'It all works out and it's all worth it' - Young mother, student and Antrim captain

WHEN ANTRIM WON the All-Ireland junior title in 2022, Ciara Brown was restricted to a spectator role.

She had welcomed her son, Currágh, into the world two months earlier and was just making her way back to football.

Nothing could separate Antrim and Fermanagh at Croke Park, but the Saffron ran out convincing winners in the replay.

While Brown could not play, she still togged out in the number 29 jersey and lifted the West County Cup  at the Athletic Grounds alongside team-mate and friend Lara Dahunsi and her beloved Currágh.

“It was bittersweet, because I played for so many years and that’s all we were looking to do,” she tells The 42.

“Get to Croke Park, that’s all you want to do, and then the one year that I couldn’t play!

“But I was with the girls the whole way. I still went to training, matches, everything I could do, and I was absolutely delighted to see them get over the line.”

A year-and-a-half on, Brown is now the Antrim captain.

The young mother is studying Sports and Exercise Science at University of Ulster, Jordanstown, and also playing for the college football team.

A smile breaks across her face when she’s asked about Currágh. “He’s absolutely crazy!”

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It’s clear as day he really is her pride and joy.

Brown with Lara Dahunsi after the 2022 All-Ireland win.

For some, pregnancy could easily end involvement in top-level sport.

But not for Brown.

“I never doubted that I would be able to [return to inter-county football], it was just more the drive to get back,” the 22-year-old says.

“It was harder not being able to play. All I wanted to do was play and that’s all my life usually is, playing. When I couldn’t play, that’s what was a struggle for me. It was more trying to get through the whole pregnancy and then obviously the rehab after the pregnancy.

“People are like, ‘I don’t know how you do it,’ but honestly, coming back was the easy part. The hard part was not being able to play.”

Others ask how she balances it all.

Football. Family. College. Part-time work. And the rest.

“It’s hard at times, especially also playing university football at the minute. Sometimes, it’s hard to balance, but then again, they’re the sacrifices I’m willing to make just to be able to play county football… because in the long run, it all works out and it’s all worth it.

“It’s easier when it’s in the warmer weather because I can bring Currágh to the pitch. He’s at the pitch with me all the time, he loves the hurling, loves the football, ever since he started walking!

“I’m looking forward to the warmer weather and getting him out with me a lot more. It means I can spend more time with him too, even just having him there on the side of the pitch is great.”

Brown is a real role model. That’s seen on social media too, with herself and Dahunsi particularly active on TikTok. They’re “big voices on and off the pitch” and that all adds to an increased following for the Antrim ladies football team.

They’ve been central figures in the county’s recent rise, starring in the Division 4 league and Ulster intermediate title successes last year. Having made their impact felt immediately at intermediate level by reaching the All-Ireland semi-finals, Emma Kelly’s side will now hope to make a similarly smooth transition to life in Division 3 and continue their upward trajectory.

Brown far right with Lauren Ryan Grace Clifford Saoirse Lally Saiofra O Shea Carla Rowe and Emma Duggan at the launch of the 2024 Lidl Ladies National Football Leagues.

That starts in Belfast when Louth come to town this afternoon, with Brown hoping for continued support.

“We get a lot of attention from younger fans, especially me and Lara,” St Pauls’ star Brown says.

“Even just being able to get their attention on social media, the likes of TikTok, they really want to come and watch your matches. They’d be there every time cheering you on when you’re running onto the pitch. They want to speak to you after, they want to be like you and that’s all you want.

“I remember looking up to older girls when I was younger, and I just wanted to be them. Me now being in this position, I’m able to help along younger ones and show them what it’s really like to play county football. Seeing them wanting to be there is just absolutely amazing.

“A lot of my family would laugh because I just see myself as a normal person that plays Gaelic football but these young girls sometimes see it as something extraordinary.”

Brown’s story is just that, though.

And as the recently resurrected song goes, the rest is still unwritten.

Lidl NFL Division 3: Antrim v Louth; Davitt Park, Belfast, 2pm