Sue Ramsbottom (born 11 July 1973) is an Irish
ladies' Gaelic football
Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. 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 ...
and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
player.
Early life
Ramsbottom attended Timahoe National School and played
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...
on the boys' team. She attended the Brigidine secondary school in
Mountrath
Mountrath () is a small town in County Laois, Ireland. The town lies on the R445 midway between Dublin and Limerick, exactly 96.5 km (60 mi) from both cities. The town was bypassed by the M7 motorway in 2010 leading to a significant ...
.
Sporting career
Ladies' football
Sue Ramsbottom began playing ladies' football with
The Heath, scoring in an all-Ireland club final at the age of 12.
She was later part of the founding of a ladies' team in
Timahoe.
[ ] She won several
Laois Ladies' Senior Football Club Championship
The Laois Ladies' Senior Football Club Championship has been running since 1976 - 46 finals. The competition has seen seven clubs winning the title, with St Conleths winning the latest in 2021, captained by Mary Cotter. The final has been played ...
with both clubs. Her early heroes were
Colm O'Rourke
Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022.
O'Rourke's league and championsh ...
and
Barney Rock.
Ramsbottom lost six
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 the ...
finals with
Laois
County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 ...
before finally winning in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
. She also won seven
Ladies' Gaelic Football All Stars Awards
The Ladies' Gaelic Football All Stars Awards have been hosted annually by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association since 1980. The All Stars are sponsored by TG4. O'Neills have also helped sponsor the awards. All Stars are awarded to the best La ...
, in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.
In a 2020 ranking by the ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet n ...
'', Ramsbottom was named as the fourth-greatest player of all time.
Jenny Grennan
Jenny may refer to:
* Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people
* Jenny (surname), a family name
Animals
* Jenny (donkey), a female donkey
* Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of h ...
named her among her best opponents, saying she was "powerful and seriously strong on the ball. Protected the ball really well and very difficult to dispossess."
In 2022 she was featured in a ''
Laochra Gael'' episode, the first Laois player in any sport to be so honoured.
Rugby
Ramsbottom also played
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
, appearing for
Galwegians and winning three caps for
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. She was in the Irish squad for the
1998 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Personal life
Ramsbottom is an officer in the
Irish Army
The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing bran ...
, currently holding the rank of
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
.
She has served as
aide-de-camp to
President of Ireland
The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces.
The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...
and has taught at the
Defence Forces Training Centre. She has two daughters.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsbottom, Sue
1973 births
Living people
Laois ladies' Gaelic footballers
Ireland women's international rugby union players
Irish Army officers