Less is more for Eilise McCrory

By Paul Fitzpatrick

Handball followers are accustomed to seeing Tyrone’s Eilise McCrory doing her thing on the court but on stage is a different story. Prior to Christmas, the 27-year-old swapped her gloves for a guitar and played a couple of gigs in a Belfast bar.

That she did it after losing a bet says plenty about the Breacach star and her sense of fun and daring.

“I actually lost a bet and it was a forfeit,” she laughs.

“My partner, God love her, made me message local bars and made me get a gig or two. She kind of twisted my arm but also it was free will as well. It’s something I love to do, it keeps my mind busy, but I’m not as confident singing in front of people as you might think. It gives me something else to do, I suppose.”

That mix of humour, honesty and self-awareness runs through McCrory’s reflections on her handball journey, a path she has been treading with renewed confidence of late. The left-hander reached the final of the Irish Nationals in Kilkenny before Christmas and has started the new season strongly in general, something she feels has come from a shift in approach rather than any dramatic technical change.

“Yeah, I guess I have taken confidence from recent tournaments,” she says, before adding with typical modesty that the first few tournames of the year went “surprisingly well”.

“I probably took a different approach. This time less is more, which some would probably criticise, but at the minute it seems to be going okay. I’m just trying to build on it from here.”

That change was prompted by a period of honest self-reflection after a difficult couple of years in which she battled to make the breakthrough at the elite level.

“Oh, well, I’ve definitely put pressure on myself, yeah. I still do, but probably less so. Especially in four-wall, I think. You kind of have to have a chat to yourself at some stage to see where you’re at.

“It’s been a tough enough two years maybe prior to now, so I think I’m just playing for the enjoyment of it more so now, but it seems to be actually working in my favour. Hopefully it blossoms and I’m able to do something with it.”

A stand-out underage player, she worked her way relatively quickly to senior ranks. Hugh drop-out rates are a problem across female sport – sticking with it is one thing but ascending to the top takes rare dedication. She has travelled to Mexico, America and the Basque Country competing, each time looking to take something home, to add to her game.

Asked what she would say to her teenage self now, she pauses for a moment.

“You can get emotional when you think back that far, to be honest,” she says.

“But definitely just to keep going and enjoy every single second of it. I look back on all the experiences I’ve had and some of them are unbelievable. When you tell people outside of handball where you’ve been and what you’ve done, they’re kind of thinking, ‘God, that’s some sport that you’re playing’.”

“I’d just tell her to have a bit of craic and keep being you and don’t try and conform to anything. You’ve your own way to play and stick with it, I suppose.”

That individuality is reflected in how she describes her own game. McCrory is a shooter, pure and simple, always looking for the chance to end rallies. The results can be spectacular.

“Aggressive, probably, in the kindest sense,” she says, before clarifying. “Attacking and fast and hard hitting and stuff like that. I always have the motto, if you can get in and get out as quick as possible, that’s the best way to play. Definitely fast and hard is my approach to handball and it always has been. I don’t think that will change too much.”

McCrory is also keenly aware of the strength of the current women’s field. The likes of world champion Ciana Ní Churaoin, Limerick’s All-Ireland champ and current Irish number one Martina McMahon and Roscommon’s Fiona Tully are at the top.

Former number one Catriona Casey is working her way back from injury and there are several others closing in on that leading group.

“The field that’s out there, it’s probably never been as strong,” she says. “If any one of the top five or six were playing in a different era, they’d be winning all around them. It’s tough at the top with the ladies but I think the gap is breaking down. It’s probably never been as tight between the top six or seven players anyway.”

McCrory begins her oneills.com All-Ireland Senior Singles quest tomorrow (Saturday) when she meets Kilkenny’s Marie Walsh in Kells, Co Meath.

Away from competition, handball dominates her working life too. As a full-time handball development officer with Ulster GAA, her weeks are spent travelling between schools and clubs.

“Handball, handball, handball. Literally from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to bed,” she says.

“Getting the job maybe put a bit of a dampener on my own training at the start. It was hard to get motivated after spending all day looking at handball and playing handball. But I’ve definitely found a middle ground now and it’s somewhat adding to it.”

She believes coaching has fed back into her own performance.

“As much as you’re coaching new children and children who are just coming up, they teach you a lot as well. Things you maybe never really thought about, even how to approach your own training. It definitely helped me in my one-wall last season. You take a lot from coaching youngsters.”

As for what lies ahead, there is a quiet optimism rather than any grand statement. A big year for Eilise McCrory?

“Well, I hope so,” she laughs.

“It’s the Year of the Horse and all of that!”

