Stranorlar’s Megan Kate Jennings has gained a Strongwoman Ireland title for the second time, this time taking first in the U73kg category.
Megan competed in the OSG (Official Strongman Games) competition in Galway on 16th March, achieving a personal best with a max deadlift of 170kg.
The competition commands extreme levels of strength and endurance across five events – overhead press, deadlift, duck walk into power stairs, farmers hold and sandbag carry.
Megan entered this year’s competition with a new determination, having placed third in her debut in 2024.
She also faced an immense challenge of making her weight grade this year, having been forced to compete in the U82kg category in the INSF Ireland’s Strongest Woman in February. Despite lifting heavier than ever before, Megan finished half a point off joint third in this event.
A water cut helped her make U73kg for Galway by the skin of her teeth.
Megan Kate Jennings at the Ireland’s Strongest Woman final in Galway, 16th March 2025. Photo: Tony Farrell
Megan’s drive for strength comes from a deeper level than any typical motivation.
To her, the gym is a non-negotiable way of managing chronic pain. At 30 years of age, Megan lives with a combination of endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, pelvic congestion syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammation has made managing weight an added challenge.
“No matter the level of my pain I push through to train,” she tells Donegal Daily.
“If I didn’t have something to push towards, or goal to achieve, I would be crippled in bed and I probably wouldn’t be working.”
Megan doing a 200kg carry at the INSF Irelands Strongest Woman contest in February. Photo: Tony Farrell
Megan, who works in childcare, has been battling for a diagnosis of endometriosis since she was 16 years old.
She suffers debilitating flare-ups, some lasting months on end. Last year, she got herself a walking stick to manage everyday tasks like doing the groceries.
Megan is one of the hundreds of women who have travelled abroad seeking treatment, but after a laparoscopy in Germany, she has been unable to have the results registered here.
“I’m more than likely going to have to travel to Greece over the coming years (when I have saved enough to do so) in order to get proper treatment,” she says, “because we don’t have any real specialists here in Ireland”.
Megan was also one of the women to attend a public meeting on the issue last Thursday in Ballybofey, led by Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack. Megan said she left the meeting frustrated, as she felt that it ended with no clear outcome, only a pledge by the Sinn Féin representatives to fight for action.
“All the women there have copy and paste stories and experiences. It is shocking in every way. You go day to day without realising the struggles you are dealing with, it’s not until other people start talking about it that it all comes bubbling back up,” she said.
Megan has set herself a goal to share more of her experiences on social media, adding that awareness and conversations are a step in the right direction.
She said: “People think it’s all do to with periods, most of us are in pain 24/7, to raise awareness about it is incredible.”
Tags:
