Anna Geary explains: “During my career, I could see the narrative changing around women's sport.”
The Irish are a nation of storytellers. Our stories are embedded in us, and in our landscape. Tales and Trails podcast is a brand new and immersive audio experience that invites you to walk the Irish countryside with the nation’s most interesting people.
On this episode, we walked the stunning Slieve Foye Loop in
Carlingford, Co. Louth. (
Find the full trail guide here).
Our guest is Camogie All-Ireland medallist and TV personality, Anna Geary – who is passionate about women’s sport.
We chatted to Anna about her career in sport as well as the media, and the importance of female participation in sport as we walked towards the highest point in the Cooley mountains and admired the incredible views of Carlingford Lough and the charming coastal town of Carlingford, a hidden gem of breath-taking scenery, a rich history, and terrific pubs and restaurants.
Anna is passionate about how we view women’s sport compared to men’s, and says that as she grew up, she noticed differences in how we perceive women’s sport compared to men’s sport.
But Anna believes that things have changed massively:
“The horizon of women's sport, especially camogie, has massively changed. During my career, I could see the narrative changing around women's sport.
“People were taking it more seriously. People were understanding, to get deep for a second, Sport does permeate through different parts of society. How women are treated in sport kind of has a knock-on effect.
“I was really lucky to grow up in a household where both my Mam and Dad were really supportive of me playing sport. I have a younger brother, and they encouraged him to do the same.
"They never treated us differently. They never gave me more or less credit than my brother because I may have played well or not so well in a game. I never really took much notice growing up of the massive divide when it came to how people looked at men's and women's sport. As I grew up, I became more aware.
"It was like, 'How come people don't want to go and watch the camogie game but want to watch my brother's games more?'
"It's definitely getting better because I think people have taken on more of a responsibility now. It's easy to sling mud at the media and say it's because there's not enough coverage, but I think that everybody has a part to play, current players, past players, parents and teachers.”
For Anna’s full story, recorded live on the Slieve Foye Loop in Carlingford, listen to the full episode below:
For spectacular sights, invigorating sensations and unforgettable experiences, make your next short break a walking break in Ireland's Ancient East. Walking makes your break.
For more information or to plan your walking break in Ireland’s Ancient East, visit the Tales and Trails hub here. 
