Local Heroes - Anne O'Brien

In a new series, The Saint celebrates the local heroes who have made an indelible mark on the national and international sporting scene down through the decades.

Our second Local Hero is Anne O'Brien - the trailblazing footballer and aunt of former St Pat's defender and current Director of Football, Ger O'Brien.

Just go back in time for a moment to Inchicore in the 1950s - a time of harsh austerity, where the church ruled the State, and when children had little else to do for fun and enjoyment but play in the streets or a rare patch of grass.

This was the Inchicore that Anne O'Brien was born into and the town where she first learned to kick a football.

Born in 1956, little did anyone know back then where Anne O'Brien's love of soccer - normally the sole preserve of boys at the time - would take her.

She may have raised a few eyebrows and was quite possibly labelled a 'tomboy' for having the audacity to start kicking a ball on a regular basis in the first place.

The fact that her death at the age of 60 in 2016 was international news will tell you how far the game had taken her and the influence she exerted.