All-Ireland ladies success caps a great year for the Hetherton family

By Paul Keane

It's hard to believe that in the buildup to last weekend's powerful TG4 All-Ireland ladies senior football final performance, Niamh Hetherton felt Dublin were still waiting for it all to click.

Twice this year, in the National League and Championship, they'd needed late, late Kate Sullivan points just to draw with Waterford.

They came from behind with a late surge to beat Meath in the Leinster final and needed a Hannah Tyrrell point from 40 metres out to force Galway to extra-time in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Throw in their record of winning only one of their first four Division 1 league games and you get the feel for a team searching for that perfect 70-minute performance.

History will be kind to Dublin, given their comprehensive All-Ireland final defeat of Meath last Sunday, but goalscorer Niamh Hetherton said the reality is that it was a challenging season.

"I think this win was a little bit extra special," said four-time All-Ireland winner Hetherton at the launch of the 2025 Beko Club Champion, an initiative open to all clubs in Leinster.

"I think before Christmas there were 12 of us at a gym session and we were kind of like, oh, we didn't think we'd actually get here. So it was brilliant.

"I think we got a performance on the day which was what we'd been looking for all year. We hadn't really put a full performance together but to get it on the biggest day of the year is obviously what you want.

"We've been chasing a fast start all year and I don't think we'd gotten it. As I said, I don't think we'd gotten a performance the whole year. We'd probably played for 10, 20 minutes in a few games.

"But we went after it last Sunday and we got it. I wouldn't say a perfect performance but we got it as close as."

Hetherton played a key role in the landmark win, the county's seventh. She scored 1-1 and burst onto a pass from Eilish O'Dowd in the 21st minute to score the team's second goal, leaving them a dozen points up at that stage and virtually in the clear.

"Everyone keeps sending it to me," smiled Hetherton of the video of her thundering strike. "I don't know what I was thinking at the time! Thankfully it went in."

The stylish forward is underselling what was a terrific goal, one of the best all season.

But was it as good as the big brother's? Sibling John similarly smashed home one of the goals of the hurling championship when he propelled Dublin to a famous All-Ireland quarter-final win over red hot favourites Limerick.

"I was slagging him at the start of the year, saying he was mad to go back," said Niamh. "But he had a great year."

John, 33, is a busy man, with two sons, Jack and CJ. The big St Vincents forward hadn't previously played an Allianz League or Championship game for Dublin since 2020, and had never started a Championship game, so going again in 2025 was a roll of the dice.

But it paid off in a big way as John featured in every single Championship game under new manager Niall O Ceallachain this season, starting six of them, scoring 3-6 overall and hitting Wexford for 2-3 as well as that thunderbolt against Limerick.

A little over a decade earlier, their father, Ciaran Hetherton, was a key figure in the Anthony Daly led Dublin hurling management team that guided the county to National League (2011) and Leinster (2013) successes.

"My Dad told me it was the happiest day of his life," said Niamh, referencing John's goal against Limerick. "I was like, 'Alright....' Ah no, it was brilliant. You'd never seen John without a hurl. He always has it in his hand. I'm not surprised that people got to see that this year, what he can do.

"He has put in the work. It doesn't happen by accident. He stuck with it and thankfully it paid off for him."

Both siblings will presumably pull on the blue again in 2026?

"If he's allowed," smiled Niamh of John. "He's expecting another baby at Christmas, so I'm not sure. He might be a bit busy with three kids!"

The new arrival will make for a great Christmas, capping a terrific year for the famous GAA family from north Dublin.

"I don't think me and John had played for Dublin at the same time before," said Niamh, 24, who won her first All-Ireland senior medal in 2019. "Then for them to do so well, the hurlers, it was brilliant. And obviously for us to get the win last weekend, absolutely great for our family."