Nollaig Cleary-Uí Chróinín (born 1981) is an
Irish retired
ladies' Gaelic football
Ladies' Gaelic football () is an Irish team sport for women. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball toward ...
er who played as a right wing-forward for the
Cork county ladies' football team
The Cork county ladies' football team represents Cork GAA in ladies' Gaelic football. The team competes in inter-county competitions such as the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship, the Munster Senior Ladies' Football Championship an ...
.
Born in
Castlehaven
Castlehaven () is a civil parish in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork, approximately 45 miles south-west of Cork City on the coast. The civil parish includes the town of Castletownshend and the hamlets of Rineen and Tragumna. Th ...
,
County Cork
County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
, Cleary first played competitive Gaelic football in her youth. She made her senior debut during the 2004 championship. Cleary immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen and won nine
All-Ireland
All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...
medals, ten Munster medals and eight
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
medals.
At club level Cleary is a one-time
All-Ireland
All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...
medallist in the junior grade with
Gabriel Rangers.
Cleary's brother,
John Cleary, and her husband,
Mícheál Ó Cróinín
Mícheál Ó Cróinín (born 1977) is an Irish retired Gaelic footballer and current sports broadcaster. His league and championship career with the Cork senior team spanned seven seasons from 1999 to 2005.
Born in Baile Bhúirne, County Cork, ...
, also played with Cork.
After retiring from inter-county football in January 2013, Cleary later reversed her decision. She announced her second retirement from inter-county football on 4 June 2015.
Honours
Player
;Cork
*
All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship () is the premier inter-county competition in the game of ladies' Gaelic football in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and are played during ...
(9): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
*Munster Senior Ladies' Football Championship (10): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014
*
Ladies' National Football League (8): 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Nollaig
1981 births
Living people
Cork inter-county ladies' Gaelic footballers
Irish schoolteachers
Winners of four All-Ireland medals (ladies' football)
21st-century Irish sportswomen