FIXTURES

2026 oneills.com 4-Wall All-Ireland Championships
Men’s Senior Singles

Round of 32

Friday 13 February

Ballymore Eustace, Kildare
Time: 7.00pm
Kilkenny (Shane Dunne) v Meath (Gary McConnell)
Kilkenny (Peter Funchion) v Meath (Brian Carroll)

St Brigid’s, Dublin
Time: 7.30pm
Cork (Michael Hedigan) v Antrim (Jordan O’Neill)

Kells, Kilkenny
Time: 7.00pm
Tipperary (Rory Grace) v Waterford (Anthony Fitzgearld)

Boherbue, Cork
Time: 7.30pm
Cork (Daniel Relihan) v Cork (Conor Walsh)

Crinkle, Offaly
Time: 7.00pm
Wicklow (Michael Gregan) v Mayo (Paddy Murphy)
Mayo (Niall Joyce) v Cork (Shane Hedigan)

Collooney, Sligo
Time: 7.00pm
Tyrone (Caolan Daly) v Mayo (Ian McLoughlin)
Monaghan (Eoghan McGinnity) v Mayo (Lorcan Conlon)

St Mellan’s, Monaghan
Time: 7.00pm
Monaghan (Gavin Coyle) v Tyrone (Sean Kerr)

St Coman’s, Roscommon
Time: 7.00pm
Monaghan (Oran Kiernan) v Clare (Colin Crehan)

Cullohill, Laois
Time: 8.00pm
Kildare (Niall O’Connor) v Clare (Colin Corbett)

2026 oneills.com 4-Wall All-Ireland Championships

Adult Ladies’ Grading Games

Saturday 7 February

Liscarroll, Cork

Time: 11.00am

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Limerick (Martina McMahon) v Cork (Carmel Kelleher)

Cullohill, Laois

Time: 5.00pm

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Clare (Leah Minogue) v Wicklow (Patricia Byrne)

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Kilkenny (Amy Brennan) v Cork (Aishling O’Keefe)

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Galway (Niamh Heffernan) v Wexford (Holly Hynes)

Kells, Meath

Time: 12.00pm

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Tyrone (Eilise McCrory) v Kilkenny (Marie Walshe)

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Kilkenny (Katie Jordan) v Tyrone (Caislin Tracey)

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Tyrone (Sarah Devlin) v Laois (Orla Brophy)

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Kilkenny (Róisín O’Keefe) v Antrim (Caragh Shannon)

Sportslink, Dublin

Time: 3.30pm

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Kildare (Mollie Dagg) v Galway (Aisling Ní Mhaoláin)

Claregalway, Galway

Time: 7.00pm

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Clare (Aisling Fitzgearld) v Roscommon (Shóna Kennedy)

Ladies Senior/Intermediate: Clare (Caitriona Millane) v Mayo (Cuileann Bourke)

Garryhill, Carlow

Time: 3.00pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Kilkenny (Emer Barron) v Kildare (Ellen O’Connor)

O’Loughlin’s, Kilkenny

Time: 6.00pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Laois (Una Brophy) v Kilkenny (Margaret Purcell)

Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary

Time: 2.00pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Wexford (Jodie Keeling) v Clare (Chloe Philpott)

Kilfane, Kilkenny

Time: 5.00pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Wexford (Cora Doyle) v Laois (Aoife Brophy)

Ballaghaderreen, Mayo

Time: 2.00pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Tyrone (Aoife Kelly) v Clare (Amber Nolan)

St Brigid’s, Laois

Time: 6.30pm

Ladies Intermediate/Junior: Kilkenny (Holly Byrne) v Kilkenny (Noelle Dowling)

Crinkle, Offaly

Time: 3.00pm

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Limerick (Aishling Shanahan) v Meath (Sinead Forde)

Claregalway, Galway

Time: 1.00pm

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Clare (Fina Close) v Galway (Síle Ní Chonghaile)

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Clare (Niamh O’Brien) v Galway (Aoibhe Ní Chadhain)

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Clare (Orla O’Brien) v Galway (Ava Sweeney)

Eugene Quinn, Armagh

Time: 11.00am

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Monaghan (Louise McGinnity) v Antrim (Meadhbh Gallagher)

Fenagh, Leitrim

Time: 2.00pm

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Roscommon (Carragh Kennedy) v Tyrone (Michelle Warren)

St Mellan’s, Monaghan

Time: 1.00pm

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Monaghan (Niamh McElwain) dft. Tyrone (Erin Connolly) W/O

Galmoy, Kilkenny

Time: 6.00pm

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Wexford (April Moran) v Clare (Angela Floyd)

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Wexford (Emily Moran) v Clare (Shauna Doyle)

Cappagh, Limerick

Time: 12.30pm

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Cork (Bríd Horgan) v Clare (Leah O’Keefe)

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Cork (Muireann O’Brien) v Clare (Marie Long)

Tuamgraney, Clare

Time: 11.30am

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Clare (Emma Considine) v Tipperary (Sophie O’Meara)

Leixlip, Kildare

Time: 3.00pm

Ladies Junior B/Junior C: Clare (Ellen Collins) v Armagh (Cailiosa Ní Dhúill)

Ladies Junior/Junior B: Cork (Sarah Walsh) dft. Clare (Bridín Dinan) W/O