Women in Sport

Ireland boasts a long history of exceptional sportswomen, from Lena Rice, who to this day is the only Irishwoman to have won at Wimbledon (in 1890!) to Katie Taylor, the current undisputed lightweight champion in boxing. From football and swimming to golfing and rugby, from the paralympics to the Women’s Rugby World Cup - Irish women have traveled all over the world competing, winning accolades and inspiring the next generation to do the same.

Here are just a few sports stars in a long list of Irish sportswomen…

Sophie Eliott-Lynn (neé Peirce-Evans), better known now as Lady Mary Heath, was, for a time in the 1920s, one of the most well known women in the world. Having moved to London in 1922, she immediately became a founding member of the Women’s Amateur Athletic Association and represented the WAAA at International Olympic Council meetings. Throughout the 1920s, she represented Britain at various Women’s Olympiads and won medals in the long jump, javelin and the high jump. In 1925, Sophie took her first flying lesson, and in 1928 she became the first pilot, male or female, to fly a small open-cockpit aircraft from Cape Town to London. In 1929 she became the first woman to hold a commercial flying licence in Britain AND she was also the first woman to parachute from a plane (and landed down on a football match!) Sadly, in the same year, she was badly injured in a near fatal crash and ‘it was probably as a result of long-term head injury that she died after falling from a London tram in May 1939.’ You can read more about Sophie here.

Born in 1926, Iris Kellett won her first award at a horse show aged just nine in 1935, and would go on to be ‘one of Ireland’s most celebrated, and decorated, equestrians.’ Before Iris was born, her father had purchased an old British army cavalry academy in Dublin and opened a riding school. The school closed for some time but reopened again in 1939 by which time Iris was helping with the training of kids and teenagers. In 1945, by which time she was considered Ireland’s leading woman show jumper, she passed the instructor’s examination and as chief instructor at the family riding school, she began training riders and horses for showjumping. In 1947, Iris competed on the first ever Irish all civilian Nations Cup team, and with her beloved horse Rusty, won the Princess Elizabeth Cup for the European Ladies Championship in 1949 and again in 1951! A year on from this though, Iris suffered a fall and broke her ankle and then contracted two bouts of tetanus. For some time it was thought that she would be unable to ever walk again (and it was this experience that ‘later made her the prime mover in Ireland for providing riding courses for the disabled’). It took 10 years, but finally Iris almost fully recovered and returned to competing. Not only that, but in 1968, she was chosen for Ireland's Olympic team (but she chose not to go). Iris retired in the 1970s but continued to train riders and breed horses, and since her death in 2011 has been regarded by the Royal Irish Academy as someone who ‘contributed more to Irish equestrianism than any other individual in its history.’

Maeve Kyle (neé Sharkey) born in Kilkenny in 1928, would in 1956 become the first Irish woman athlete ever to go to the Olympics representing Ireland. Her achievement was not always met with joy however, as she explained later: ‘there was more opposition from, say, my mother’s age group than anyone else. They did not approve and I think I made them feel uncomfortable. I had the distinction of having a letter in the Irish Times saying what a disgraceful hussy I was going off to the Olympics, leaving my husband and small child behind. That shows you the attitude of certain sections of what was a very conservative society.’ A complete amateur, Maeve trained where and when she could, ‘I remember training once on the local school cricket pitch and was sent packing! So I just trained where I could. My husband, Sean, was my coach and I used to train in his lunch hour on a cycle track at the local football ground.’ Maeve competed in the 100m and 200m in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and subsequently in the 1960 Rome and 1964 Tokyo Olympics where she reached the semi-finals. Maeve also went on to represent three of the four provinces in hockey, and competed in swimming, tennis and cricket. She attended her fourth Olympics in 2000 as a coach and in the 2008 New Year Honours she was appointed OBE.

