Laois legend, Sue Ramsbottom, will be officially inducted into the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s Hall of Fame at the TG4 All-Star Awards night on Saturday November 16.
Sue won a coveted TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship medal with the O’Moore County in 2001 – and she’s also the proud recipient of seven TG4 All-Star awards (1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997).
Sue’s glittering career began at a young age and when she was just 12, she won an All-Ireland Senior club medal with Laois outfit The Heath, in 1986.
Sue later moved to Timahoe and enjoyed significant local and provincial success with the club there, while also appearing in another All-Ireland Senior club final in 2000, this time against Monaghan Harps.
As a young girl, Sue attended Timahoe National School, where she won an U-12 county title, before progressing to The Brigidine Convent in Mountrath, for Secondary School studies.
Sue would play with club and county at the weekends and she cites her parents, Seamus and Kathleen, as formative influences on her career.
Sue also received huge support from her brother, James, and her sisters, Cara and Orla, through the years.
After six previous All-Ireland Senior Final disappointments, Laois finally reached the promised land with victory over Mayo in the 2001 Final.
Sue played a key role in that game and she mentions the late Sean ‘Goggie’ Delaney, who managed the Laois team to glory, as a key driver in that success.
Sue also conveys huge admiration for Waterford’s Michael Ryan, who assisted Laois towards the end of that 2001 campaign, and former Kerry manager Mick Fitzgerald, who always had a positive word when Laois played against the Kingdom during her playing days.
Other notable achievements during Sue’s inter-county career were National League Division 1 title wins in 1993 and 2003, and she was very close friends with Lulu Carroll and Mary Ramsbottom, two former team-mates who sadly passed away through illness at 35 and 36 years of age respectively.
Sue is extremely grateful to all who have supported her, citing the likes of Mary Wheatley and Connie Conway, and feels fortunate to have had excellent coaches and team-mates from both club and county teams who have been imperative to her success.
Sue’s sporting prowess was not just confined to Ladies Gaelic Football, as she was capped three times for Ireland on the rugby fields.
An Officer in the Irish Army, Sue is an outstanding role model and currently holds the rank of commandant.
She’s currently based in Strasbourg as a member of an EU Battlegroup and Sue has established an underage team, Strasbourg Gaels, as her passion for Ladies Football shows no signs of abating.
Sue is the proud mother of Caoimhe (16) and Emma (11), who are also based in Strasbourg.
Photo: Alf Harvey.
In 2022, Sue featured in an outstanding episode of TG4’s Laochra Gael, which was warmly received and a fitting tribute to one of the outstanding players in Ladies Gaelic Football history.
On and off the field of play, Sue’s contribution to Irish society has been remarkable, and she is a very worthy inductee into the LGFA Hall of Fame.
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