Cork's Katie Quirke named on ladies football All-Star team

Bride Rovers star Katie Quirke was the only Cork player to be honoured with a 2024 TG4 Ladies Football All-Star this season.

Quirke was by far Cork’s best player across the season and her absence for a large part of the league played a huge part in their relegation.

In their first game of 2024 against Galway she got all of Cork’s scores in their only league win of the campaign. After that, she was injured playing a colleges game and was out for most of the rest of the campaign which ended in relegation after their loss away to Meath.

Cork did progress to the TG4 All-Ireland semi-final and for her displays in that run, Quirke was named at full-forward on the team. This is Katie’s first All-Star award.

All-Ireland senior champions, Kerry, lead the way with seven representatives on the team.

The annual selection was revealed on Saturday night at the annual TG4 All-Star awards banquet, in association with Lidl, as the Bonnington Dublin Hotel.

Kerry’s seven winners are goalkeeper Ciara Butler, defenders Kayleigh Cronin and Aishling O’Connell, midfielder Anna Galvin, and forward trio Niamh Carmody, Danielle O’Leary and Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh.

Cronin won the Player of the Match award for an outstanding performance against Galway in the 2024 TG4 All-Ireland final at Croke Park on Sunday, August 4, as Carmody captained the Kingdom to a first All-Ireland senior title in 31 years.

Runners-up Galway have been rewarded with four TG4 All-Star awards, namely defenders Kate Geraghty and Nicola Ward, midfielder and captain Ailbhe Davoren, and Olivia Divilly in the half-forward line.

There are three All-Star awards for Armagh, the 2024 Lidl National League Division 1 winners and All-Ireland semi-finalists, with defenders Grace Ferguson and Lauren McConville acknowledged, along with forward Aoife McCoy.

The team is comprised of no fewer than 10 first-time award winners, as Butler, Ferguson, Geraghty, McConville, Galvin, Davoren, McCoy, Divilly, O’Leary and Quirke received maiden All-Star awards.

Cronin, O’Connell, and Ward picked up All-Star awards for the second time in their careers, Carmody is now a three-time winner, and for the third year in succession, while Ní Mhuircheartaigh picked up her fifth award, and third in-a-row.

Carmody and Ní Mhuircheartaigh are the two players named on this year’s selection who also featured on the 2023 TG4 All-Star team.

Galway pair Ward and Divilly both hail from the Kilkerrin-Clonberne club in Galway, the current AIB All-Ireland Senior club champions.

2024 TG4 Ladies football All-Star team is: Ciara Butler, (Kerry); Grace Ferguson, (Armagh); Kayleigh Cronin, (Kerry); Kate Geraghty, (Galway); Aishling O’Connell, (Kerry); Nicola Ward, (Galway); Lauren McConville, (Armagh); Anna Galvin, (Kerry); Ailbhe Davoren, (Galway); Niamh Carmody, (Kerry); Aoife McCoy, (Armagh); Olivia Divilly, (Galway); Danielle O’Leary, (Kerry); Katie Quirke, (Cork); Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, (Kerry).

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