PEIL UNIVERSITY INTERVIEW
Ciara Banville (DCU Dochas Eireann)
By Daire Walsh
Her side were pushed to the limit by a determined UCC outfit, but Wexford and Taghmon/Camross footballer Ciara Banville ultimately ended her remarkable third-level career with DCU Dochas Eireann on a high at MTU Cork on Saturday, March 9.
A talented dual player with both club and county, Banville was part of the DCU camogie panel for their groundbreaking Ashbourne Cup triumph over UCD in 2022. Fast forward a little over 12 months later and the Slaneyside star scored a goal as a substitute in the Dublin college’s 3-14 to 1-13 victory against University of Limerick in a high-tempo HEC O’Connor Cup football decider held at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome.
They had comfortably overcome the challenge of TU Dublin en route to that final, but had just a single point to spare when the two sides met again in the last-four at MTU Cork on March 8. It took 20 minutes of extra-time to ultimately separate the teams in that game and it was a similar scenario a day later for their latest O’Connor Cup showpiece.
Lasting the full game at midfield, Banville kicked a point over the course of 80 enthralling minutes of university action as DCU ultimately prevailed on a final scoreline of 2-16 to 2-14.
Given she is in her fourth and final year of studying to be a primary school teacher at the college, Banville was understandably thrilled to sign off with a third title across two different Gaelic codes in as many years.
“It has been an amazing three years. I don’t think many players would even get that opportunity to be on Ashbourne and O’Connor Cups. I’m really grateful for that,” Banville acknowledged.
“160 minutes in two days isn’t easy, but it just showed the panel we have as well. We needed every one of our subs to get us through the two days when it did go to extra-time. The O’Connor weekend is different to any other championship games, the way that the semi-final and final are played a day after another. You do need your full panel.”
Joining Banville in the middle of the field for their latest O’Connor Cup victory was rising Dublin panelist Chloe Darby. Like Banville, she has displayed her prowess in more than one sporting code as she has featured as an attacking player for Bohemians in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division.
While she has a strong soccer pedigree, Darby is currently showing that she is a very capable Gaelic footballer as she registered 1-2 in DCU’s O’Connor Cup semi-final win over TU Dublin before chipping in with a brace of points in the ensuing decider meeting with UCC.
“Chloe, she’s brilliant and she has a great engine as well. She’s always up and down the field, and very hard working,” Banville said of Darby.
“In the semi-final she had a great match as well and had loads of turnovers. She was just excellent. She’s a great sportswoman as well, between football and soccer. She’s had a great career and in with Dublin now as well, she’s really flying.”
Although DCU previously won three O’Connor Cup titles on the bounce from 2009 to 2011, it remains an impressive feat to win this competition in successive years. While part of her leans towards this year’s success as being the more notable, Banville also explained why the 2023 triumph in the Air Dome was something to cherish.
“Being in my final year [this year] and starting on the team, it was a bit more special. In saying that, last year, it was incredible to even get that far. Since DCU hadn’t won or been in a final since 2018, it wasn’t something that we had done before or we knew we could do. So last year was very special that way.
“The Dome last year was incredible. It was such a fast-paced match because of the hard ground, no wind or anything. It was so easy to shoot and to score. Whereas this year we turned up in MTU Cork and there was a really tough breeze blowing across the pitch. That definitely affected the game as well.”
There was a strong sense of continuity between the victorious DCU teams of 2023 and 2024 with Banville being one of 12 players to have featured in both O’Connor Cup successes. Amongst those to have returned to this year were Offaly’s Kate Kenny (who was also a key figure in that Ashbourne Cup win of 2022), the aforementioned Darby, Tara Needham of Mayo and Leitrim ace Leah Fox.
However, there were also a number of new additions to the set-up in 2024, including the gifted Dublin duo of Niamh Crowley and Niamh Donlon. TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winners with the Jackies last August at just 19 years of age, they have now added another prestigious crown to their already impressive list of honours.
“There’s loads of new players into the panel this year, as well as the ones that have been involved the last couple of years. It’s great to have a bit of a mix up, but the likes of Niamh Donlon and Niamh Crowley, they’ve just stepped in and they’ve filled the places of players that maybe moved on from last year. It’s like they’ve always been there,” Banville remarked of this talented defensive double act.
Now that her memorable odyssey with DCU Dochas Eireann is at an end, Banville’s focus – at least from a sporting point of view – is on aiding the Wexford footballers in their continued quest for promotion from the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Football Championship.
An All-Ireland junior camogie championship winner in September 2021, Banville lost a national intermediate football final with the Slaneysiders in the same year and was also playing in 2022 when the county’s footballers lost out narrowly to provincial rivals Laois in another second-tier showpiece at Croke Park.
They also reached the semi-final stage of the 2023 All-Ireland intermediate championship series, where Kildare got the better of them in a low-scoring affair at Parnell Park. Yet – matching the achievement of Laois in the year that followed their own victory at the grade – the Lilywhites followed up their intermediate triumph by reaching the Lidl National Football League Division 2 final for 2024.
The fact that two teams who had to work hard before claiming big wins over them in the past two seasons subsequently continued on an upward trajectory gives Banville hope that a similar breakthrough could potentially be on the cards for Wexford in the coming months.
“We’ve been unlucky in the last couple of years, getting to a few finals and just not getting over the line when we needed to. I think it’s all an experience as well and we can build on those losses,” Banville added.
“I think Kildare in the championship, they were the only team that beat us in the Leinster and All-Ireland championship last year. Seeing where they’ve gone to this year in the Division 2 league [is impressive], and I’m sure they’ll compete in senior as well.
“It just kind of shows us that we’re there or thereabouts. It’s just that extra thing we need to push on.”