By Daire Walsh

They may have achieved a level of success that is unprecedented for a club team from Galway, but Olivia Divilly doesn’t take anything about Kilkerrin-Clonberne’s remarkable run of recent years for granted.

In Croke Park last Saturday evening, the Tribeswomen held off a strong challenge from Kilmacud Crokes to secure the AIB All-Ireland senior club championship title for the fourth time in succession. 1982 winners Galway Gaels had previously been the only side from the county to win the competition, but thanks to their exploits in the modern era, Kilkerrin-Clonberne are now only behind Ballymacarbry (10), Carnacon (6) and Donaghmoyne (5) in the top-tier roll of honour.

Yet while the Father Stephen’s Park outfit have also reigned supreme in the Galway and Connacht senior championships since 2013 and 2018 respectively, Divilly can recall a time when they weren’t such a dominant force in ladies club football. Back in 2012, at just 16 years of age, she contributed three points as Kilkerrin-Clonberne defeated Claregalway to claim the Galway intermediate club crown.

“Growing up, we were a junior club. I would have thought if we got to play senior football in Galway, it would have been an amazing achievement. Let alone to win 12 county titles and to have won seven Connacht titles and now a fourth All-Ireland,” Divilly acknowledged.

“It’s just phenomenal. I think we have 145 members in the club from a very small population base. It’s not even something that would have crossed my mind as a child. It’s stuff you dream of, but it wouldn’t have seemed like a reality. We would have been struggling as a junior club, maybe 15 years ago.”

However, following that county success in 2012, Kilkerrin-Clonberne took to senior football in Galway like a duck to water. They did suffer a heartbreaking one-point reversal to Mourneabbey in their maiden All-Ireland senior club final appearance in 2019, but their record in Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup showpieces since then has been flawless.

In advance of their triumph over Kilmacud last weekend, Kilkerrin-Clonberne completed a magnificent three-in-a-row of All-Ireland senior titles with convincing victories over Mourneabbey, Donaghmoyne and Ballymacarbry.

Before having the measure of the latter side in last year’s decider, Willie Ward’s all-conquering charges came through an epic semi-final clash with Kilmacud that went all the way to extra-time.

Although she felt Crokes ensured they had to dig deep for their fourth All-Ireland victory on the bounce, Divilly also believes Kilkerrin-Clonberne were able to absorb some lessons from their previous meeting with the Dublin and Leinster champions.

“I think what made winning so special was, we knew how good Kilmacud were. We were just really proud that we were able to overcome a team with such talent all over the pitch. They really put it up to us and we were expecting that. I felt like we were in control, but at the same time it would have taken one or two mistakes for them to get back into it.

“Last year, it was our first time playing them. We weren’t really sure what to expect. This year, we had a chance to do our homework. We knew that they were going to kick a lot of ball into the full-forward line, that they were going to be very direct.

“I think last year we lost our forward shape for large parts of the game. They were the kind of things that we were preparing for ourselves, but then just focusing very much on our own game and getting a good performance in Croke Park.”

It was a family affair for Divilly in GAA HQ last Saturday as she found herself lining up alongside her sisters Siobhan and Niamh. Additionally, their father Michael remains a pivotal member of the team’s management set-up and has been a ubiquitous presence on practically every team that Divilly has played on in the club.

“Willie Ward and Dad would have managed us when we would have been U10 and U12, and U14, U16, all the way up. They’ve really been on the journey alongside us. Gerry Noone is a selector as well and he’s got three girls playing. Hannah, Eva and Lynsey. John Boyle has a daughter Annie, so all of the management have very close involvement.”

A few months prior to climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand with their club, Olivia and Niamh represented the Divilly clan as part of the Galway side that faced Kerry in this year’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final in Croke Park. Although the game ended in a disappointing loss for the Tribeswomen, a host of impressive displays during the summer helped Olivia to pick up her first TG4 All Star last month – on the same night that her club-mate Nicola Ward was named TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year.

“The year with Galway, looking back on it, it was a great achievement to get to an All-Ireland final. It was our first All-Ireland in five years. It was really disappointing at the time and we felt like we underperformed on the day,” Divilly said.

“Getting the All Star was nice. It was nice recognition to finish off the inter-county season and then to have been there with Nicola Ward, who would have been one of my best friends since we’d have been four or five years old, and she to get crowned player of the year was so special.”

2024 also saw Galway suffering relegation to Division Two of the Lidl National Football League and Daniel Moynihan’s side will begin their bid to gain automatic promotion back to the NFL top-tier with an away fixture against Tipperary on January 26.

Even though Divilly – who is now working as a community occupational therapist after previously being based out of University Hospital Galway – is unlikely to be back in the inter-county fold straight away in 2025, it is expected she will return to the maroon and white jersey sooner rather than later.

“I’d say over the coming days I’ll probably have a chat with Daniel. See what the plan is and what they want from us. I’m hoping to get away for a little while myself. Then come back and see where things are at for the league,” Divilly added.

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