We’re only just past the half-way stage for the month January, and Irish women in sport are already racking up the achievements – oodles of which have taken place this past weekend alone.

On your marks..

Katie Taylor

RTÉ and pals! Are you paying attention?

Only a little bit, it seems. On Saturday night Katie Taylor was awarded Boxer of the Year by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.

Not the “Lady Boxerette of the Year” award. Not the “Best would-be winner of mainstream awards if only she played mainstream sports like golf, or had stuck with the football” award.

No. She was named Boxer of the Year. Overall. Full-stop.

She also received an Elite International Achievers Award, the only woman out of the six who received such an award.

Next up are the qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics. So no pressure, like.

Lynne Cantwell and Helen White

Earlier last week the Irish rugby squad’s Lynne Cantwell was named among the final nominees for the Fingal Sports Star Of The Year for 2011.

Cantwell, Ireland’s most capped player, is one of last year’s 12 monthly winners, picking up the award for August. She also received the Guinness Rugby Writers Women’s Player of The Year in the same month.

The Fingal Independent writes:

RECORD cap-holder Lynne Cantwell made another piece of history in August when she became the first-ever female recipient of a Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland (RWI) Award. The women’s game hadn’t previously been acknowledged in this way, and Rolestown girl Lynne was quite rightly delighted with the prestigious honour. Lynne earned her award for a great contribution towards Ireland’s third place in [2011]‘s Six Nations Championship.

Also nominated was Helen White who won the monthly award in October. According to The Fingal Independent:

Mountain running may not be the best known sport in the world, but it’s certainly one of the toughest. Experienced athlete, Helen White, fell into the gruelling sport by accident, but she leaves nothing to chance in preparing for big events and that single-minded determination paid off handsomely in October when she scooped a bronze medal at the World Masters Championships, held in Pulazza, Italy. The mum-of-three won the silver medal twelve months previously at an equally tough course in Barcelona.

The awards ceremony took place on Saturday night, with the honour eventually going to young golfer Caolan Kennedy, who secured the Connacht U-15 Boys Amateur Open in June.

Ava Hutchinson

Turning again to athletics, and Ava Hutchinson joins Linda Byrne at the London 2012 Olympics marathon event, securing her qualification yesterday morning at the Houston Marathon, Texas.

Achieving a personal best of 2:35:33, Hutchinson was a comfortable 90 seconds inside the required standard of 2:27:00. Byrne’s qualification was secured when she ran the Dublin marathon in 2:36:21.

Earlier in the month, reigning European Cross Country champion Fionnuala Britton continued her champion form, winning the women’s 6km race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country.

“I was not quite sure about my form before the race. But now I am happy that I was able to run so strong,” said Britton. Britton took the lead from the outset, and won in 21:32 with a 20 second gap over Britain’s Gemma Steel.

Come on, Ireland!