Geraldine O’Shea
By Mary Gaffney
Geraldine O’Shea is 25. A quietly spoken Kerry woman, she
has been playing Gaelic football since she was 12 and has played
soccer for Ireland some 40 times.
It would be fair to say that she has packed in more during her
25 years than most of us would do in a lifetime. The Gaelic career
began with Blennerville. “Those were good
old times. Denis Healy was my first coach and he was a big influence
on me.”
Geraldine’s speed and skill were soon noted. It wasn’t
long before she went on to help Kerry lift an All Ireland U14
title. From then on progress was rapid. “In 1993 we lost
the All Ireland U16 final, but I made the County Senior panel,
still only 16 years old. I came on as a sub in the All Ireland
Senior Championship semi-final win against Monaghan. I made the
team for the final against Laois in Croke Park and scored 1-2
at wing forward.
Since
then Geraldine has won an All Ireland minor title and two inter-Versity
O’Connor Cups. Such have been her displays for Kerry that
Geraldine has received three All Star Awards. She has spent a
number of summers in the United States playing Gaelic football
for Boston Shamrocks and has done some coaching at the Kerry Summer
Football Camps. With such a committment to Gaelic football, you
would wonder how she also managed to fit in a successful soccer
career as well. “I was playing with Listowel Celtic in the
Limerick League. To start with it was just a bit of messing around,
but then during a cup run with Celtic I was told about the U18
trials in Dublin. I went along to Dublin and obviously impressed
the selectors. I made the U18 team for a tournament in Sweden.”
Geraldine made rapid progress. Shortly after her trip to Sweden
she made her senior debut against the Faroe Islands. Since her
first game she has won caps for the Republic of Ireland at U18/U19
levels and has played 26 times for the Senior team, scoring 25
goals along the way. Her performance in 1995 won her the Opel
Player of the Year Award. While in the States playing Gaelic,
Geraldine also togged out for the Springfield Sirens, but were
there ever thoughts of a professional soccer career?
“I had trials in the US for their professional league, but
it wasn’t to be, Their league only has about 20 overseas
players so you really have to be brilliant to be selected.”
So how was it possible to juggle her life between Gaelic football
and soccer?
“It was absolutely madness. I was in College in Tralee for
most of the time and they were very helpful. Soccer training was
in Dublin at the weekend and it meant getting a train every Friday.
We would have two training sessions on Saturday and one on Sunday
morning. I would get the train back at 7.00 pm. I did miss some
Gaelic matches, including the O’Connor Cup Final when I
was in 1st Year. The Girls lost that one, but my most memorable
sporting occassion was winning the O’Connor Cup two years
later with a panel of just 17 players. We trained so hard and
in the end it paid off.”
Gerraldine hasn’t worn the Ireland jersey for a couple of
seasons and this year it is the Green and Gold of Kerry that she
is concentrating on. She has also hugely contributed to her local
football club, Corca Dhuibhne, having won the County Championship
2001/2002. “I am the County captain again this year coming
and I would dearly love to play on Croke Park again.”
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Geraldine Shea 
