![\"Niamh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00248196-614.jpg\"\/)
\nNiamh N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair in action against Kildare earlier this year<\/p>\n
Just a few short weeks on from another shared billing, Kerry’s Niamh N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair and her colleagues are optimistic supporters will get behind them for a football double header at Cedral St Conleth\u2019s Park later today.<\/p>\n
Last month N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair and the Kingdom produced an excellent second half performance to earn a 1-16 to 0-8 triumph over Cork in a Munster round-robin clash at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.<\/p>\n
Later in the same venue, the rival counties also clashed in a men\u2019s provincial decider with Kerry coming out on top with eight points to spare.<\/p>\n
Before Jack O\u2019Connor\u2019s side take on Kildare in a knockout tie this evening in Newbridge, their female counterparts will lock horns at St Conleth\u2019s (throw-in 3pm).<\/p>\n
The Kerry ladies enjoyed an accomplished opening to Group 2 against Tipperary in Tralee last weekend and N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair is hopeful the county\u2019s travelling fans can arrive early to catch her team in action.<\/p>\n
“This time of year, we\u2019re trying to pick up that bit of a support. I\u2019m hoping after that day in Killarney that we encouraged a few people to maybe come a little bit earlier the next day as well and to support us,” N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair said.<\/p>\n
“The biggest thing for us is just to focus on ourselves and our own game. Obviously it\u2019s nice for any families or supporters travelling up, that they might be able to get both games in.<\/p>\n
“If we can get replicate the atmosphere we had, in some way, shape or form, in Killarney. Just to have that little bit of an extra crowd. I suppose when you’re playing, having that extra bit of support, it does make a difference.”<\/p>\n
Following their 2-16 to 0-4 victory over Tipperary at Austin Stack Park six days ago, Kerry enter today\u2019s meeting with Kildare knowing another win will not only secure them top spot in Group 2 of the All-Ireland series, but also a home encounter at the quarter-final stage of the Brendan Martin Cup.<\/p>\n
\nNiamh N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair in action against Kildare earlier this year<\/p>\n
Yet when you consider Kerry faced the Lilywhites in the last eight of the 2025 championship on the back of the latter recording a surprise group stage win at the expense of Armagh, N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair readily recognises that a tough challenge awaits them on the road today.<\/p>\n
The Kingdom held out for a slender one-point triumph when the teams faced each other in a Division 1 league encounter at Manguard Park in March and the Lilies have since gone on to compete in their first Leinster senior decider since 2009.<\/p>\n
“Watching back that Leinster final, they gave Dublin a good run for it until possibly the last five, 10 minutes [Dublin eventually won 2-12 to 2-6]. They were really in there and they put it up to them. We\u2019re expecting a big battle.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019re a physical team, they\u2019re very well able to run the ball. They\u2019ve some brilliant forwards that are well able to take their shots when they get any bit of a chance. We\u2019re expecting a tough game.”<\/p>\n
Having featured in their final losses to Meath and Dublin in the previous two years, N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair, a senior debutant back in 2020, donned the number 11 jersey when Kerry defeated Galway to win a record-breaking 12th All-Ireland title in 2024.<\/p>\n
Following the departure of joint managers Declan Quill and Darragh Long in the wake of that victory, Mark Bourke stepped into the hotseat and guided Kerry to a Division 1 title with N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair once again playing a pivotal role.<\/p>\n
However, despite also holding onto the Munster trophy, the Kingdom’s defence of the Brendan Martin Cup ended in a semi-final reversal to Meath.<\/p>\n
![\"Niamh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/00248198-614.jpg\"\/)
\nNiamh N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair (left) celebrates with Aishling O’Connell after their Division 1 success<\/p>\n
Reflecting on 2025 as a whole, N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair feels Kerry weren\u2019t at their best for much of the year, but they have been doing their utmost to absorb lessons from that last-four defeat to the Royals and turn it into a positive for the current inter-county season.<\/p>\n
“When the season ends you reflect on all the games you\u2019ve had. When we look back on last year, we probably would have said we got over the line in a lot of games, but probably didn\u2019t perform as well as we could have. Then sometimes those bad performances are masked by a win.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s a lot of learnings that we took from that semi-final last year. When you look at the game, Meath had more hunger in it, they had more fight. You kind of always have that in the back of your head now this year moving forward.”<\/p>\n
While she called time on her glittering inter-county career after finally picking up an All-Ireland senior football championship winners\u2019 medal in 2024, Louise N\u00ed Mhuircheartaigh is someone N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair still encounters on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
In addition to being her club-mate in Corca Dhuibhne, the pair are also teachers at Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School in Tralee.<\/p>\n
A PE and Irish teacher (like N\u00ed Mhuircheartaigh, she is fluent in the language), N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair is also joined on the staff by another former Kerry star in the form of Amanda Brosnan. Because she is also involved in coaching at the school, football also plays a huge part in the working life of the University of Limerick graduate.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s great to have those two shoulders to lean on in school and even coaching school teams with them, there\u2019s some learning to take from them. I am very lucky. There\u2019d be some weeks where it\u2019s football, football, football inside in school. Because it\u2019s a school where there\u2019s 1,300 kids,” N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair added.<\/p>\n
“We could have first year girls football trials and 60 to 80 girls could show up. When you\u2019re entering one or two teams in every competition, you\u2019re very busy. Sometimes I feel like more of a coach than a teacher, but it\u2019s great that I have two of the things I love the most in terms of sports and the Irish language. I get to work with them every day.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few short weeks on from another shared billing, Kerry’s Niamh N\u00ed Chonch\u00fair and her colleagues are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-497757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497757","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=497757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}