As a senior level GAA player, Valerie Mulcahy was part of the Cork team that saw TEN All-Ireland wins between 2005 and 2015, as well as nine Ladies' National Football League titles. Valerie scored in all finals she played in bar one and even scored a hatrick in 2008! In 2015, she helped to launch the Women’s Gaelic Players Association, founded the year before, to represent the interests of intercounty players and in 2016 they were successful in securing financial support from the Irish government for Intercounty Ladies Gaelic Football and Camogie players. Valerie’s activism didn’t stop there. During the campaign for marriage equality in 2015, she came out as a lesbian to coincide with her taking part in the Donal Óg Cusack/RTÉ documentary, Coming Out of the Curve, which explored the history of gay rights in Ireland. Later that year, following the legalisation of gay mariage, she married her partner of six years, choreographer Meg Blyth.

Although Sophie Spence was born and raised in England, we’re including her in this list because she is a former Ireland women's rugby union international (she qualified to represent Ireland through her mother, who was originally from Lisburn, Co. Antrim). Even though she had never seen a women’s rugby game before the age of 21, Sophie began playing women's rugby union while at University between 2005 and 2010 and went on to represent Ireland at the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups! She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships and was nominated as player of the year by RTÉ and World Rugby in 2015. Following Ireland’s disappointing performance as host nation in 2017, Sophie ‘fell out of favour’ and retired. ‘It was a disappointing finish and not a good tournament for us. There were a lot of factors and it wasn’t a happy camp which showed in our rugby. It’s unfortunate we didn’t do anything to rectify it. At the time I was sad, angry, and frustrated and I vocalised how I felt by trying to speak to people to try to make the women’s game stronger. I wanted to emphasise I wasn’t happy with how things were going. Unfortunately sometimes you’re then out of favour.’ Following her time as a player, Sophie found that there were a lack of job opportunities in the sporting field in Ireland, so she moved to Wales where she set up her own coffee business. In 2020, she took on the role as coach of the Welsh Division One West team Penclawdd RFC and also became a World Rugby coaching intern with the Welsh national women’s team, a ‘position set up to increase the number of women in high performance across the world of rugby.’

Katie Taylor is arguably the most outstanding and highly regarded Irish athlete of her generation and as the current undisputed lightweight champion in boxing with an Olympic gold medal under her belt, it’s no wonder why. Katie first began boxing aged 12 and was coached by her father Peter. From 2005, she began competing and doing very well (even winning) at the Women's World Boxing Championship and the European Amateur Boxing Championship. Excitingly, Katie qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London (the first time women's boxing had been considered for inclusion) and won gold, making her the first ever Olympic female lightweight champion! In 2016, Katie made her professional debut at Wembley, London and won her first world title the following year. Since then, Katie has boasted 22 wins and zero losses! This includes a win at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2022, the first women's boxing match to headline the iconic venue, and was described as the 'biggest women's fight of all time' in the build up. What’s next for Katie? Croke Park! In 2023, she hopes to take on a fight in front of 80,000 fans - and win, we hope!

Katie isn’t the only boxer Ireland can boast of these days. In recent years, Irish amateur boxer, Kellie Harrington, has been making the country proud in the ring. Kellie first took an interest in boxing when she was 15, and tried to join her local boxing club in Dublin, only to be refused because she was a girl. She persevered however, and in 2017 won a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2017 Women's European Union Boxing Championships. The following year she won gold at the Women's World Boxing Championships. In 2021, Kellie travelled to Japan as part of the Ireland team at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she became Ireland’s third Olympic boxing champion when she won gold (the others to hold this title are Katie Taylor and Michael Carruth). In late 2022, Kellie released her autobiography, Kellie, which she wrote with author Roddy Doyle and in November it was crowned the Irish Sports Book of the Year. In it, one of the many things she discusses is the growing awareness and appreciation of the fact that many women in sport have a menstrual cycle: ‘It’s only in recent years, I think, that there’s an awareness and appreciation of the fact that women in sport have a menstrual cycle – that it’s natural. I make no secret of it, because I’ll eat people without salt during my period. Sometimes I can’t train; I’m bedbound. If I’m feeling a bit tired, I’ll tell my coaches. [...] I had my period during the World Championships in 2016, and at the Olympics in 2021.’ What’s next for Kellie? The Paris Olympics in 2024!

