# Ireland women's national field hockey team

The Ireland women's national field hockey team is organised by Hockey Ireland and represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in international women's field hockey competitions, including the Women's Hockey World Cup and the Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship. They have previously competed in the Women's Intercontinental Cup, the Women's Hockey Champions Challenge, Women's FIH Hockey World League and the Women's FIH Hockey Series. The team also competes at the Summer Olympics, though it officially only represents the Republic of Ireland then (using the Republic's flag and national anthem), while still selecting players from the entire island.
On 2 March 1896, Ireland played England in the first ever women's international field hockey match. Ireland were finalists and silver medallists at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup and competed at the 2020 Olympic tournament.

## History
### Early years

The Irish Ladies Hockey Union was established in 1894. On 2 March 1896 they organised and hosted the first ever women's international field hockey match when Ireland defeated England 2–0 at Alexandra College.

## Tournament record
### Olympics

Ireland have qualified for the 2020 summer olympics Olympic Games. They were invited to enter the inaugural 1980 tournament but did not participate because of the boycott. Between 1991 and 2012 Ireland competed in Olympic qualifiers. In 2012 they reached the final of a qualifying tournament but lost 4–1 to Belgium. Ireland attempted to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics via the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League. However they failed to qualify after losing out to China in a penalty shoot-out during a tournament in Valencia.
| Tournament | Place |
| 1991 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier | 11th |
| 2000 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier | 8th |
| 2004 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier | 8th |
| 2008 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier | 3rd |
| 2012 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier | 2nd |
| 2019 Women's FIH Olympic Qualifiers | |
| 2020 Summer Olympics | 10th |

### World Cup
#### Early tournaments

Ireland have played in five Women's Hockey World Cups, making their debut in 1986. Ireland qualified for their first tournament after winning the 1983 Women's Intercontinental Cup. Ireland hosted the 1994 Women's Hockey World Cup and made their third appearance in 2002 after finishing fifth in the 2001 Women's Intercontinental Cup.

#### 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup

Ireland were finalists and silver medallists at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup. Deirdre Duke scored twice against the United States as Ireland won their opening pool stage game 3–1. Shirley McCay was also on target for Ireland. In their second pool game against India, Anna O'Flanagan's goal secured a 1–0 win for Ireland and a place in the quarter-finals. Ireland lost their third pool game against England. However, after winning their first two games, they had already qualified for the knockout stages. The quarter-final against India finished 0–0 but Roisin Upton, Alison Meeke and Chloe Watkins were all on target as Ireland won the penalty shoot-out 3–1. Ireland coach Graham Shaw hailed Ayeisha McFerran's performance in the penalty shoot-out after she saved three out of the four India penalty strokes. In the semi-final against Spain, O'Flanagan scored her second goal before Spain equalised and the game finished 1–1. In the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Ireland won 3–2, with Gillian Pinder scoring twice and McFerran again saving three penalty strokes. Despite losing the final 6–0 to the Netherlands, Ireland were acclaimed for their overall performance in the tournament. They had begun the tournament as underdogs, the second lowest seed. They were ranked 15th out of sixteen teams taking part. Their team was made up of part-timers and amateurs while in the final they played a team of full-time professionals. It was reported in The Irish Times that the players had to pay €550 to compete. Although this claim was subsequently denied by both Sport Ireland and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross. Following their appearance in the World Cup final, Ireland moved up to a best ever eighth position in the FIH World Rankings. Their previous highest ranking position was 14th.
| Tournament | Place |
| 1986 Women's Hockey World Cup | 12th |
| 1994 Women's Hockey World Cup | 11th |
| 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup | 15th |
| 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup Qualifiers | 3rd |
| 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup | |
| 2022 Women's FIH Hockey World Cup | 11th |

