‘The group will be connected forever with this achievement’
Galway full-back Sarah Ní Loingsigh made debut in 2011
SUCCESS for the Galway ladies was years in the making and while a cohort of the team have become All-Ireland winners in the early stages of their careers, many more have achieved it after lengthy and distinguished service in the maroon and white.
Full-back Sarah Ní Loingsigh falls in that latter category and, at 34, the Naomh Anna Leitir Moir clubwoman has been operating at senior inter-county level for more than a decade and-a-half.
She namechecks 2004 heroes Aoibheann Daly, Lorna Joyce, Ger Conneely, Emer Flaherty, Edel Concannon and captain Annette Clarke as some of the inspirational players she played with in the early part of a career that started in 2011 at senior level, having captained the county to an All-Ireland minor A title a season earlier.
Ní Loingsigh was solid and dependable at the heart of Galway's defensive unit in 2026 and produced a terrific season flanked by team captain Kate Geraghty and Brónagh Quinn on the inside line. The team's defensive statistics speak for themselves with miserly concession rates of 1-9, 2-7, 1-6, 0-8 and 0-12 in their route past Meath, Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh and finally Kerry in securing the Brendan Martin Cup.
A week on from Galway's unforgettable 2-7 to 0-12 win over the Kingdom at Croke Park, Herald Sport spoke with the primary school teacher.
ON THE EMOTION OF finally WINNING THE ALL-IRELAND
It was a big relief to get over the line. Relief was the main emotion, especially with how the game went. We never knew we had the game won until it was over. Obviously, so happy for everyone, for the group and then the management and all the supporters as well.
ON THE HEARTBREAK OF PAST DEFEATS
We've always been there or thereabouts but getting knocked out in quarter-finals or semi-finals by a point or two. It was always so difficult to even get past the quarter-finals, initially. It's only like in the last maybe five or six years that we started to get into semi-finals. 2019 was the first final in 14 years.
One of our club girls, Philomena Ní Fhlatharta, she was on the panel as well that year in 2004. They were just like our idols, to be honest. To play with them and train with some of them was just like a dream come true, to be honest. They were all so dedicated and hardworking. They really drove Galway ladies football on.
ON WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN 2026
There's a couple of few things. I think the first day out in the league, we really started so well. We scored 16 points that day in the first round in January and we had six or seven different scorers. And I think just from there, we continued on throughout the league, growing with every game. Obviously, disappointed with how the league ended. But I think we learned a lot from that.
And then, once the championship started, we just went to another level. I mean, the girls have grown. I think we were averaging 20 points a game. Our confidence just kept growing. With every match we played, I think we were becoming more confident.
As well, the group gelled so well this year as well. I think we were seeing each other nearly every day between the gym and training and the group just came so close.
I suppose having so many sets of sisters on it, it really did kind of feel like a family. The group was just so tight.
ON ALWAYS KEEPING THE FAITH
I suppose just being so close - like last year, in particular, against Dublin - I think we just really knew that it was within this team that we could definitely get over the line. If we could just stay together and hopefully not pick up any more serious injuries, we definitely believed that we could get over the line. It was just a case of ticking all those boxes. I suppose we wouldn't have been happy with how we managed that Dublin game in extra-time. Just taking little bits from that into this year and really building on it.
ON GALWAY'S IMPRESSIVE DEFENSIVE STATS
I think it was just a massive team effort from number 15 back. Everyone worked so hard to put pressure around the middle of the field. Especially when we were coming up against Kerry, because we know how they love to transition quick and try get the quick kick pass in. I think everybody worked so hard to not allow that to happen. I think the defensive unit just really came together so well this year. I suppose a lot of us have been playing together for so long that we know each other so well, and we play off each other so well.
ON PLAYING BESIDE KATE GERAGHTY & BRÓNAGH QUINN
They were just brilliant. The pair of them are just unbelievable man markers. They're two of the best in the game. They make my job so much easier, being in between the pair of them. They're just unbelievable defenders. They both had serious semi-finals and finals.
ON BRINGING THE CUP HOME TO LEITIR MÓIR
It's on the agenda now. It's kind of booked out for the next couple of days. They're football-mad back in Leitir Moir, to be honest. They're just so delighted for me and for the county that we were able to get over the line. I just can't wait to bring the cup back in the next few weeks.
ON SUMMING UP THE 2026 SEASON
It's been the best year of football. It's been an amazing year. Just so proud and happy that I was involved with the team and the management group. I'm just really happy to get over the line.
I think the group will be connected forever with this achievement. When you think of the 2004 girls, they all have such a close bond still with their management. Now, hopefully, we'll be the same and it's just great.