Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
ENNIS hopINg to cElEbratE at thE dub-blE
THIS WEEKEnD is set to be a busy one for Meath captain Shauna Ennis.
A primary school teacher at Kilcloon nS, her class celebrates their First Holy Communion later on today.
Tomorrow, Ennis begins a third successive Championship campaign as Meath captain when Dublin come to Páirc Tailteann for the opening round of this year’s TG4 Leinster Championship (2pm).
While a lot of planning is needed for both events, Ennis, who’s lifted the Brendan Martin Cup in 2021 and 2022, is looking forward to what she hopes will be a memorable couple of days.
“My class have their First Communion on Saturday. That’s going to be a busy day for me. I’m glad the game is Sunday, not Saturday! Busy weekend, but obviously a very enjoyable weekend. The children are really, really excited this week. We’re going up to church to practice and stuff like that,” Ennis explained.
Day
“It’ll be a really enjoyable day for them and obviously a day that they’ll remember well into their adulthood.
I’m looking forward to a good weekend. We’re really looking forward to the Leinster Championship this year. Obviously we have Dublin in the first round at home.
“That’s going to be a really big game for us.
When they came to Pairc Tailteann last year, I think there was a crowd of nearly 5,000 people at it, so we’re hoping there’s going to be a really big crowd there and it’s going to be a good game for the spectators.”
On February 3, 2013, Ennis was one of six debutants as the Royals faced the Metropolitans in the opening round of Lidl nFL Division 1 at the St Brigid’s GAA club in Castleknock.
Effort
Despite coming up against a Dublin side packed with players who would go on to become household names (and already were in some cases), a youthful Meath team produced a strong effort before falling to a narrow 2-6 to 0-10 loss.
“Máire O’Shaughnessy and myself made our debuts,” Ennis recalls.
“I just remember that the game was played on an astro turf, so it was a really fast pace. I was actually playing halfforward then. A bit of a different position for me.
“To be honest, I don’t remember much of the game. It was a bit of a blur. Ten years down the line I’m still playing, thank God.”
Ennis and O’Shaughnessy have been on quite the journey together in the decade that followed their competitive bows.
Between them, the duo have guided their county to six national trophies across the various strands of the nFL and All-Ireland Championships over a four-year spell (2019-2022).
When Ennis assumed the key leadership role from O’Shaughnessy ahead of the
2021 season, she couldn’t have imagined the road Meath were about to travel.
Yet just over two years later, she finds herself as a back-to-back TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championshipwinning skipper, with Lidl nFL Division 1 and Division 2 successes also thrown in.
“To think that we obviously would have done so well in 2021, that was sort of unimaginable. Obviously in a very privileged position to be a captain of such a good team. I always just hope I do the role justice, I guess.”