### EuroHockey Championships

Ireland competed in every Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship between 1984 and 2013. However, after finishing 7th in 2013, they were relegated to the second level, Women's EuroHockey Championship II. Ireland subsequently returned to the top level after winning the 2015 Women's EuroHockey Championship II, defeating the Czech Republic 5–0 in the final.
| Tournament | Place |
| 1984 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 5th |
| 1987 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 7th |
| 1991 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 8th |
| 1995 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 8th |
| 1999 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 9th |
| 2003 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 6th |
| 2005 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 5th |
| 2007 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 6th |
| 2009 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 5th |
| 2011 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 6th |
| 2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 7th |
| 2015 Women's EuroHockey Championship II | 1st |
| 2017 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 6th |
| 2019 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 5th |
| 2021 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 6th |
| 2023 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship | 5th |

### Women's Intercontinental Cup

Between 1983 and 2006 Ireland played regularly in the Women's Intercontinental Cup. Ireland qualified for the 1986 Women's Hockey World Cup after winning the 1983 Women's Intercontinental Cup. The team was captained by Margaret Gleghorne and also included Mary Geaney. Ireland qualified for the 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup after finishing 5th in the 2001 Women's Intercontinental Cup in controversial circumstances. Ireland played Lithuania in a fifth to eighth place classification match. The match finished 2–2 and Lithuania won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 6–5. However Ireland captain, Rachel Kohler, spotted that the penalty strokes were being taken in the wrong order. She was initially ignored by the match officials, but Ireland appealed and the tournament director ruled the shoot-out should be replayed the next day. However Lithuania refused to take part and withdrew from the tournament. Ireland went on to defeat Scotland 2–1 in the fifth place play-off and were initially confirmed as the final qualifier from the tournament. Before the match the Lithuania team staged a sit down protest on the pitch. Lithuania lodged a further appeal to the FIH who then ordered that Ireland, Lithuania, India and the United States take part in a second qualification tournament. Lithuania were due to play India in a seventh and eighth place play-off before they withdrew. The United States had been unable to participate in the original tournament due to the disruption of airline schedules after the September 11 attacks. However Ireland in turn appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport who overruled the FIH decision and finally confirmed Ireland's place in the 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup.
| Tournaments | Place |
| 1983 Women's Intercontinental Cup | 1st |
| 1989 Women's Intercontinental Cup | 6th |
| 1997 Women's Intercontinental Cup | 8th |
| 2001 Women's Intercontinental Cup | 5th |
| 2006 Women's Intercontinental Cup | 8th |

### Women's Hockey Champions Challenge

Between 2009 and 2014 Ireland enter teams in Women's Hockey Champions Challenge tournaments.
| Season | Place |
| 2009 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge II | 3rd |
| 2011 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I | 6th |
| 2012 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I | 3rd |
| 2014 Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I | 2nd |

### Women's FIH Hockey World League

Between 2012 and 2017 Ireland competed in the Women's FIH Hockey World League. In March 2015 they won a Round 2 tournament hosted in Dublin, defeating Canada in the final after a penalty shoot-out. Ireland attempted to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics via the 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League. However they failed to qualify after losing out to China in a penalty shoot-out during the Semi-finals tournament in Valencia. In January 2017 they won a Round 2 tournament in Kuala Lumpur, defeating Malaysia 3–0 in the final with goals from Anna O'Flanagan, Katie Mullan and Zoe Wilson. Ireland's seventh-place finish at the 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals eventually saw them qualify for the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup.
| Season | Place |
| 2012–13 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 | 4th |
| 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 | 1st |
| 2014–15 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals | 8th |
| 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 | 1st |
| 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals | 7th |

### Women's FIH Hockey Series

During 2019, Ireland played in the Women's FIH Series.
| Season | Place |
| 2018–19 Women's FIH Series Finals | 2nd |

### Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup

| Tournaments | Place |
| 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup | 4th |
| 2023–24 Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup | 2nd |
| 2024–25 Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup | 2nd |

### Invitational tournaments

| Tournament | Place |
| 2012 Women's Hockey Investec Cup | 6th |
| 2016 Hawke's Bay Cup | 5th |
| 2017 Women's Four Nations Cup | 2nd |

