Grace O'Flanagan (born 7 April 1989) 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 The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England. Defending champions t ...

final. In 2009 O'Flanagan also won an Irish Senior Cup final with UCD and in 2012–13 won a

Women's Irish Hockey League The Women's Irish Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by Hockey Ireland that features women's teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league was first played for during the 2008–09 season. It replaced the A ...

/Irish Senior Cup double with

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 ...

. O'Flanagan is also a qualified doctor and

cancer survivor A cancer survivor is a person with cancer of any type who is still living. Whether a person becomes a survivor at the time of diagnosis or after completing treatment, whether people who are actively dying are considered survivors, and whether ...

Early years and education

Between 2001 and 2007 O'Flanagan attended

Loreto College, Foxrock Loreto College, Foxrock is a voluntary fee-paying Catholic secondary school under the direction of the Sisters of Loreto in Foxrock, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the N11 in Dublin. History The school was opened in 1941. Th ...

. Between 2007 and 2010 she attended

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

where she gained a Bachelor of Commerce in Banking And Finance. Between 2010 and 2016 she attended the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...

and subsequently qualified as a doctor. While attending RCSI, O'Flanagan also played for the college's hockey team.

Club career

UCD

Between 2007 and 2010 O'Flanagan played for UCD. In addition to playing as a goalkeeper for the first team she also served as club treasurer. In 2009 she kept goal for UCD as they defeated

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 ...

4–1 in the Irish Senior Cup final.

Railway Union

In 2012–13 O'Flanagan was a member of the

team that won a national double, winning both the

and the Irish Senior Cup. In the cup final Railway Union defeated UCD 3–2. O'Flanagan's teammates at Railway Union included Cecelia 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 ...

. O'Flanagan has also represented Railway Union in

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

club competitions, including the

2014 EuroHockey Club Champions Cup The 2014 EuroHockey Club Champions Cup (women), EuroHockey Club Champions Cup is the 42nd edition of the premier European competition for women's field hockey clubs. It will be played in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands between 18 April and 21 April ...

Ireland international

O'Flanagan made her senior debut for

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 2012. She subsequently represented Ireland at the

2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship The 2013 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship was the 11th edition of the women's field hockey championship organised by the European Hockey Federation. It was held from 17 August to 24 August 2013 in Boom, Belgium. Germany defeated England in ...

. On 22 July 2017 at the

2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals The 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Semifinals took place in June and July 2017. A total of 20 teams competed in 2 events in this round of the tournament playing for 7 berths in the Final, to be played between 18–26 November 2017 in Auc ...

, after

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 sin-binned in the seventh and eighth place play-off against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, O'Flanagan came on as replacement. With her first touch she saved the subsequent

penalty stroke In field hockey, a penalty stroke, sometimes known as a penalty flick, is the most severe penalty given. It is predominantly awarded when a foul has prevented a certain goal from being scored or for a deliberate infringement by a defender in the ...

. Ireland were 1–0 down at the time but eventually went onto win 2–1. Ireland's seventh-place finish in at the tournament eventually saw them qualify for the

. At the

2017 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship The 2017 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship was the 13th edition of the women's field hockey championship organised by the European Hockey Federation. It was held from 18–26 August 2017 in the Wagener Stadium, Amstelveen, Netherlands. The t ...

, O'Flanagan was Ireland's first choice goalkeeper. O'Flanagan represented Ireland at the

and was a member of the team that won the silver medal. During the tournament she served as the reserve goalkeeper to Ayeisha McFerran. She featured in several games during the tournament, including the pool stage game against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and in the final against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Personal life

O'Flanagan is a qualified doctor. Since January 2018 she has worked as a Senior house officer in Otolaryngology at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. She has previously trained at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin,

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Northwestern Medicine and the primary ...

and St. Vincent's University Hospital.

Honours

;

* Women's Hockey World Cup **''Runners Up'':

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

*Women's Four Nations Cup **''Runners Up'':

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

;Railway Union * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2012–13 *

**''Winners'': 2012–13 ; UCD * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OFlanagan, Grace 1989 births Living people Irish female field hockey players Place of birth missing (living people) Female field hockey goalkeepers Ireland international women's field hockey players UCD Ladies' Hockey Club players Railway Union field hockey players Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland 21st-century Irish medical doctors Women's Irish Hockey League players Field hockey players from County Dublin People educated at Loreto College, Foxrock Irish women medical doctors 21st-century Irish women medical doctors