Anna O’Flanagan
hockey
BIOGRAPHY
Ireland’s all-time topscorer with 83 goals from 212 caps was still a schoolgirl when she won an All-Ireland club title with Hermes. Won a double with UCD in 2014 and more honours with Hermes-Monkstown and spent two years at HC Bloemendaal (Netherlands) to prepare for 2018 World Cup. Her first Irish goal was in April 2011, her 100th cap v Canada in May 2015. Player of the Match in 2018 World Cup semi-final when her 65th goal equalled Lynsey McVicker’s Irish record, she’s now on 83.
OTHER HOCKEY ATHLETES
Zara Malseed
Zara MalseedHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Scored her first international goal in a 3-0 defeat of Italy a day after making her Ireland debut in the 2021 Europeans Championships. An Irish U18 eight years ago she has studied in Edinburgh where she won a Scottish treble and since her return to Ards has had a meteoric rise since …
Chloe Watkins
Chloe WatkinsHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Ireland’s creative engine won her first Irish title with Hermes when she was still 16 and has had club success since in Ireland, Spain (Campo de Madrid) and HC Bloemendaal (Netherlands, 2018). Was just 18 on Irish senior debut. Scored vital shoot-out goals v India and Spain in 2018 World Cup (the …
Sarah Torrans
Sarah TorransHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Initially combined hockey with sprinting for DSD Athletics Club and hockey with Corinthians. Was selected as a reserve for the 2018 World Cup squad while still a teenager. Has been very unlucky with injuries – a freak one forced her out of captaining Ireland U21s at 2019 Junior Europeans - and she …
Lizzie Murphy
Lizzie Murphyhockey BIOGRAPHY Ireland’s reserve goalkeeper has extensive European club experience with Hermes, Monkstown and Loreto. Impressed in 2017 and 2019 Junior Europeans for Ireland’s U21s. Emerged into senior ranks in 2019 and has been understudy to McFerran at the 2019 and 2021 European Hockey Championships and 2020 Olympic qualifier against Canada. OTHER hockey ATHLETES{{ …
Michelle Carey
Michelle CareyHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Played for Ireland – with her twin sister Niamh – at all underage levels while also playing underage for Dublin’s ladies footballers up to minor level. She won a Dublin club junior title with Ballinteer St Johns last year before winning an Irish Senior Cup with UCD, and played in every game …
Róisín Upton
Róisín UptonHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Represented Ireland at Youth Olympics in 2010, Irish Youth Player of the Year 2011. Won USA college Div 1 title with UConn Huskies (2012-2015). Her Ireland senior career was initially badly disrupted by injury but central to Ireland’s silver at 2018 World Cup and their Olympic journey, as a sweeper and scorer, …
Shirley McCay
Shirley McCayHockey BIOGRAPHY Ireland’s most capped sportswoman won the Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls Championship with Omagh Academy in 2005, two senior Cups with Ulster Elks (2015-2016) and a league title with Pegasus in 2019. Her 200th cap in June 2015 surpassed Nikki Symmon’s Irish cap record and she played in a remarkable eighth European Championships …
Lena Tice
Dual prodigy who played senior cricket for Ireland at age 13 and won a hockey World Cup at 20. Amassed 60 cricket caps before concentrating on hockey. Starred for St Gerard’s in their historic Leinster Schools victory in 2015. Won a treble with UCD in 2017 and retained their Cup and League titles a year …
Hannah McLoughlin
Hannah McLoughlinHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Only 18 when she made her Irish senior debut, Player of the Match in the 2020 Irish Senior Cup final and became a regular in Ireland’s defence in past year, including her first European Championships. McLoughlin started her career with Avoca before moving to Loreto and now UCD. She plays a key …
Hannah Matthews
Schoolgirl star for Loreto Beaufort and has played for Loreto club her entire career, scoring winning penalty stroke in their 2010 Irish Cup final. A ‘big-game player’ she was key in Ireland’s World Cup silver medal in 2018 and passed the 150-cap mark at the 2021 Euros. Her father (Phillip Matthews) and maternal grandfather (Kevin …
Katie Mullan (Captain)
Katie MullanHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Won multiple Irish Cup and League honours with UCD while studying engineering and has also played for Der Club an der Alster in Germany. Represented Ireland in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games alongside Roisin Upton. She has captained Ireland since 2016 and led them to World Cup silver in 2018 and their …
Ayeisha McFerran
Ayeisha McFerranHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Won an Irish league title with Pegasus at 19 and debuted for Ireland’s seniors at 18, initially as a shoot-out specialist. Vital to the Green Army’s 2018 World Cup silver medal where she was also Goalkeeper of the Tournament. A graduate of the University of Louisville and a four-time All-American pick, McFerran …
Sarah McAuley
