DERVAL O’Rourke of Leevale AC rounded off her outstanding August by captaining Munster to glory in Croke Park, winning the Inter-Provincial Relay which formed part of GAA 125 celebrations.

Derval O'Rourke celebrates a Munster victory

O’Rourke was joined by club-mates, Ailis McSweeney and David Quilligan, Cork Ladies football star Angela Walsh, Clare hurler James McInerney and David O’Shea of Dooneen AC.

The GAA guest of honour Olive Loughnane of Loughrea AC, received a hero’s welcome, as she led the teams out onto the pitch after her tremendous silver medal performance at the World Championships in the 20km walk.

The team captains – David Gillick (Leinster), Paul Hession (Connacht), Anna Boyle (Ulster) and Derval O’Rourke (Munster) – were introduced to the crowd as the atmosphere began to build among the 50,000 plus spectators.

Munster was drawn in Lane 1, Connacht Lane 2, Ulster Lane 3 and Leinster Lane 4. It was a competitive race throughout with spectators getting truly involved in what was a unique opportunity to see Ireland’s elite athletes battle it out alongside GAA stars in Croke Park. The warmest reception was given to O’Rourke, with many of the Cork contingent chanting her name on Hill 16 as she waited to receive the baton. The Cork woman didn’t disappoint and ran a storming leg before passing onto Angela Walsh.

Mirroring the action on the pitch that day, Munster got the better of Ulster to win the Super Sprint relay race in what was a very tight finish between Stuart Connor (St Michael’s, Enniskillen AC) and David O’Shea (Dooneen AC).

The teams met at the home of Athletics in Ireland, Morton Stadium and were then brought by bus to the home of the GAA, Croke Park.  The athletes had a specially allocated warm-up zone in the tunnel that surrounds Croke Park.  There was a sense of camaraderie in the provincial teams which were made up of both athletes and GAA players.

It provided a great opportunity for many of our up and coming stars to interact with Ireland’s talented elite athletes. Close to the time of walk-out to the pitch captains took the time to give motivational team talks. O’Rourke’s was a simple message ‘Just Win’.

The victorious Munster team – Ailis McSweeney, David Quilligan, David O'Shea, James McInerney, Angela Walsh and Derval O'Rourke – celebrate victory. Photo Ray McManus, Sportsfile.

Medallist Olive Loughnane was introduced to the crowd beforehand. Photo Ray McManus, Sportsfile.