Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Irish name | Breannait Mhic an Easpaig | ||
Sport | Ladies' Football | ||
Position | back, goalkeeper | ||
Born |
February 1966 Monaghan, Ireland | (age 58)||
Occupation | FÁS employee, county councillor | ||
Club(s) | |||
Years | Club | ||
Inter-county(ies) | |||
Years | County | ||
1991–2006 | Monaghan | ||
Inter-county titles | |||
All-Irelands | 2 | ||
All Stars | 3 |
Brenda McAnespie | |
---|---|
Monaghan County Councillor | |
In office 11 June 1999 – 5 June 2009 | |
Constituency | Monaghan LEA |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Irish |
Political party | Sinn Féin |
Spouse | Vincent McAnespie |
Children | 7 |
Brenda McAnespie (born February 1966) is an Irish sportswoman. [1] [2] She played ladies' Gaelic football with her local club, Monaghan Harps, with Emyvale, and with the Monaghan county team. [3]
Brenda grew up in Scotstown, County Monaghan. She attended Urbleshanny National School and played Gaelic football on the boys' team at a time when ladies' Gaelic football was not widely played. At 13 or 14 this was no longer allowed and she switched to indoor soccer, playing as a goalkeeper.
She married Vincent McAnespie in 1989. [4]
In 1991 ladies' football began in Monaghan and McAnespie was involved from the beginning. They won the 1992 All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship, and went on to dominate the senior competition in the 1990s. McAnespie played in six All-Ireland senior finals, winning in 1996 and 1997. [5] She won three All Stars, in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
McAnespie retired from county football in 2006. [5]
In 2008, she was on an Emyvale team that won the All-Ireland Ladies Intermediate Club Football Championship, along with her daughters Ciara and Aoife. [6]
McAnespie was named by the Irish Independent on a list of "The 10 greatest women GAA [sic] players of all time" in 2015. [7] She was the subject of a 2020 Laochra Gael episode. [8] [9]
McAnespie has seven children. [10] Her son Ryan has played for Monaghan men's team. [11]
She was elected to Monaghan County Council for Sinn Féin in 1999 and again in 2004. [12]
Her husband, Vincent McAnespie, is also a longtime Sinn Féin activist. He was accused of involvement in the attempted murder of an Ulster Defence Regiment member in 1981; he was tried in 2010 and acquitted. [13] His brother Aidan was killed by a British Army sniper in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone in 1988. [14]