Hegarty holds dual ambitions
Daire Walsh
Though she is now a firmly established intercounty camogie star, Dublin’s Hannah Hegarty hasn’t ruled out the prospect of switching to ladies football in the distant future.
A gifted dual performer up to the minor grade, the St Jude’s clubwoman is set to captain the DCU footballers in next Friday’s O’Connor Cup semi-final against UCC.
While she acknowledges it would take a massive commitment, the opportunity to play both codes simultaneously is something that intrigues Hegarty.
“I played dual up until minor year and then had taken a year out in my Leaving Cert year. Didn’t play county that year in the senior set-up.
“I love them both and David Herity, the camogie manager at the time, just happened to ask me first. I kind of just jumped at the chance, I didn’t really put too much thought into it,” Hegarty explained.
“I’d love to play both some day. You see the likes of Rena Buckley, Briege Corkery and Hannah Looney in Cork getting to do them both. I’d love to be able to do both, but it’s a big task.
“It’s a big commitment to try and do both. I know Mick Bohan [ladies football manager] expects high standards, which is fair enough. With three [All-Irelands] in-a-row, that’s what you’d expect.
“I wouldn’t be turning my head from it just yet. I wouldn’t be closing any doors or anything like that. If I got the opportunity, I’d love to.”
Hegarty has already featured twice for the Dublin in Division 1 of the Camogie League – back-to-back defeats at the hands of Galway and Tipperary. Tomorrow they face Limerick in LIT (1.0).
Once that game is done, she can focus on the O’Connor Cup weekend at the Kerry Centre of Excellence.
If they do overcome the challenges of UCC, they will be back in action the following day against the winners of the other semi-final between UCD and holders UL.
“Looking back to the league, we were disappointed with how the final went. We had UL in the final and we definitely came away very disappointed with the performance. Had to pick it up from then. The two wins in the [championship] group games, very happy with them. Hopefully we can keep the winning streak going,” Hegarty added.