Adam Moynihan speaks to teen sensation Hannah O’Donoghue about her big move to Cork City

Talented local sports star Hannah O’Donoghue has been snapped up by Women’s National League side Cork City and has immediately set her sights on breaking into the first team.

O’Donoghue, who also plays football for Kerry, has been training with the Cork club for the past few months and put pen to paper when the team visited Killarney for a pre-season training trip.

A huge crowd turned out at Celtic Park on Saturday as the Black Valley native was officially unveiled as a Cork City player, while supporters were also treated to a keenly contested friendly between the reigning Women’s FAI Cup holders and Celtic’s U-16/17 boys.

Speaking to the Advertiser during the week, Hannah, who is still just 17, was full of praise for her coaches and mentors at Celtic.

“They’ve been great,” she said. “Donal O’Doherty managed us and we got very close in the National Cup a few years, and Caroline Kissane was very good to me as well. Ramona Keogh basically sorted me out with Cork. She was like a bit of an agent. I have to thank Premier Autoparts as well who are kindly sponsoring me.”

The prodigious young athlete said training so far has been “enjoyable” - although it took some time to find her feet at the beginning.

“It’s very high intensity. All the drills are done at speed and there’s a lot of possession involved. At the start I was a bit rusty because I hadn’t played soccer in a while. It took a while to sort my touch out but it kinda got a bit easier after a few trainings.”

As well her commitments with Cork City, the Kerry seniors and the Kerry minors (for whom she scored a ridiculous 3-6 on Sunday), the Beaufort player is also currently studying for her Leaving Cert. Hannah certainly has plenty on her plate and she admitted that it is “kind of hard to juggle everything”.

She’s keen to make her mark in Cork, however, and take advantage of this great opportunity.

“It’s the highest standard in Ireland,” she continued. “I just want to keep on improving and hopefully get a bit of game time. But once I keep getting better each week I’ll be happy enough.”

And how will the proud Kerrywoman feel about representing the Leesiders? “I never really thought I’d play for Cork,” she confessed. “It’ll probably take a while to get used to!”

Cork City begin their 2018 Women’s National League campaign away to Galway on Sunday, March 11.