Ellen Keane holds the record for Ireland’s youngest ever athlete to compete at the Paralympics when she swam in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, aged 13! Ellen was born in 1995 with an undeveloped left arm but nonetheless, she began swimming when she was just two-years old. Growing up was not easy for Ellen, and she would ‘wear baggy hoodies and coats to try and hide her stump and pretend that she was just like everyone else’ but eventually, as she explained in her 2017 TedX talk My Lucky Fin, she eventually changed the way of looking at her own disability and her life changed from there. In 2016, she won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke at the Rio Summer Paralympics and at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics she won gold at the same event. In 2022, Ellen appeared in the Irish Dancing With the Stars and finished second overall. Watch her TedTalk below!

Katie McCabe and Amber Barrett, captain and forward of the Republic of Ireland women's national football team, made history in 2022 in a World Cup qualifying game against Scotland. Coming on toward the end, Amber scored the goal that won them the game and advanced them to the World Cup, the first Ireland’s women’s national team to reach that milestone. In a touching tribute to the victims of the Creeslough explosion which occurred just days before, Donegal-native Amber - whose grandparents are from Creeslough - kissed her black armband immediately upon scoring. Katie, who became the youngest captain in the history of the team when she was made captain in 2017 also plays for Arsenal and in the 2018-19 season she helped lead Arsenal to the FA WSL title, playing the most minutes of any player on the squad.

Born in 1994, Cavan twins Lisa and Leona Maguire are both well-known names in the women’s golfing scene and have been since they were quite little. Beginning in 2005, both girls worked hard to rise through the ranks, taking part in various competitions around Ireland and beyond. After experiencing life on tour as a professional golfer playing on the Ladies European Tour for two years Lisa retired from professional golfing and became a player manager at Modest! Golf. Leona, meanwhile, made her Ladies Professional Golf Association debut in 2020 and finished in the top five. The following year, she broke into the top 100 on the Women's World Golf Rankings and at the time of writing, currently stands at 11th in the world ranking!

*Patience, Gina, Ciara Neville and Molly Scott. Source: The42*

The youngest sportswomen in our photo essay are Gina Akpe-Moses, born in 1999, and Patience Jumbo-Gula, born c.2001. Gina began athletics aged 11 and moved to England a few years later. It was in 2015 that she first competed at the European Athletics Under-20 Championships and came fourth as part of the relay team, and two years later won gold for the 100m at the European U20 Championships in Italy. Patience, meanwhile, has been described as ‘one of Ireland’s most exciting young track and field athletes.’ In 2018, Gina and Patience were both in the same Irish relay team and placed second at the U20 World Championships. Speaking in 2019, Patience said ‘Everyone wants to make the Olympics, that’s what I want to do. But it’s important for me just to enjoy the experience. I want to be competitive but smile, enjoy it and not let the pressure get to me.’

Sources:

‘Irish women’s athletics and the Olympic Games,’ by Lindie Naughton in History Ireland, Issue 4 (July/August 2012), Volume 20.

‘Iris Kellett, renowned equestrian,’ on the RIA, online at: https://www.ria.ie/news/dictionary-irish-biography/iris-kellett-renowned-equestrian [accessed 7 Dec. 2022].

‘IRIS KELLETT: SHOW JUMPING LEGEND,’ on RDS Collections, online at: https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/exhibits/show/digitalhorsesshow/iriskellett [accessed 7 Dec, 2022].

‘Irish suffragette Maeve Kyle,’ by Stuart Weir for AthleticsWeekly, online at: https://athleticsweekly.com/featured/irish-suffragette-maeve-kyle-47943/#:~:text=The%20first%20Irish%20woman%20athlete,had%20only%20selected%20male%20athletes. [accessed 6 Dec. 2022].

‘MAEVE KYLE: IRELAND'S FIRST EVER TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE,’ on HerSport, online at: https://www.hersport.ie/athletics/maeve-kyle-irelands-first-ever-female-olympian-15227 [accessed 6 Dec. 2022].