Sarah McAuleyHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Newest and youngest squad member who has impressed since drafted in as defensive cover when Ireland were hit by long-term injuries to Zoe Wilson and twins Serena and Bethany Barr for the uncapped series against GB in March 2021. A Leinster Schools Cup winner with Muckross Park in 2017 she was travelling …
Lizzie Holden (née Colvin)
Lizzie Holden (née Colvin)HOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Midfield dynamo started hockey in Armagh HC and starred for Loreto while studying at Trinity before transferring back to Belfast Harlequins in 2017. Only the seventh Irish woman to amass 200 caps despite a cruciate injury (2013-2015). Her most famous goal, in a 2-1 defeat of India, ultimately got Ireland …
Sarah Hawkshaw
Sarah HawkshawHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Played gaelic football for Dublin up to Under-16 level and hockey for Mount Sackville before joining Railway Union. She spent 2014-2018 at University of Massachusetts, and made Irish breakthrough in 2019, scoring twice when Ireland finished fifth at Europeans. Her brother David captained Ireland to rugby’s U20 Grand Slam in 2019. OTHER …
Naomi Carroll
Naomi CarrollHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Carroll played underage soccer for Ireland (alongside Deirdre Duke) and unusually played gaelic football for Clare (football) and camogie for Limerick (as no club locally). Only took up hockey at 14 but won national titles with Hermes and an Ireland regular in 2014-2017. Was a non-travelling reserve for 2018 World Cup and …
Nicci Daly
Nicci DalyHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Talented gaelic footballer who debuted for Dublin seniors in 2009, she played hockey in school but did not join a club (Glennane) until 2008 and has since starred for Muckross, Holcombe (England) and Loreto. Scored a contender for Ireland’s best ever goal versus South Africa in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers and key …
Deirdre Duke
Deirdre DukeHOCKEY BIOGRAPHY Versatile star who also won All-Ireland U14 gaelic football with Dublin and represented Ireland at U17 soccer. Has won eight trophies with UCD, captaining their treble in 2017. Brilliant at 2018 World Cup, scoring twice v USA in vital opening win. Played a season with Dusseldorf in 2019 where reached Germany’s final …
HOCKEY NEWS
Olympic Movement Breaks Launched in Primary Schools Nationally
Team Ireland athletes star as Olympic Movement Breaks is launched in primary schools nationally The Olympic Federation of Ireland and the Active School Flag programmes work together to get Irish primary school pupils more active Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne TD Launches Initiative The Minister of State for Sport and …
Olympic Movement Breaks Launched in Primary Schools Nationally Read More »
EUROHOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP II: THE ROAD TO OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION
QUALIFICATION FOR 2024 OLYMPICS IN PARIS There are two potential spots for Ireland’s men from these Championships, which make a country eligible for the Olympic Qualifiers in January up for grabs. However, as Great Britain participate in the Olympics (rather than England, Scotland or Wales), should Scotland finish in the top two, the third placed team would qualify for …
EUROHOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP II: THE ROAD TO OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION Read More »
Team Ireland EYOF Medallists 1991 – 2023
In the 22 years of Team Ireland competing at the European Youth Olympic Festival – Ireland has had significant success. There have been 70 medals won by Irish athletes in that time, and the most successful Games for Team Ireland was in Tibilisi in 2015, with a total of ten medals being spread across athletics …
Olympic Focus on High-Performance Coaches
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, and Gender Equality Month, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has today announced a series of profiles of some of Ireland’s high-performance female coaches, who have been blazing a trail in Irish Olympic sport. The series kicks off today with interviews with two well-known names in Irish sport, Lisa Jacob …
WOMEN IN HIGH PERFORMANCE COACHING
NOELLE Morrissey and Lisa Jacob have lots in common. Not only were they both high achieving Irish internationals in athletics and hockey respectively but they retain endless ambition for other women in sport. They both now work in High Performance sport – one fulltime, one a volunteer – but lamentably, also have one more thing …
Just under a week until Ireland Women take part in the Inaugural FIH Women’s Hockey Nations Cup, coach Sean Dancer has announced his squad. Ireland travelled to the Netherlands ahead of the tournament for some final preparation before arriving in Valencia, Spain for the competition which runs from December 11-17. Ireland will be looking for …
DANCER FOCUSING ON DEVELOPMENT AT FIH WOMEN’S HOCKEY NATIONS CUP Read More »
