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Munster Club Camogie Championships 2025 – Orlaith Cahalane in action for St Finbarr\u2019s vs Newcastle West in the AIB Club Championship semi-final at Togher, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\nCork camogie star Orlaith Cahalane has opened up about the importance of talking about female health in sport as it\u2019s revealed 40 per cent of camogie players are low in iron.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old has a big support network, playing alongside sister Meabh and with huge sporting stock in her family.<\/p>\n
But the forward knows it\u2019s not the same for everyone, and wants to help normalise the conversation around menstruation and low iron levels, especially for the youngsters who will be following in her footsteps.<\/p>\n
Orlaith said: \u201cPeriods are such an awkward topic but they are becoming a lot more talked about in women\u2019s sport. It\u2019s so important because they can affect your training so much. They can make you feel so tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Cork we have a lot of women involved in the team and women coaches so if you do have a problem there\u2019s always someone to talk to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also now fill out a wellness form before every session, so if there\u2019s an issue they can adapt the session to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s happened in the last two years or so, so periods are being talked about a lot more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New research by Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in partnership with Cork owned iron supplement brand Active Iron, found that 40% of inter-county camogie players are low in iron\u2081.<\/p>\n
Iron is an essential nutrient which helps make red blood cells to transport oxygen around the body. If you haven\u2019t got enough it can result in tiredness and fatigue, brain fog, headaches and dizziness.<\/p>\n
Munster Club Camogie Championships 2025 – Orlaith Cahalane in action for St Finbarr\u2019s vs Newcastle West in the AIB Club Championship semi-final at Togher, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n
Women with heavier periods are at risk due to the blood lost through menstruation, as well as people with vegetarian diets and women who regularly exercise.<\/p>\n
Orlaith is now backing Active Iron\u2019s campaign calling for an end to women \u2018suffering in silence\u2019 and speaking openly about how periods can affect their training, performance and recovery.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s essential for Orlaith that these conversations take place, as her hectic training schedule allows little down-time.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI have college (MTU in Cork) most days from 9am to 3pm or 4pm and then I coach hockey. Then from there I go straight to training.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy older sister (Maebh) definitely helps to keep me motivated. The game has definitely become even more physical in the last couple of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be taxing on the body, the tackles that are put in during training. You can really be feeling it the next day. But it\u2019s good to have competition on the team. It keeps you fighting for your position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it. You have to love it because you\u2019re putting so much time into it. You all have the same goal and it\u2019s such a social thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I love going to training and I\u2019m always one of the last to leave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As well as playing alongside her sisters, Orlaith has huge support from her parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum is big into the pre match meal,\u201d she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe makes pancakes, it\u2019s now a pre match ritual!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
N\u00f3ra N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in, sports dietitian, lecturer and researcher at Atlantic Technological University, Galway, who conducted the study into the iron levels of intercounty camogie players, said: \u201cIntercounty camogie players are often training five times a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In games, for a championship match, GPS data shows they’re covering a distance of 5-7 kilometers in 60 minutes of match play – plus a warm up and potentially extra time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a mix of sprinting, jogging, tackling, jumping and there\u2019s incredible hand-eye coordination that\u2019s required in camogie.<\/p>\n
“As we train, we have a higher demand for iron in our bodies because it helps us to release the energy we need.<\/p>\n
\u201cIron is an essential nutrient for cognition as well as energy to support endurance and strength. It\u2019s not just running up and down a pitch, but strength in the gym is affected by low iron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s also really important for the immune system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In light of the findings from the ATU research, Active Iron is now offering free samples to camogie clubs across Ireland to help raise awareness around suboptimal levels in female athletes and to help players feel the benefits of Active Iron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If your club is interested in receiving free samples, visit https:\/\/activeiron.com\/pages\/request-a-sample.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cork camogie star Orlaith Cahalane has opened up about the importance of talking about female health in sport…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-327876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}