By Daire Walsh 

Following a significant uptick in form during the past few weeks, Jenny Higgins is delighted to see Roscommon once again find themselves on the brink of reaching a TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship final.

From 2018 to 2022, Higgins featured in no fewer than four All-Ireland IFC semi-finals for the Rossies – all of which saw the primrose and blue coming up short. Subsequently, Roscommon had to come through relegation play-offs in two of the last three seasons and they were potentially facing the same scenario when they followed up a comprehensive Connacht intermediate final reversal to Leitrim by losing out to Cavan in their opening Group 1 game in the All-Ireland series.

However, Finbar Egan’s side bounced back with a group stage triumph over Down before gaining revenge on Leitrim in a quarter-final bout at Heartland Credit Union Páirc Séan Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon a little under a fortnight ago. This sets them up for a penultimate round showdown with in-form Leinster champions Westmeath at Kingspan Breffni tomorrow, a game Higgins believes the Roscommon players should be embracing with all their might.

“It’s a really exciting game. Local neighbours as well. When you’re based in Athlone, you’re either side of the Shannon. You’re very close by. So that brings its own level of intensity and there’d be a lot of interest from both sides,” Higgins acknowledged.

“Hopefully a good crowd travels to support the girls, but Westmeath have been absolutely flying and they’re probably favourites for the All-Ireland. Never mind on Sunday. Roscommon are going to go in as huge underdogs, but I think they’ll welcome that and they’ll take that on.

“Knowing the management team as well as I do, I feel like they’ll have all their homework done and they’ll be well ready for the game.”

Interestingly, Roscommon’s last appearance in a TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship semi-final back on July 10, 2022 – against Wexford at Crettyard GAA – was the most recent outing in a county jersey for Higgins.

She had opted out of the Roscommon set-up in 2023 to focus on a new challenge in Australian Rules with Sydney Swans, only to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a match scrimmage (informal practice game) against Brisbane Lions a week before she was due to make her competitive AFLW bow.

She later returned to the inter-county scene in late 2024 after playing her part in a senior club championship success with Clann na nGael, before sustaining a second ACL injury (on the opposite knee to the one she damaged in Australia) in Roscommon training during December of that year.

Higgins had hoped to make a playing return in February of this year, but a number of set-backs along the road has unfortunately continued to keep her out of action. Nonetheless, she has been doing much of her rehabilitation work at squad training and will lend a helping hand in their semi-final clash with Westmeath in Cavan.

“I have the role of water girl. An overqualified water girl! I will have front row seats there. I’m definitely going to travel to support the girls and help out in any way I can. It was looking like I was going to get back in with Roscommon around February time. Unfortunately my knee didn’t co-operate and the last six months has been kind of one set-back after the other.

“I’ve been down with them the last couple of weeks. Doing some running and some ball drills down in the county set-up. Unfortunately it isn’t going as fast as I would like it to, but that’s sport and that’s the nature of injuries. They just have a mind of their own.”

While this has been frustrating for Higgins, there was some excellent news away from the field of play when she and her husband Cathal Shine welcomed a baby boy into the world eight months ago.

Considering her other half is a former Roscommon footballer himself who played alongside Higgins’ brothers Kevin and Michael (her nephew Jayden Jennings was also part of a Roscommon minor side that won a Connacht championship title this year), there is a strong chance he will grow up to have a strong connection to the GAA.

“The first thing that my friends bought him was a Clann na nGael jersey actually and the second thing was a Roscommon jersey. The third thing was a Liverpool jersey. I don’t know about that! He’ll be reared on the sideline. Whether he’s interested or not, he’ll be involved.

“No doubt that he’ll be wearing the blue and yellow jersey anyway. Whether it be Clann or it be Roscommon, who knows.”

Despite not being able to take to the field at the moment – she hopes to feature for Clann na nGael in the upcoming Roscommon club championship – Higgins remains active in the LGFA through her role as an ambassador for their Glenveagh Homes Gaelic4Girls programme.

Although she was already involved, Higgins was (along with Armagh’s Aimee Mackin) one of the original ambassadors when Glenveagh Homes first came on board as Gaelic4Girls sponsors in 2021.

A 10-week programme incorporating coaching sessions with fun non-competitive blitzes aimed at increasing participation in Ladies Gaelic Football, this initiative targets girls aged 8-12 who are not currently registered with an LGFA club.

Even though the programme itself technically finished up back in the spring, Higgins outlined how it largely continues beyond that 10-week period.

“The actual programme itself would be finished, but the clubs will be continuing them on now a little bit with the underage. In terms of the ambassador role, that kind of goes all year round. I’m involved in the various events to promote both Gaelic4Girls and just really Ladies Gaelic Football in general,” Higgins added.

“Just at the weekend there, I was actually in Kaleidoscope. It’s a family festival and Glenveagh, which are the Gaelic4Girls sponsors, they are sponsors of Kaleidoscope as well. I was down there doing LGFA ladies football skill sessions for the weekend. It was actually a lovely weekend. Really good and a great turnout from all the children.

“It’s my third year doing it. It was the biggest number of girls I’ve seen come into the ladies football session. It was boys and girls, so it was lovely.”

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