Kildare duo nominated for TG4 All-Star Awards
Laoise Lenehan is one of two Kildare players nominated for a TG4 All-Star Awards Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie
Laoise Lenehan and Aoife Rattigan have been nominated for TG4 All-Star Awards after their performances for Kildare during their run to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
It’s a second nomination in successive years for team captain Lenehan. The Kill player has been the driving force on the team as they established themselves among the top teams in the country over the last few years.
Rattigan is nominated for the first time after a move closer to the goal saw the Cappagh player respond with a glut of scores.
It’s the first time that Kildare have received more than one nomination in a single year since three players were nominated in 2016 following Kildare’s All-Ireland Intermediate success. Aisling Holton, Roisin Byrne and Mary Hulgraine were nominated that year, with goalkeeper Hulgraine becoming only Kildare’s third All-Star, following in the footsteps of Brianne Leahy (2001 and 2007) and Noelle Earley (2009).
Since 2016, Sarsfields forward Byrne was nominated on two further occasions, 2023 and 2024, and Lenehan was nominated last year.
On the list itself, All-Ireland Senior Champions Galway lead the way. The Tribeswomen, who won the Brendan Martin Cup at Croke Park on Sunday August 2, have 14 nominees in the 45-player long list.
Runners-up Kerry have 12 players nominated, TG4 Ulster champions Armagh are next in line with six, Dublin and Lidl National League Division 1 winners Cork have three each, there are two apiece for Waterford and Mayo, along with Kildare, and a Meath nominee completes the list compiled by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s All-Star committee.
Galway captured just their second TG4 All-Ireland Senior title, and first since 2004, with victory over Kerry in the 2026 decider.
And that success is reflected in a healthy haul of TG4 All-Star nominations for the team managed by former Kildare boss Daniel Moynihan.
Goalkeeper Leah O’Halloran is nominated, along with defenders Kate Geraghty (Galway’s captain and TG4 All-Ireland final Player of the Match), Sarah Ní Loingsigh, Brónagh Quinn, Hannah Noone and Nicola Ward.
At midfield, sisters Niamh and Siobhán Divilly are both nominated, while another Divilly sister, Olivia, is one of six Galway forwards nominated, alongside Kate Slevin, Kate Thompson, Leanne Coen, Róisín Leonard and Eva Noone, sister of Hannah.
Kerry’s 12 TG4 All-Star nominees are goalkeeper Mary Ellen Bolger, defenders Deirdre Kearney, Eilís Lynch, Róisín Rahilly, Emma Costello, Aoife Dillane and Aishling O’Connell, midfielder Mary O’Connell, and forwards Niamh Carmody, Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Danielle O’Leary and captain Síofra O’Shea.
Armagh, who lost out to Galway at the semi-final stage, have secured half a dozen TG4 All-Star nominations, namely goalkeeper Brianna Mathers, defenders Emily Druse and captain Lauren McConville, midfielder Blaithín Mackin, and inside forwards Aimee Mackin (sister of Blaithín) and Kelly Mallon.
Dublin, who also reached the semi-finals, where they lost out to Kerry, have defender Niamh Crowley, midfielder Niamh Hetherton and forward Orlagh Nolan on the long-list of nominations, while Cork’s trio of nominees are defenders Melissa Duggan and Shauna Kelly, as well as forward ace, Katie Quirke.
Defender Karen McGrath and forward Kellyann Hogan are Waterford’s two nominees.
Mayo forwards Aoife Staunton and Sinéad Walsh are both nominated, as is Meath captain Niamh Gallogly, one of four players who earned TG4 All-Star awards last year who are long-listed once again.
The other 2025 TG4 All-Stars in with a shout of gaining another of the prestigious individual accolades are Galway pair and Kilkerrin-Clonberne clubmates Nicola Ward and Olivia Divilly, and Kerry’s Síofra O’Shea.
The 2026 TG4 All-Star team will be announced at a gala banquet at The Bonnington Dublin Hotel on Saturday, November 14.
The 2026 TG4 Junior, Intermediate and Senior Players’ Player of the Year Award winners will also be revealed on the night, while the 2026 inductee into the Ladies Gaelic Football Association Hall of Fame will be acknowledged.
Brianna Mathers (Armagh), Leah O’Halloran (Galway), Mary Ellen Bolger (Kerry).
Melissa Duggan (Cork), Shauna Kelly (Cork), Niamh Crowley (Dublin), Kate Geraghty (Galway), Sarah Ní Loingsigh (Galway), Brónagh Quinn (Galway), Deirdre Kearney (Kerry), Eilís Lynch (Kerry), Róisín Rahilly (Kerry).
Emily Druse (Armagh), Lauren McConville (Armagh), Hannah Noone (Galway), Nicola Ward (Galway)*, Emma Costello (Kerry), Aoife Dillane (Kerry), Aishling O’Connell (Kerry), Laoise Lenehan (Kildare), Karen McGrath (Waterford).
Blaithín Mackin (Armagh), Niamh Hetherton (Dublin), Niamh Divilly (Galway), Siobhán Divilly (Galway), Mary O’Connell (Kerry), Niamh Gallogly (Meath)*.
Orlagh Nolan (Dublin), Olivia Divilly (Galway)*, Kate Slevin (Galway), Kate Thompson (Galway), Niamh Carmody (Kerry), Niamh Ní Chonchúir (Kerry), Aoife Staunton (Mayo), Sinéad Walsh (Mayo), Kellyann Hogan (Waterford).
Aimee Mackin (Armagh), Kelly Mallon (Armagh), Katie Quirke (Cork), Leanne Coen (Galway), Róisín Leonard (Galway), Eva Noone (Galway), Danielle O’Leary (Kerry), Síofra O’Shea (Kerry)*, Aoife Rattigan (Kildare).
*denotes 2025 TG4 All-Star
Galway 14, Kerry 12, Armagh 6, Dublin 3, Cork 3, Waterford 2, Kildare 2, Mayo 2, Meath 1.
