RIP Laura Buckley Noonan
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07 Sept 2025
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07 Sept 2025
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Rathcline’s Jean Farrell featured on front page of Gaelic Sport magazine in January 1969
Longford Gaelic Stats is a renowned treasure trove for everyone in the county of Longford and especially for anyone that is interested in GAA statistics of club and county.
The social media site is currently driven by three Killoe men and while none of them reside in Longford, they have a huge interest and love of their home county.
As part of their work, the site managers received an old Gaelic games magazine from January 1969.
It was the cover of Gaelic Sport magazine and it featured a photograph of local Ivy Villa, Rathcline, lady Jean Farrell who was creating her own bit of history back then when she was elected to the executive of UCG Football club.
Jean was a trailblazer in her own right as she was one of the first if not the first lady to be in a leading role of a GAA club executive.
Jean is the sister of Fintan Farrell who was an excellent player for both club and county and a leading figure in Rathcline’s only county title in 1976.
Jean later married Adrian Duncan from Ballymahon where they raised their family and still live. Adrian in his own right was an outstanding player for the Ballymahon club for many years.
The photograph of Jean in the magazine where she was being mentioned as a pioneer is an excellent reminder to the local community of the role she played in local history in bringing women to the top table within the GAA.
It is because of her initial footsteps that many more women have been able to follow the trail that Jean first blazed.
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