MAIRE HAPPY TO PASS THE MANTLE

WHILE she admits it required a slight adjustment on her part, Maire O'Callaghan was ultimately more than happy to pass on the mantle of Cork captain to Sarah Leahy at the beginning of 2025.

- By DAIRE WALSH

When she was announced as skipper of the Leeside footballers in 2022, the Mourneabbey stalwart followed in the footsteps of her first cousins Ciara and Doireann O'Sullivan - both of whom lifted national silverware during their stints as team captain.

While O'Callaghan didn’t get this opportunity in the red of her native county, she did help guide Cork to a TG4 Munster Senior Football Championship crown during her debut campaign as team leader before unfortunately missing their defence of the title through injury in 2023.

She continued in the role up until the end of the 2024 inter-county season, but it was defensive lynchpin Leahy - from county senior champions Aghada - who was tasked with leading Cork into battle this year.