Losing return is still a victory for transplant recipent Barry

Nenagh Eire Og might have fallen to defeat in the opening round of the County Intermediate Camogie Championship on Saturday evening but it was a personal triumph for Michelle Barry.

By Anna Powell

Nenagh Eire Og might have fallen to defeat in the opening round of the County Intermediate Camogie Championship on Saturday evening but it was a personal triumph for Michelle Barry.

The game against Borris-Ileigh saw the 22-year-old return to the field of play for her first match since a kidney transplant last April.

After three years of supporting her team-mates from the sidelines due to her condition, Michelle was finally able to play the sport she loves once more.

“The game didn’t go our way unfortunately, but for myself and our family, it was such a positive that I could go out on the field and play the full sixty minutes with everyone else. It was a huge personal win,” Michelle said.

“It was just so nice to get out there and line out with the girls again, and help the team but this time on the pitch, not looking in from the side-line. It was an unbelievable feeling to be back doing what I love.”

Unable to play the game in recent years, it didn’t stop Michelle from being involved, becoming a selector on the adult team, to be able stay going to training to stay close with her team-mates. However, she always wanted to get back playing, and rebuilding her fitness was one of the first things on her mind after her successful surgery.

“The first thing I did was to order a fitness watch from the hospital bed, and I ordered a hurley as well,” she recalled.

“The hurley didn’t leave my hand. I was handpassing the ball off of the wall since I got home, and then as soon as I could stand, I was up at the pitch, hitting the ball off of the wall. As soon as I hit the three months, I was straight back training with the girls.”

She added: “Everyone was so delighted for me, and they have been so good during my recovery. I’m surrounded by such a brilliant group of girls, and I would have been lost without them over the last three and a half years. It was great to be out there with them again.”

Members of Michelle’s family were present in Borrisoleigh on Saturday evening to support her in her first match since the successful transplant.

“They were just so delighted for me.” he added.

“I wasn’t the only one that went through everything over the past three years, everyone in my household went through it with me and my extended family, seeing everything I have gone through and being with me every step of the way. Being able to go to the game, and watch me, they were just so delighted,” she shared.

A new lease of life

Michelle reflected on her lengthy three-year journey as she waited for a kidney transplant which finally happened four months ago.

“I always knew that the transplant would come eventually, no matter the time or the ups and downs over the years with it,” she revealed.

“It was only after the transplant that I realised how sick I really was,” sharing how her condition severely impacted her energy levels.

“I was doing dialysis four times a day every day, from home or while I was in college in Galway. For my last four months of college, that type of dialysis stopped working for me where I could do it from home, and I had to start doing dialysis from Limerick hospital three times a week, and that was for four hours at a time, from January to April 2026.

“I got a call for the transplant in April. I missed my final college exams. I recently just sat them last week, so I’m completely finished with college now.

“It’s honestly a second chance. My life looks completely different already and it’s only been four months.

Organ donation

Michelle expressed her gratitude to the donor family who made her return to the pitch possible.

“Being able to go out on the pitch at the weekend, is really down to that family. I’m only able to do this because of a decision a family made during an extremely difficult time when they decided to donate a loved one’s organs when they sadly passed away.

“I’m so excited to see what else I get to do for the years down the line,” she said.