## Team
### Current squad

Head coach: Gareth Grundie
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club |
| 1 | GK | Ayeisha McFerran | (1996-01-10) 10 January 1996 (age 29) | 114 | Tilburg |
| 2 | GK | Elizabeth Murphy | (1998-06-28) 28 June 1998 (age 26) | 13 | Loreto |
| 3 | MF | Sarah McAuley | (2001-09-25) 25 September 2001 (age 23) | 10 | UCD |
| 4 | MF | Zara Malseed | (1997-06-11) 11 June 1997 (age 27) | 8 | Ards |
| 5 | MF | Michelle Carey | (1999-05-05) 5 May 1999 (age 25) | 11 | UCD |
| 6 | DF | Róisín Upton | (1994-04-01) 1 April 1994 (age 30) | 90 | Rarh Bengal Tigers |
| 8 | MF | Sarah Hawkshaw | (1995-11-04) 4 November 1995 (age 29) | 47 | Railway Union |
| 9 | FW | Kathryn Mullan (captain) | (1994-04-07) 7 April 1994 (age 30) | 207 | Rarh Bengal Tigers |
| 10 | DF | Hannah McLoughlin | (1999-12-02) 2 December 1999 (age 25) | 27 | UCD |
| 11 | FW | Sarah Torrans | (1999-02-14) 14 February 1999 (age 26) | 34 | Loreto |
| 12 | DF | Elena Tice | (1997-11-16) 16 November 1997 (age 27) | 123 | UCD |
| 13 | FW | Naomi Carroll | (1992-09-13) 13 September 1992 (age 32) | 122 | Catholic Institute |
| 16 | DF | Charlotte Beggs | (2002-09-16) 16 September 2002 (age 22) | 1 | Ulster Elks |
| 19 | DF | Caoimhe Perdue | (2000-05-04) 4 May 2000 (age 24) | 1 | UCC |
| 21 | FW | Katie McKee | (1999-09-27) 27 September 1999 (age 25) | 1 | Pegasus |
| 24 | | Erin Getty | (1998-07-05) 5 July 1998 (age 26) | 11 | |
| 25 | FW | Siofra O'Brien | (2000-02-22) 22 February 2000 (age 25) | 0 | Loreto |
| 28 | FW | Deirdre Duke | (1992-06-09) 9 June 1992 (age 32) | 155 | Old Alex |
| 29 | MF | Ellen Curran | (1998-03-04) 4 March 1998 (age 27) | 28 | Pembroke |
| 30 | DF | Christina Hamill | (2000-01-31) 31 January 2000 (age 25) | 1 | Loreto |

### 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup silver medallists

| Emily Beatty Lizzie Colvin Nicola Daly Deirdre Duke Nicola Evans Megan Frazer Hannah Matthews | Alison Meeke Ayeisha McFerran Shirley McCay Katie Mullan Yvonne O'Byrne Anna O'Flanagan | Grace O'Flanagan Gillian Pinder Elena Tice Roisin Upton Chloe Watkins Zoe Wilson |
Source:

### Olympians
#### Great Britain

The following Ireland internationals have also represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics.
* Violet McBride – 1988
* Jackie McWilliams – 1992

#### Others

Ireland field hockey internationals, Thelma Hopkins and Maeve Kyle, have also represented Great Britain and Ireland, respectively, at the Olympics. Both competed as track and field athletes.
* Thelma Hopkins – 1952, 1956
* Maeve Kyle – 1956, 1960, 1964
Source:

### Coaches

| Years | |
| 19xx–1998 | Terry Gregg |
| 1998–2006 | Riet Kuper |
| 2006–2012 | Gene Muller |
| 2013–2015 | Darren Smith |
| 2015–2019 | Graham Shaw |
| 2019–2024 | Sean Dancer |
| 2024– | Gareth Grundie |

## Honours

* Women's Hockey World Cup
** Runners-up: 2018
* Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2
** Winners: 2015 Dublin, 2017 Kuala Lumpur
* Women's EuroHockey Championship II
** Winners: 2015
* Women's Intercontinental Cup
** Winners: 1983
* Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I
** Runners-up: 2014
* Women's FIH Hockey Series
** Runners-up: 2019 Banbridge
* Women's Four Nations Cup
** Runners-up: 2017
* Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier
** Runners-up: 2012