by Daragh Ó Conchúir

When Aisling O’Neill was making a splash for Dublin in her breakthrough campaign back in 2022, the Castleknock tyro was navigating that attention, from public and opposition defenders heading into her Leaving Cert year.

Clearly, O’Neill handled all that with aplomb, supported by her parents first and foremost, but also her mentors and teachers.

Because as she became a go-to player at the age of 17, providing a real scoring threat to help alleviate some of the pressure on Aisling Maher and earning an All-Star nomination, she also knocked it out of the park in her exams.

That got her into TCD, and she is currently in her second year studying medicine. Suffice to say, you need top tier results to make the cut in that area.

Work and ability combined have helped her flourish in both sectors of her busy life, but it hasn’t all been straightforward. After helping Dublin win Division 1B of the Very League last year, O’Neill’s participation in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship, which saw the Dubs go one better than the quarter-final appearance of her debut campaign, was almost wiped out completely by injury.

“First round of the Championship, I tore my hamstring, which was obviously not ideal timing,” she recalls. “You’ve just gotten ready to go. That had me out till the All-Ireland quarter-final when I came on.

“There’ s nothing like a game, match practice so it was nerve-wracking coming on not having played but it’s also so exciting. You’re coming on in an All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park. You let that push you on. It was a great day.”

The class shone through in the 19 minutes plus injury time that she get on the pitch in the momentous defeat of Kilkenny.

With the teams level coming down the stretch, Dublin scored the last four points to secure a deserved victory. O’Neill slotted two of them, including an eye-of-the-needle effort that drew gasps of admiration from those in attendance.

All-Ireland champions Cork –today’s opponents at St Peregrines’ grounds (2pm) in round 2 of the Very League – were up next but O’Neill watched from the sidelines once more.

“The training before the semi, I dislocated my collarbone. That was me gone. It was just a shoulder, there was nothing in it. I didn’t see it coming and next thing, I was on the ground. That was more painful than the hamstring but neither of them was pleasant.

“Having put so much into coming back from the hamstring, which was a bad one (a 2cm tear), to then do the collarbone was so hard to take. I missed all the club championship. I went away for a while.

“So it’s only in the last few months I’ve been taking impacts and now I’m fine but initially, it was a thing, a little worry. More so than the hamstring. But it’s all good now.”

Just like that, she is in her fourth season, having turned 20 last November.

“The years have flown. It only seems like yesterday I went in from the minors. It was just such fun. I didn’t really have to think about it too hard. I just enjoyed. It was such a great opportunity, going in to play with all those players that you’d looked up to.

“The likes of Ais (Maher) – she is a great role model on and off the pitch. A great player, she did chemistry in Trinity and I think she’s on her third master’s now!

“I’ve good memories from that year. I was doing my Leaving Cert and it was a challenge to keep them both but I think it helped. You’d get work done, you’d go training. That year was easy really. It was exciting. I just wanted to be there and train. It just fell into place. I got a bit more game time, a bit more confidence, feeling, ‘I deserve to be here.’

O’Neill’s goals helped propel Dublin to the quarter-final and the teenager ended the year at the All-Star awards ceremony.

Now, there is more excitement about 2025, given that she is fully fit.

Also, for the first time in aeons, Dublin have begun the process of backing up a good season, in positive fashion. The Metropolitans have always struggled with consistency and maintaining momentum because of a failure to retain management and players.

This term, however, that is not the case. Gerry McQuaid and Bill McCormack continue at the helm, having steadied the ship when it was needed and now adding layers to what has been established. They got their Very League campaign under way last Saturday with a draw against Division 1A champions Tipperary, at the The Ragg, a notoriously difficult venue for traveling teams.

It was an important result after such a strong year, though not one the ambitious Blues were totally satisfied with.

“You can feel it building up. Starting this year, there’s depth in the squad. Last year, we were building that depth. Ahead of the Tipp match, when I was thinking what the team might be, there were so many options.

“We were happy with the draw but also… I think it’s great in our first game in the League, in a proper game, we got a positive result but we also kind of left it behind. So frustrated, but if you take a step back, happy.”

Cork were far too strong in last year’s semi-final, as they had been in the group stages, with O’Neill unavailable for both games, but the Dubs are relishing the challenge of pitching themselves against camogie’s standard bearers.

“We’re really looking forward to playing them. We took a beating but I don’t think it was a reflection of the true difference between the teams. I think you want to play Cork at any time because you always want to test yourself against the best. It will tell us where we are at.”

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