BY RICHARD BULLICK
ARMAGH ace and superb sporting all rounder, Caroline O’Hanlon, has been backed as the greatest ladies gaelic footballer of all time by Ulster LGFA President Gerry Doherty at the start of her record-breaking 24th consecutive campaign in the orange jersey.
When the Armagh midfield maestro lined out for the National League title holders away to All Ireland champions Kerry in Tralee in the Orchard outfit’s first fixture of this year, she moved clear of the 23-season bar previously set by the iconic Cora Staunton with Mayo.
O’Hanlon made her Orchard debut way back in 2002, before about a third of the present panel were even born, and has played for Armagh every season since despite a demanding medical career and playing another sport to the highest level.
The incomparable Bessbrook sportswoman is also Northern Ireland’s most capped netballer of all time and the world-class centre has made more than 150 British SuperLeague appearances for four different franchises, including two title wins with Manchester Thunder.
All this while working, first as a Craigavon hospital doctor, and now as a Newry GP.
Northern Ireland captain since 2016, O’Hanlon hopes to lead her girls in green to qualification for what would be her fourth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and she has played in three World Cups, starting with Jamaica 2003 when aged just 18.
While studying Medicine at Queen’s University, the multi-talented O’Hanlon obtained Blues in both basketball and soccer – she was even offered a place in the Northern Ireland squad at one stage – as well as gaelic football and netball.
Dual star Caroline O’Hanlon has combined Northern Ireland netball and Armagh gaelic football since 2002
O’Hanlon played every minute of the first nine Ulster Senior Championship finals in Armagh’s history, including leading them to victory over Monaghan, who were hot favourites to make it five titles on the trot, in a packed Clones in 2014.
O’Hanlon won All Ireland Player of the Year that season on the back of scoring an astonishing 15-43 from midfield despite being away for a couple of weeks with Team NI at her first Commonwealth Games.
In two seasons as skipper, she led the Orchard county to back-to-back promotions in the National League and consecutive All Ireland semi-final appearances. She has captained her club Carrickcruppen to Armagh Junior, Intermediate and Senior Championship successes.
Despite being badly hampered in the summer by a torn calf muscle, three-time recipient O’Hanlon received the 12th All Star nomination of her exceptional career last season as well as being named in the NFL Team of Division One.
Although she turned 40 at the start of last August, there never seemed much chance O’Hanlon wouldn’t want to continue on Orchard duty under new joint managers Joe Feeney and Darnell Parkinson and likewise they are delighted to have her on board.
“Caroline O’Hanlon is one of our key players and probably one of the hardest to manage with regards to actually taking a break and taking a rest whenever we do try and provide it to her,” reflects Parkinson with a wry smile.
“She just epitomises ‘elite level’, she has not only done everything there is to do in the game but also other sports. I’ll be honest – we probably learn as much from her at this stage as we’re handing on to the rest of the girls.
“Caroline’s brilliant to work with, she’s a good person to be able to bounce ideas off and she’s an absolutely brilliant team-mate the way she is with the younger girls – she’s just constantly giving them encouragement and really driving them on.”
Free from the frustrating injury issues of last summer, O’Hanlon has shone in her trademark No 9 jersey and has played every minute of all three matches so far as Armagh have begun their National League title defence in impressive fashion.
Despite being without several frontliners including captain Clodagh McCambridge, her predecessor Kelly Mallon and star forward Aimee Mackin, Armagh beat newly-promoted neighbours Tyrone between away wins over All Ireland champions Kerry and Dublin.
Remarkably, O’Hanlon skippered her Lisburn-based netball club Larkfield to victory over title holders Belfast Ladies in the NI Premier League semi-final the night before putting in another big shift for Armagh as they beat the Dubs in Parnell Park.
Club captain since the late 2000s, O’Hanlon has led Larkfield to multiple NI Premier League titles and Senior Cup triumphs under legendary head coach Denise Prue who has been at the helm for more than three decades.
Caroline O’Hanlon made over 150 British SuperLeague appearances and won two titles with Manchester Thunder
No longer juggling SuperLeague netball commitments during this phase of the season for the first time in nearly a decade, O’Hanlon is set to be available for all of Armagh’s matches as they seek to defend their National League title on the back of last year’s historic success.
The only player left from Armagh’s only final to date in 2006, on the back of which she became one of the Orchard’s first three female All Stars, O’Hanlon is still driven by a burning ambition to help her county achieve the holy grail of All Ireland glory.
Originally a hospital doctor and now a Newry GP, O’Hanlon was central to multiple interpro title wins for Ulster before the competition was scrapped and she played for Ireland in the inaugural, one-off International Rules series against Australia in the mid-noughties.
More than a decade ago, the IRFU tried to headhunt O’Hanlon for their new professional sevens programme with the carrot of representing Ireland in the Olympics and more recently she resisted overtures to join the exodus of county footballers to the AFLW.
Although acknowledging being an Armagh native, and name-checking a number of other players he has admired down through the decades, veteran administrator Doherty is adamant that O’Hanlon isn’t just Ulster’s best ever but his overall ladies gaelic Greatest Of All Time.
“Ulster has been blessed with some great players and I’ve a duty of care as President for all nine counties, but I think Caroline O’Hanlon is the best player I’ve ever seen in the game. She’s been fantastic for the past 20 years and long may she continue!” he declared.
Meanwhile, the former All Ireland Player of the Year is savouring being back to full fitness after last summer’s miseries and, when interviewed live by TG4 after the victory over Dublin, O’Hanlon was understandably upbeat about Armagh’s strong start to the season.
“Dublin have been setting the benchmark for the last 10 years so we always knew this was going to be an intense match. It was physical and it was high-speed, but we expected that. We wanted to come down here, put in a good performance and get points on the board,” she said.
“We’ve a nice mix in the panel, not only of experience and youth but also different skillsets which means that, when we play different opponents, different players will step up and be particularly influential.
“The bench has made such a difference against Kerry and Dublin, and we’re getting scores from players who’ve come on as well as across the team. All of that’s encouraging when we’re looking to develop depth in the panel.
“We still have players to come back from injury so they’ll have to fight for their place, and that’s what we want – a good competitive environment where everyone is pushing each other hard,” she enthused.
“We’ve had good players down through the years but there has always been a couple missing or different things happening to set us back. You really do need to have a serious squad to compete throughout the season.
“There’s a great group of girls this season. You’ve seen some of the new crop coming off the bench and others are chomping at the bit to get their chance as well as those more established players working hard to get back on the field.
“We just have to keep that intensity in training. Every player will have a part to play. Injuries will happen through the year, there’ll be setbacks, but we just have to deal with that by having a squad which can cope with those upsets.
“It has been a heavy few weeks with these three matches in a fortnight including trips to Kerry and Dublin, plus our college girls had big games during this week. So we’ll be glad of the brief break to recover and then build up to the Mayo match.”
Caroline O’Hanlon goes to block a Kerry shot in the opening game of her 24th season for Armagh in Tralee
Caroline O’Hanlon’s Larkfield dethroned holders Belfast Ladies in the recent NI Premier League semi-final
Captain Caroline O’Hanlon hopes to lead NI’s netballers to qualification for next year’s Commonwealth Games
