OUT IN FRONT
Ireland’s exciting No 10 is frank when detailing how sport helped in her mental health struggles
LAST weekend was supposed to be a landmark occasion in Hannah Tyrrell’s life. Having got engaged in Glendalough on New Year’s Day 2020, Tyrrell and partner Sorcha Turnbull had set the date of last Friday, April 9, for their wedding. Of course, this was before the world was flipped upside-down by the coronavirus pandemic. Their nuptials had to be put off for a later date.
However, it still turned out to be quite the significant weekend for the Dubliner. In Cardiff Arms Park last Saturday, Adam Griggs entrusted her with Ireland’s No 10 jersey, which has been a troublesome spot for the team since Nora Stapleton hung up her boots. Tyrrell responded by being the most influential player on the field, capping a wonderful performance with a last-minute try in the 45-0 win.
Earlier this week, Lauren Delany praised Tyrrell’s organisation and communication skills at out-half while Griggs pointed out that her kicking benefits from ‘the GAA
“It was a chance I just couldn’t let pass me by”
“Nobody is exempt from life’s realities”
boot’ that comes from her Gaelic football background with Round Towers and Dublin.
In August of last year, Tyrrell took ‘the tough decision’ to step away from the full-time Sevens programme after six years. She explained that her aim was to focus on the XV side and make the Ireland jersey her own. Based on how she performed in her 18th cap, it was a wise call.
Like much of the current Ireland side, Tyrrell migrated to rugby from other sports. She didn’t even pick up the oval ball until 2013. But within two years, she had represented the national side in both Sevens and XVs.
Growing up in Clondalkin, soccer was her initial sporting passion and she played in two FAI Women’s Cup finals with St Catherine’s, getting a winner’s medal in 2011 when they beat Wilton United 3-1. She also represented the Ireland University side while a student at Trinity College.
Playing Gaelic football for Round Towers, she registered 1-3 in the 2011 Dublin intermediate final against Clontarf to help them to outright success. She was drafted into the inter-county system at Under 14 level and won All-Ireland titles with Dublin at U16, minor and senior B level. She graduated to the first team by 2014 but withdrew halfway through that year’s national league as she had been awarded a professional contract to play sevens rugby.
Tyrrell had only been playing the game for little more than six months. A friend had recognised that her all-round athletic ability would be useful on a rugby pitch and encouraged her to join Old Belvedere. It was a time when the IRFU were mining talent in other sports in an effort to qualify the Sevens side for the 2016 Rio Olympics, a goal which ultimately fell short.
‘It was hard giving up GAA, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t really let pass by – being able to represent your country, wearing the green jersey with pride, travelling the world, training in a fulltime professional environment, something that Gaelic football wasn’t offering,’ Tyrrell explained a few years ago.
‘It was also a new challenge for me. I jumped at the chance. The opportunities I’ve had have been phenomenal, where I’ve come from in sport has just been amazing, It has completely transformed my life.’
And Tyrrell is an example of the transformational effect that sport can have for anyone, a message she delivers as one of the faces of the Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association (IRUPA) ‘Tackle Your Feelings’ mental health campaign, as well as an ambassador for Pieta House. True Blue: Tyrrell in action for Dublin From the age of 12, Tyrrell had struggled with eating disorders with her problems escalating into her late teens when she started to self-harm. As a teenager, Tyrrell bottled up her problems and says that sport was her only way to shut out the negativity. ‘As someone who struggled with my mental health as a teenager, I wasn’t very good at communicating my feelings,’ Tyrrell told the IRFU website last year. ‘I kind of hid everything away but after going through a spell of counselling at Pieta House, I realised the more I began to open up, talk and reach out, the better I began to feel and the more confident I became in myself.
‘It made me really believe that recovery was possible and there are people out there willing to help. That’s what I see my role as now — to ensure those who are struggling know there is help out there.’
Tyrrell has emphasised the importance of team sport, and how it assisted her recovery. Having left her psychiatric nursing studies in Trinity when she was struggling, she transferred to UCD where she gained a history and geography degree, subjects that she now teaches in secondary school. As a teacher as well as a spokesperson for mental health, she is aware of the risks inherent on social media for young people who are struggling.
During the first lockdown last May, Tyrrell put a post on her social media feed as a powerful mental health message. The post, captioned ‘Instagram v Reality’, showed different photos of the Ireland international, one of which showed her in visible pain. ‘Just a reminder that what you see on Instagram isn’t always the full truth. This is a more accurate representation of me post-conditioning training,’ she wrote.
As a High Performance athlete, and a leading figure in women’s sport, Tyrrell felt it was important to show that she struggles, like everyone else.
‘It’s such a big thing to show we are just normal people like everyone else,’ she said in that IRFU interview. ‘We have good days and bad days, highs and lows. There are days we are feeling in great shape and the next day, we are not. We are humans and nobody is exempt from life’s realities. We all have flaws and social media might only promote the positive side of things. It’s absolutely okay not to be okay and it’s so important to be kind to yourself.’
There’s plenty of focus on the Ireland women’s rugby team this week as they look to build on the performance in Cardiff by upsetting the might of France in Donnybrook. Tyrrell will be instrumental to their game plan, relishing her new role at No 10.
Another good display on the pitch might shine yet more light on the important message she has for life off it.