Laois rugby star from Portlaoise hangs up Ireland boots

Laois woman and Ireland rugby star Eimear Corri-Fallon has called time on her international career in the sport, which she first took up in Portlaoise.

Just a few months after she played in the final game of the Women's Rugby World Cup, and after 15 years of rugby that started with Portlaoise Rugby Club in Togher, she is stepping away from the Ireland team to pursue her career in medicine at the young age of 27.

She confirmed her retirement publicly in an interview with the IRFU in which she admits she realised that something had to give after a rugby career, which has seen her compete at the top levels for club, college, province and country.

“When I was working and playing rugby, it was just very, very, very long days. And I did it because maybe stubbornness, but you know, I absolutely wanted to do the two and I wanted to give the two my best shot," she said.

A daughter of Siobhan and David, the Portlaoise woman spoke about her final satisfaction in making the sacrifice to play at the World Cup which saw Ireland reach the quarter finals, where she won her 10th and final international cap.

“I had taken time out, I had committed to that group and I’m delighted to have been involved in the World Cup this year. But I just think going forward, I probably wouldn’t have been able to balance the two. And just for me, I went back to medicine.

“And I’m absolutely delighted that I’ve been able to achieve what I have and hopefully showcase to younger girls and give them a bit of an inspiration to go, I don’t have to give up sports for my Leaving Cert or for college or whatever.

"I think it’s important that people see people having other ambitions outside of sports. I’m kind of retiring at one of the most successful points of my career. I’m relatively young and had everything gone well, may have been putting my hand up for selection in a couple of years time," she said. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Now married to Eddie, her time on the international scene has been interrupted by a series of long spells on the sidelines, she played in the World Cup just a year after an Achilles tear.

“The World Cup was amazing. I think anyone that’s involved in sport to a high level, we really do have big dreams and the World Cup has been a dream of mine since I started playing elite rugby back in 2016. It absolutely was a dream come true. Any time you wear the green jersey is amazing. The WXV3, when I got my first caps, was so special.

“My first Six Nations playing at home in 2024 in front of family and friends, that was special too. I think wearing the green jersey is always a special moment, regardless of the enormity of the occasion.

“I’ll never forget Brighton that Friday before the New Zealand game, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing a green jersey and it was amazing. And I think as well what’s been so special about this World Cup, not only has it broken the barriers or the records for most supporters and spectators and the viewers, through the broadcasting channels," she said.

“And my secondary school, their team came out to Brighton to support. The support has just been absolutely amazing. And I think it’s hopefully only going to grow from there. And that’s the whole idea with the Green Wave. It’s this movement that we’re trying to get other people involved in, and like a wave, bringing it to the shores of other countries. And we absolutely felt that support throughout the whole competition.

The former pupil of Scoil Chríost Rí in Portlaoise recalled where her sporting career started and being inspired by former Laois and Irish Rugby players Alison Miller, from Ballylinan and Emma Hooban, also from Portlaoise.

“Athletics was actually my background. And just from being quite prominent locally in Portlaoise, I had competed in a couple of community games, national competitions and that. And it was actually Alison who happened to be what we call your manager when you’re there, looking after you when you’re residing up at the community games tournament. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Eimear with her parents David and Siobhan on being awarded an entrance scholarship to Dublin City University in 2016 to study Sports Science, based on her high grades in her Leaving Cert pictured with former Scoil Chriost Ri principal Helen O'Donnell.

“Alison would have been on my radar. And I happened to be in school with Emma, who’s also been an Irish international as well. So I think it was probably a perfect combination of a lot of things. She was actually the one that got me involved. I would have been aware of it through Emma; I would have watched Alison Miller, be a huge inspiration for girls out there.

“That 2014 win over the Black Ferns, it’s kind of that era when rugby would have started getting on my radar. And then it just completely took over. I kind of love the contrast between the isolation or a kind of training on your own as an athlete, to being in a team sport where everyone has a different role and you’re dependent upon your teammates or with this common goal. That just hugely appealed to me and kind of ever since 2010, 2011, it’s been all rugby,” she said. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Eimear of Ireland with her husband Eddie after the Women's Rugby World Cup warm-up match between Ireland and Scotland at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

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While Portlaoise Rugby Club was where it all began in her teens, she found a permanent home when she joined Blackrock College in 2016 after moving to Dublin for college. It was at Blackrock that she made the transition from winger to second row. Soon enough, she’ll be back on the pitch in the familiar colours of Blackrock, smiling through the mud once more.