By Daire Walsh 

Following an abrupt end to her latest inter-county season with Dublin back at the beginning of July, Abby Shiels has enjoyed making a return to club action in the colours of Lucan Sarsfields over the past few weeks.

The starting goalkeeper when the Jackies secured the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at the expense of future champions Kerry in 2023, Shiels was hoping to add another Brendan Martin Cup success to her list of honours this summer. Yet while Mick Bohan’s side had been in fine form leading up to their All-Ireland SFC quarter-final showdown against Galway at Parnell Park on July 6, they ultimately fell short by a single point (3-7 to 1-12) at the end of an engrossing battle that required extra-time before eventually producing a winner.

This left Shiels idle for an extended period, but she was finally back on the field of play when Lucan opened their Go-Ahead Dublin Intermediate Football Championship campaign with a 2-16 to 1-3 triumph at home to Clanna Gael Fontenoy on August 14. A 2-7 to 1-5 win followed away to Ballinteer St John’s seven days later, putting them in a strong position ahead of subsequent clashes with St Brigid’s (September 4) and O’Dwyers (September 11).

“Obviously the last few months, everything ended a little bit abruptly with regards to Dublin. Then we were straight into preparing for the club championship, which has been so far, so good. Everybody is delighted with the first two games,” Shiels said.

“We’ve Brigid’s next week now, which will be a tough enough game because they’ve been senior more recently than other teams. It will definitely be a good challenge for us to come up against. I think in Lucan we do have really strong players coming through from underage. Definitely in the next couple of years senior status is something that we’d love.”

Despite not having an active part in it this year, Shiels was in attendance at Croke Park on August 4 for All-Ireland finals day. After suffering heartbreak at the hands of Dublin 12 months earlier – and their provincial rivals Meath in the 2022 decider – the latest Brendan Martin Cup showpiece went the way of Kerry.

Coming up against the Galway side that had brought the Sky Blues’ summer to a close, the Kingdom registered an emphatic 3-14 to 0-11 success to end their 31-year wait for a 12th All-Ireland senior title. Shiels acknowledges this group of Kerry players deserve enormous credit for the way they have constantly dealt with adversity and there is one of their stars in particular that the netminder was delighted to see getting over the line.

“I think it just goes to show the character throughout that Kerry team. To have lost in the previous years and to eventually get through and win it this year, it was great for them.

“Especially for the likes of Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, I don’t think there is any ladies footballer in the country that is not delighted that she got her All-Ireland title. They won well against Galway as well, so it was a good performance from them.”

Though it was only last year that she became a championship regular, Shiels underwent a significant apprenticeship prior to establishing herself as Dublin’s number one of choice. Listed as a substitute when Dublin defeated Galway in the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship final of 2019, she was also an extended panel member when the Jackies retained their crown against Cork the following year.

Shiels later got a chance to show her worth during the 2021 Lidl National Football League and was in the starting line-up as Dublin once again had the measure of Cork in a Division 1 decider held at Croke Park. Ciara Trant was back between the sticks for that summer’s championship, but when the St Brigid’s custodian stepped away from the panel ahead of the 2023 season, Shiels had a golden opportunity to cement her spot in the side.

It couldn’t have gone much better for the Lucan woman from there as, in addition to winning Leinster and All-Ireland senior titles with her county, she earned herself a TG4 All Star and a ZuCar Golden Glove award.

“I was delighted with those two awards last year. It wasn’t something you set out at the start of the year expecting or hoping for. You just want to get a good season as a team out of the way and hopefully get to the end days in August, and we did that.

“It was definitely just a bonus to get those two awards at the end of the year and I was absolutely delighted. My first proper season as the Dublin goalkeeper, to have come away with all those bonuses was definitely nice. It was definitely very special to win it last year.

“With Niamh Crowley and Niamh Donlon being so young — they were both 19 — and they being the last line of defence in front of me. Then you had the more experienced players who have been through so many losses and so many wins. It was just so nice for it all to come together. For everyone from their different perspectives celebrating that win was lovely.”

While Shiels’ focus from a football point of view in the next few months will be on Lucan Sarsfields and their intermediate championship journey, she will also be kept busy away from the sport itself. Currently part of the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme in DCU, she will be spending the school year teaching at Kishoge Community College in Lucan.

Last year saw her working out of the nearby Adamstown Community College and it was during this period that she gained an appreciation of what it means to be representing her area on the Dublin senior panel.

“I remember last year I was in Adamstown in the school, doing my first year placement. Some of the kids would have been part of Lucan Sarsfields.

“You’d be going into school the next day and they’d be asking you more about playing football and asking you for little bits of advice. So it’s really nice to have the kids supportive as well.”

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