Irish Examiner, 4 Nov. 2016.

Independent, 27 Jun. 2015.

‘Sophie Spence: There was no work for me so I had to go make work,’ on SportsJoe, online at: https://www.sportsjoe.ie/rugby/sophie-spence-no-work-go-make-work-188327 [accessed 7 Dec. 2022].

‘SOPHIE SPENCE'S FAST-TRACKED CAREER INTO INTERNATIONAL COACHING,’ on OffTheBall, online at: https://www.offtheball.com/womenssixnations/spence-coaching-career-1187781 [accessed 7 Dec. 2022].

‘Spence finds green pastures in coaching after sour end to international career,’ on The42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/sophie-spence-coaching-wales-ireland-sour-end-4706256-Jul2019/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

The Irish Times, 30 Oct. 2022.

‘KATIE TAYLOR VS. AMANDA SERRANO IS THE BIGGEST WOMEN'S FIGHT OF ALL TIME, WORTHY OF A PLACE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN HISTORY,’ on DaznNews, online at: https://www.dazn.com/en-US/news/boxing/katie-taylor-vs-amanda-serrano-is-the-biggest-womens-fight-of-all-time-worthy-of-a-place-in-madison-square-garden-history/f7wcc8yoyzmz1eew6jroz4jei [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

Katietaylor.ie, online at: https://katietaylor.ie/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

Irish Mirror, 15 Nov. 2022.

The Irish Times, 22 OCt. 2022.

‘Kellie Harrington's autobiography wins the Irish Sports Book of the Year,’ on The42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/kellie-harrington-boxing-olympics-5928634-Nov2022/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

Irish Mirror, 17 Mar. 2022.

‘Inside the personal life of Paralympic gold medallist Ellen Keane: growing up, relationship and career,’ on RSVP Live, online at: https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/celebs/inside-personal-life-paralympic-gold-24847417 [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

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‘Ellen Keane,’ on International Paralympic Committee, online at: https://www.paralympic.org/ellen-keane [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘Amber Barrett,’ on FAI, online at: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/player/888844750 [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘Amber Barrett Enjoying Life In Germany Despite Lockdown Challenges,’ online at: https://www.balls.ie/football/amber-barrett-life-in-germany-462935 [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘Supersub Amber Barrett sends Ireland to the World Cup,’ on RTÉ, online at: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2022/1011/1328411-super-sub-amber-barrett-sends-ireland-to-the-world-cup/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘'Watching her kiss the armband, that was massive' - the rise of Amber Barrett,’ on The 42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/amber-barrett-ireland-world-cup-5891489-Oct2022/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘LEFT-BACK BUT NEVER LEFT OUT: ARSEBLOG EXCLUSIVE WITH KATIE MCCABE,’ on Arseblog, online at: https://arseblog.news/2020/05/left-back-but-never-left-out-arseblog-exclusive-with-katie-mccabe/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘Lisa Maguire,’ on Modest Golf, online at: https://www.modestgolf.com/team/lisa-maguire [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

Irish Mirror, 22 Nov. 2022.

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‘“WHY IS THERE A BLACK GIRL ON THE IRISH TEAM?”,’ on Off the Ball, online at: https://www.offtheball.com/other-sports/gina-akpe-moses-ireland-sprinter-1022563 [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘‘When I passed the baton, I stopped for a split second - and then I ran down the home straight behind her’,’ on The42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/ireland-4x100m-silver-world-u20-4227984-Sep2018/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘History makers! Ireland women's relay team take silver medal at World U20 Championships,’ on The42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/ireland-womens-4-x-100m-relay-silver-medal-athletics-4127549-Jul2018/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘Ireland's Patience Jumbo-Gula Has Record-Breaking Run Into 100 M Final,’ online at: https://www.balls.ie/athletics/patience-jumbo-gula-u18-championships-392283 [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

‘'My Dad has always said, 'this is the land my children are going to prosper in'',’ on The42, online at: https://www.the42.ie/patience-jumbo-gula-athletics-interview-4458117-Jan2019/ [accessed 8 Dec. 2022].