'We promised ourselves we'll come back'- Portlaoise's Aisling Kehoe on lifting the Lulu Carroll Cup

Portlaoise Ladies captain Aisling Kehoe had the honour of lifting the Lulu Carroll Cup on Saturday evening as her team secured a convincing win over St Conleth’s at Stradbally GAA.

The Town skipper struggled to find the words to describe the emotions after such an important victory. She highlighted that the triumph was especially significant for the more experienced members of the squad, for whom opportunities like this are rare.

“Unbelievable, absolutely thrilled. I'm actually lost for words to be honest. This one means a lot, especially to a lot of the older girls, you know, time is ticking for us. But look, after the heartache last year, we promised ourselves we'll come back this year and do everything we can to win it. It's been a tough battle. A few games have gone right down to the wire, but look, we've got over the line and we're thrilled to be on the right side,” Kehoe said.

Portlaoise ran out eight points clear in the end, and St Conleth’s were held scoreless in the final 15 minutes of the match. Even with the advantage, Kehoe admitted the team had to stay fully focused until the final whistle.

“To be brutally honest, you don't really think that. Conleth’s are an exceptional team, and they could have come back at us at any time. So we just had to keep tuned in, which we did. But look, when the final whistle went, that's when the emotions came. It's great. We're absolutely thrilled to get over the line and back with the Lulu Carroll Cup,” she said.

This year also marked a new chapter for Portlaoise, with Kevin O’Grady and his son Ryan taking over the management reins. Kehoe credited the father-and-son duo for their dedication and work with the squad throughout the season.

“They came in, and they didn't know much about us. When we met them, the first thing we said to them was that we wanted to win the county final and they said, ‘Right, so we'll help you do that.’ They put in a lot of hard work. You're coming into a group of girls that you don't know anything about, but look, the lads did some amount of work with us, got us over the line there, so absolutely thrilled,” Kehoe commented.

It has been a memorable 2025 for Portlaoise LGFA as a whole, with the club’s U-16s capturing their championship earlier in the day, while the Junior team also reached their county final two weeks ago.

“It’s massive, especially underage, seeing the under-16s winning today, it's great for the club. We have a minor team there that are unreal, they're a brilliant bunch of girls. A lot of them have come in and given us great injection and pace into our game this year. But not even the girls who got game time. We had our junior team that got to a final as well this year.

“We're all training together, and we all drive each other on. We're a really tight-knit group. It helps, it does. We're all playing for the same crest on the chest. We all want the same thing. We'll celebrate tonight as a team,” she said.

Looking ahead, Portlaoise will take a short break before preparing for the AIB Leinster Senior Club Championship, where they are set to face the winner of the Longford Slashers and Kilmacud Crokes clash.

“I've never even thought about Leinster. All we wanted to do was get over the line today; that was our main objective. Anything after today is a bonus; we'll take that. I suppose we'll enjoy the next few days and then knuckle down and probably be back to training on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’ll be a different level then, so when we come to that, we'll face it head-on,” Kehoe ended.