Carnacon footballer Doireann Hughes set to move back to Ireland

FORMER Mayo footballer Doireann Hughes will be fully available for Carnacon for the 2024 senior club championship.

In an interview with The Mayo News, Hughes said she intends to play with the club after she moves back to Ireland from Scotland in August.

The 28-year-old is currently working as a junior doctor in  the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh and has travelled over and back for championship games with her club in recent years.

Due to her work commitments, she did not feature for Carnacon in their last club championship game, where they were heavily defeated by Westport in the senior championship semi-final.

The three-time All-Ireland club medallist hopes to specialise in ophthalmology after she returns home later this year.

“I just really love Ireland, I love the Irish people. I’ve met lovely people up here but it’s not the same as dealing with your own people. I feel it’d be so much nicer to be closer to my family, friends, partner and just have the safety of home for a period of time,” Hughes said.

“I love being at home in Carnacon, I love everything about that. I miss it a lot when I’m over here. I hope to specialise in ophthalmology down the line and hopefully will get a job in that in Ireland. I don’t know where my career will take me yet.”

The former Mayo senior also refused to rule out a return to the county panel in the future.

Hughes, who started in the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, last played for the Mayo seniors in 2018. She was among 12 players who left the panel later that summer following a spat with then Mayo manager, Peter Leahy.

“It would be definitely something I would consider, but I definitely can’t wait to start playing again with the club and having some club games and stuff,” she said.

Read our exclusive interview with Doireann Hughes in next week’s Mayo News.