Humbled Ann Marie Cox joins Leitrim's sporting legends

Not one who would normally be lost for words, Ann Marie Cox was certainly stumped when the former Annaduff and Leitrim Ladies football great learned that she had been inducted into the Leitrim Sports Star Hall of Fame, a feeling of shock that she still carried at last Saturday’s prestigious Awards at the Lough Rynn Castle Estate & Gardens Hotel.

A two time All-Ireland winner with Leitrim and a true legend of the ladies game, Saturday’s Awards, organised by the Leitrim Sports Partnership, saw a host of Ann Marie’s former teammates turn out in force to celebrate her recognition as one of Leitrim’s sporting legends.

But for Ann Marie herself, the Hall of Fame award was something she never expected as she told the Observer, recalling her reaction when Leitrim Sports Partnership Co-ordinator Enda Lyons contacted her with the news that she was joining a very exclusive list of Leitrim sporting royalty!

“I actually thought Enda Lyons had the wrong number at the start because I asked him twice, is he sure he's got the right number?” was Ann Marie’s response to the Observer, “Look, there's a very, very established list of recipients and it's really humbling that my name will be associated with those in the years ahead. 

“It's an honour, to be honest with you - look, I still am kind of in shock at the moment about it all. Absolutely, I definitely thought Enda had the wrong person ... and I did say to him twice, are you sure it's me now you're looking for? As I said, it is an honour and something I was not expecting whatsoever.”

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Ann Marie joins former teammate and double All-Ireland winner Maeve Quinn and 1988 manager Eamonn McGowan in the Hall of Fame, something that delighted her: “Maeve is a previous winner. Eamon McGowan would have trained us back in 1988 is another and obviously, Packie McGarty and Declan Darcy, all greats associated with Leitrim football, so I am honoured that my name will be with those in the years ahead.”

With a career bookended by two famous Leitrim days in Croke Park, Ann Marie witnessed enormous changes in Ladies Gaelic Football between those successes in 1988 and 2007, not just in how the game was played but in how it was perceived and the public support for the game.

“You look at it in the 80s, I mean, it was a different time,” recalls Ann Marie, “I remember going to the game in '88 in Patsy Wrynn's bus and then, compared to 2007, obviously, it was a stay over the night before, it was far different. Ladies football in 2007 was in a completely different place than it was in 1988.

“In 1988, you had a junior final and a senior final. In 2007, it was junior, intermediate and All-Ireland, so it had certainly moved on and progressed. Two really different eras.”

Comparing both triumphs is a tricky question but Ann Marie took the lessons she learned as a 15-year-old in 1988 all the way through to back to back All-Ireland Final appearances 18 and 19 years later! “In 1988, I was involved with a group of girls who at that stage had been there for a long time. They'd started Leitrim Ladies Football and I would look back and I'd say they probably showed me the ropes.

Leitrim Sports Star Awards Hall of Fame winner Ann Marie Cox pictured with her husband Seamus and daughter Lucy at last Saturday's Awards in the Lough Rynn Castle Estate & Gardens Hotel Picture: Brian Duignan 

“I was able to take what they had showed me and bring it through in my career. I stayed until I won the second All-Ireland, because the bit was between the teeth and I really wanted to go again, it was like an itch that needed a scratch and I'm delighted that I was able to do it. The year before, I was captain and Sligo beat us in that game in 2006 - we weren't ready and maybe it was a case the team had to lose one to win one.”

But as much as those two triumphs are career highlights, it was the friendships made and that have endured over the years that have meant so much to Ann Marie: “The craic, I mean, it was just unbelievable. Since I was announced as a winner of this award, the amount of past colleagues or players that made contact with me and the stories we told and it was all about fun times. 

“The stories weren't about winning, it was about the fun times that we had together. The craic, the stories - I could write a book. We just had great fun playing for Leitrim, really great fun.”

Her prowess as a freetaker saw Ann Marie land eight points in the 2007 All-Ireland Intermediate Final and place-kicking was a skill she worked hard on: “It was something that I worked on. I was lucky enough in any of the teams that I played with that I did get to take the frees. But it would be something that I've always worked on.

“My dad, in his heyday, also took frees so maybe I got a bit of his skill. And I was lucky enough that I was able to put the ball over the bar when it mattered. Maybe it was a skill that landed on me but I did work hard at it as well.”

Keeping going for so long for both club and county takes doing and Ann Marie hails the example of Charlene Tyrell, a teammate in 2007 who helped Leitrim regain the Mary Quinn Cup in 2024: “Charlene is still there and no bother to her. She'll keep going for another while. 

“You do see a fall-off of players probably in the late 20s, Charlene is an exception to that rule. But typically, yeah, you see a fall-off when they come into their 30s. It's different I suppose for women than for men. But typically we are seeing a fall-off once they get to the late 20s.”

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As for Leitrim, Ann Marie is confident the Green & Gold can continue to make a big splash on the national scene: “Certainly this year I'd be looking, I'm hoping that they get out of Division 4, they have to get out of Division 4 and I think they'll make a good stab at the intermediate championship. 

“I think in 2024, we were a little bit early there in winning the All-Ireland. The loss of the two Bruens was significant to that team and we didn't really replace them. So senior came, I would say, maybe two or three years too early but I think Jonny should be looking at definitely winning Division 4 and hopefully getting a good run in the intermediate this year.”

The new rules in Ladies Football have generated quite a bit of enthusiasm and safe to say, Ann Marie is a fan! “I'd love to have played with the  tap-and-go and I'd love the two-pointer, they would be my two things I love. Definitely, I think they're going to be a great change.”

Enough of a change to maybe tempt Ann Marie to lacing up the boots again! “Ah, never say never!”