Senior international camps have been a home from home for Louise Quinn over the years. She has, after all, spent a fair chunk of her life on duty with the Republic of Ireland. There will be a sense of poignancy about this one, though. Barring her being involved in Ireland’s summer friendlies away to the United States, this will be her last time in camp.
The 34-year-old announced her imminent retirement from football in late April. All the indications suggest that the upcoming Nations League double header will be a last hurrah for her. Ireland face Turkey away on Friday before a home match against Slovenia next Tuesday.
“It’s lovely that they wanted to give me a send-off,” says the defender. But she’s not here to make up the numbers and hopes to force her way into Carla Ward’s team. Having missed much of the latter part of the season with Birmingham City due to a hip injury, she insists she’s fighting fit and looking to add to her 121 caps in one or both of the games.
“I’m here to play, I’m here to fight for my position,” she added. “It’s not going to be given to me, I absolutely know that. Carla doesn’t owe me anything, but I’m going to be training hard all week to try and get myself in the team. We’ll just see how it goes.”
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In an ideal world, Quinn would have signed off after playing in Euro 2025 this July, but Wales put the kibosh on those hopes with their play-off win over two legs. Still, she agonised over the decision. Ultimately, the desire to spend more time with her family – notably her wife Eilish and son Daragh, who was born in March – swayed it.
So now that I have my own little family, I want to be able to be there and be a bit more present
— Louise Quinn
“Daragh is, of course, a big part of it. I’ve missed so much with my own family and friends over the years, constantly missing events. I did go to my cousin’s wedding in the summer, I flew in for less than 24 hours, went to the wedding, drove back home later that night and got a flight first thing at six in the morning. It’s like, ‘this isn’t how I wanted to celebrate with my family all the time’.
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“So now that I have my own little family, I want to be able to be there and be a bit more present. When he’s so young, Daragh probably doesn’t have a clue really, but I just think it’s important that I’m around, flexible and there for Eilish. This is so brand new, so you want to have all hands on deck and look after him.
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“I was sobbing at the airport on Sunday, absolutely dreadful,” she says with a laugh. “It doesn’t take much for me to have a good cry now.”
She’s already been introducing Daragh to football, with last Saturday’s Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona a case in point. “I’m there holding him and I said to Eilish, ‘if Katie [McCabe] scores, I am going to freak out’. And she was like, ‘give me our son, do NOT frighten the crap out of him’.”
McCabe didn’t score, but Stina Blackstenius did and Arsenal were crowned champions of Europe. Quinn was ecstatic for her former club, but especially so for Ireland captain McCabe. “She is so deserving, I’m just so proud of her. Where she’s come from, playing in the National League all those years ago, seeing her now stepping up on to the biggest club stage you can get. She just did us all proud.
“And with that tricolour, she made everyone aware that she is Irish. She is so proud of that. There’ve been times when it was difficult for her, trying to take the next step up, but she has constantly fought through it with her grit, her talent, her personality. It’s just totally deserving. She’s shown what a little girl from Tallaght can do.”
