From Mayo to the AFLW: Aileen Gilroy on her incredible journey post-retirement
The Kilfian native called time on her Australian Football career last week, pulling the curtain down on an excellent career
For Aileen Gilroy, the journey from a football field in rural North Mayo to the bright lights of AFLW stadiums in Australia has been packed with All-Stars, Irish jerseys, county finals, World Cups, heartbreak, injuries and unforgettable moments.
Now, after officially stepping away from inter-county and AFLW football, Gilroy is back in Ireland, settling into life in Wexford while still lining out at club level and beginning the next chapter.
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But for all the accolades and achievements, the roots of it all remain firmly grounded in family, community and the competitive spirit forged in a Mayo garden.
“I was tiny when I was young,” Gilroy laughed. “There were five of us under five in the house and we were always carrying on out the front garden with a ball. My older sisters would be pushing me off the ball and bullying me around. You had no choice but to toughen up quickly.”
That upbringing shaped the fiercely driven athlete who would go on to represent Mayo, Ireland and two AFLW clubs in Australia.
Athletics was her first introduction to sport through Community Games, but Gaelic football quickly became the obsession
Her first match came as a seven-year-old in Kilfian, playing under-10 football. Soon after, she was togging out with boys’ teams and making headlines before she was even officially registered.
“One day there was a county final and I wasn’t actually registered,” she recalled. “Another girl was missing so I went on and scored the winning goal in extra-time. That was really the start of me playing with the boys.”
She would continue playing alongside boys until under-14 level, developing the fearlessness and competitiveness that later became trademarks of her game
SOCCER RISE AND IRISH HONOURS
WHILE Gaelic football remained her “first love,” soccer opened another path.
Gilroy joined Killala FC at underage before progressing through Mayo Gaynor Cup squads and Irish underage teams. By the age of 12, she was already playing above her age group.
Her soccer journey took her to Castlebar Celtic and on to the Republic of Ireland squad that reached the UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship final in 2010.
Remarkably, during that tournament in Switzerland, Gilroy had to sit a Leaving Cert Agricultural Science exam between matches.
“We had beaten Germany in the semi-final and then I had to go and do my Leaving Cert exam at the football headquarters in Switzerland while the rest of the girls were out training,” she said.
I was trying to think about an exam and a European final at the same time.”
She later played with Sligo IT, travelled to the World Student Games in Russia and lined out for Castlebar Celtic in the Women’s FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium.
But even during those soccer years, Mayo football was never far from her thoughts.
“I always had this thing in the back of my mind that I wanted to play on the big stage in Gaelic football,” she explained. “I wanted Croke Park. I wanted an All-Star. Those goals were always there.”
MAYO FOOTBALL HEARTBREAK
GILROY’S return to the Mayo senior setup brought some of the county’s most memorable modern campaigns.
Mayo reached the All-Ireland semi-final in 2016 before advancing to the final the following year.
The 2016 defeat to Dublin still lingers.
“We lost by a point with the last kick of the game,” she said. “That one still haunts me.”
In 2018 came another devastating setback when she suffered a second ACL injury. For many players, that could have been the end. Instead, it became the beginning of something entirely new.
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AFLW ADVENTURE
In early 2019, AFLW recruiter Rhys Harwood contacted Gilroy through Facebook about the possibility of joining North Melbourne.
“At first I genuinely thought it was spam,” she laughed.
Still recovering from injury, Gilroy hesitated before eventually deciding she had nothing to lose.
That leap of faith changed everything.
Initially, she struggled to adapt to the oval ball and unfamiliar rules.
“I literally could not kick the ball properly until January,” she admitted. “I kept kicking it the wrong way and thinking, ‘I don’t understand this game at all.’”
Yet her pace, athleticism and relentless work-rate soon made her a standout.
After spells with North Melbourne and Hawthorn, Gilroy earned AFLW All-Australian honours — one of the highest recognitions in the sport.
Looking back, she still finds it difficult to process the scale of the journey.
“To go from Kilfian to standing on a podium in Australia getting an All-Australian award is mad really,” she said.
The Mayo/Ireland connection remained strong throughout her years abroad.
Her sister’s move to Melbourne helped ease the transition, while the close-knit atmosphere among Irish players created an instant support network.
“There were a few of us all living together and honestly I was never homesick,” she said. “You make friendships for life over there.”
NEW CHAPTER
Now based in Wexford with her fiancé Peter, Gilroy has taken a step back from inter-county football after briefly joining the Wexford panel.
The decision, she admits, was emotional.
“It felt strange putting on another county jersey,” she said. “I couldn’t even train with them until after they played Mayo because I knew I couldn’t play against my own county.”
For now, club football and community involvement are the priorities.
She is helping coach underage teams and hopes her story encourages younger girls to stay involved in sport.
“I want girls to realise there are opportunities everywhere through sport,” she said. “I’m a girl from Mayo who ended up playing on the other side of the world.”
Retirement from elite sport may have arrived, but Gilroy still sounds like someone who is not fully finished.
“There’s probably another season left in me,” she admitted with a smile.
And knowing Aileen Gilroy, few would bet against another twist in the story
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