is that we have another football match this season, and the rest of the counties don’t have another football match this season,” she stressed.

“We still have a lot of experience on this team that were there in 2024, and we’ll be feeding that into the rest of our panel this week.

“Both Meath and Dublin were last year’s finalists, but that wasn’t really what I was thinking about. Personally, I was thinking that Meath beat us in an All-Ireland final in 2022, Meath knocked us out of the championship last year, and Dublin beat us in an All-Ireland final in 2023.

“I know some players will say that they ignore that, but I just use it to my advantage. I wasn’t going to let any Meath or Dublin girl get the better of me over the last two games. I used that as a kind of fire.

“They’re both phenomenal teams. People are talking about the scorelines but, once we’re hitting our targets internally in our camp, I think we’ll be happy with our performance, regardless of the score. We need to hit our targets again on Sunday, and hopefully the scoreline will take care of itself.

“We’re here now. Winning All-Ireland finals is the dream. We’re very much aware that we need to go out and play another game. It’s just another football match. As I said, we’ve put ourselves in this position, and we need to take advantage of that now.” 

As the Rock Street wing-back bobs and weaves her way up and down the flank in Croke Park on Sunday, with the green hair bobble blowing in the breeze, Aoife Dillane will have Dolores Curtin firmly in her corner. Looking down from above, her departed grandmother remains her rock to lean on.