The Women's Irish Hockey League is a

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

league organised by

Hockey Ireland Hockey Ireland, previously known as the Irish Hockey Association, is the governing body for field hockey in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organising both the Ireland men's national field hockey team and t ...

that features women's teams from both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the All-Ireland Club Championships as the top level women's field hockey competition in Ireland. Since 2015–16 the league has been sponsored by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

and, as a result, it is also known as the EY Hockey League. The league has previously been sponsored by the

ESB Group The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ga, Bord Soláthair an Leictreachais) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company operating in the Republic of Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as ...

and

Electric Ireland Electric Ireland () is an Irish utility company that supplies electricity and gas to business and residential customers in Ireland. It is the supply division of the Electricity Supply Board, the former monopoly electricity company in Ireland. Th ...

History

Inaugural title

The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. Loreto, with a team that included

Nikki Symmons Nikki Symmons (born 2 August 1982) is a former Ireland women's field hockey international. Symmons is also a former Ireland women's cricket international. Between 2001 and 2013 Symmons made 208 appearances and scored 31 goals for Ireland. She ...

Lizzie Colvin Elizabeth "Lizzie" Holden ( Colvin, born 4 January 1990) is a retired Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Colvin has also won Irish Senior Cup ...

Hannah Matthews Hannah Matthews (born 24 March 1991) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Matthews has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey ...

and

Alison Meeke Alison Meeke (born 7 June 1991), also referred to as Ali Meeke, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Meeke has also won Irish Senior Cup ...

, won the inaugural title. In the league final they defeated a

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

team that included

Nicola Evans Nicola Evans (born 17 January 1990), also referred to as Nikki Evans, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Evans has also won Women's Ir ...

Anna O'Flanagan Anna O'Flanagan (born 18 February 1990) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. O'Flanagan has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish ...

Gillian Pinder Gillian Pinder (born 5 May 1992) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Pinder has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey Leagu ...

and

Chloe Watkins Chloe Watkins (born 7 March 1992) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Watkins made her 200th senior international appearance for Ireland ...

. Loreto won 2–1 in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

, becoming the first team in the world to win a title with the new one-on-one format.

Railway Union dominance

During the first five seasons

Railway Union The Railway Union ( fi, Rautatiealan Unioni, RAU) is a trade union representing drivers, traffic controllers and office staff on the railways in Finland. The union was founded on 16 November 2018, when the Union of Locomotive Drivers merged with ...

emerged as the strongest team, winning three titles in fours seasons. In 2009–10, with a team that included

Cecelia Cecelia is a variation of the given name Cecilia. People with the name include: * Cecelia Adkins (1923–2007, African-American publisher * Cecelia Ager (1902–1981), American film critic and reporter * Cecelia Ahern (born 1981) is an Irish noveli ...

and

Isobel Joyce Isobel Mary Helen Cecilia Joyce (born 25 July 1983) is an Irish former cricketer. She played as a right-handed batter and left-arm medium pace bowler. She appeared in one Test match, 79 One Day Internationals and 55 Twenty20 Internationals for ...

Emer Lucey Emer Lucey is a Women's Irish Hockey League player. During the early 2010s she was member of the Railway Union team that won three leagues titles. In 2012–13 Lucey was also captain of the Railway Union team that won a national double, winning ...

and

Kate McKenna Kate McKenna (born 27 September 1989) is an Irish former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 7 Twenty20 Internationals for Ireland in 2014. She played in the Super 3s for Typhoons. Field hockey In 2009–10, together ...

, Railway Union won their first title. They won further titles in 2011–12 and 2012–13.

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

have initially emerged as the strongest team from

. After winning their first title in 2010–11, they added a second in 2014–15.

Ayeisha McFerran Ayeisha McFerran (born 10 January 1996) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. She was also named Goalkeeper of the Tournament. McFerran was ...

was a member of their 2014–15 title winning team. UCD won their first title in 2013–14 with a squad that included

Katie Mullan Kathryn "Katie" Mullan (born 7 April 1994) is an Ireland women's field hockey international player from Coleraine, Northern Ireland. She was captain of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Mullan has also won ...

Deirdre Duke Deirdre Duke (born 9 June 1992) is an Ireland women's national field hockey team, Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Duke has also won Irish Senior ...

and

Emily Beatty Emily Beatty (born 18 August 1993) is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Beatty has also won Irish Senior Cup and Women's Irish Hockey L ...

New format

Between 2008–09 and 2014–15 the league used pool stages and play-offs to determine the league champion. Teams were divides into two pools with the winners and runners-up in each pool then qualifying for the semi-finals. The league title was then decided by a final. Teams continued to play in their respective provincial leagues and qualified for the next season's national league via their position in the provincial league. However, for the 2015–16 season the league was reorganised. The pool stages were abandoned and replaced with a full league programme consisting of 18 rounds of home and away matches. In addition the play-offs were effectively replaced by a new competition, the EY Champions Trophy. Furthermore, the clubs no longer entered their senior teams in provincial leagues. With a team that included

and

won the 2015–16 title. They also won the inaugural EY Champions Trophy. The 2016–17 season saw UCD claim the league title in dramatic fashion as

Elena Tice Elena Joy Tice (born 16 November 1997), also referred to as Lena Tice, is an Ireland women's field hockey international. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Tice is also an Ireland women ...

scored two

penalty corner In field hockey, a penalty corner, sometimes known as a short corner, is a penalty given against the defending team. It is predominantly awarded for a defensive infringement in the '' penalty circle'' or for a deliberate infringement within the de ...

s to inflict a first league defeat on Hermes-Monkstown. The result saw UCD overtake Hermes-Monkstown on the final day of the campaign. The result also saw UCD win their second trophy in six days, adding to the Irish Senior Cup. UCD subsequently completed a treble when they also won the EY Champions Trophy after defeating Hermes-Monkstown in a

. The 2017–18 season saw UCD retain the league title. Having already won the Irish Senior Cup, UCD also completed a double.

Division 2

The 2018–19 season saw the introduction of a Division 2. The new division revived the original format of the league. It uses pool stages and play-offs to determine the Division 2 champion and which teams get promoted to Division 1. Division 2 teams will continue to play in their respective provincial leagues.

2019–20 teams

Division 1

Division 2

;Pool A ;Pool B

Winners

;Notes

EY Champions Trophy

In addition to introducing a new format, the 2015–16 season also saw the introduction of the EY Champions Trophy. The top three placed teams from the league and/or the winners of the Irish Senior Cup all qualify for the end of season competition. The winners of the EY Champions Trophy qualify to represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

EuroHockey Club Champions Cup The EuroHockey Club Champions Cup is a defunct men's field hockey competition for clubs in Europe. It was first played for in 1974. It was replaced by the Euro Hockey League in 2007. Unofficial tournaments were played in 1969 and then in 1970, ...

. ;Notes

References

{{Field hockey leagues

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

Field hockey leagues in Ireland

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

2008 establishments in Ireland Sports leagues established in 2008