Loreto Hockey Club is a

women's 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 ...

club based in

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council a ...

Dublin 14 Dublin postal districts have been used by Republic of Ireland, Ireland's postal service, known as ''An Post'', to sort mail in Dublin. The system is similar to that used in cities in Europe and North America until they adopted national postal c ...

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 ...

. The club enter teams in the

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 ...

, the Irish Senior Cup and the Irish Junior Cup. Loreto has also represented

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 ...

competitions, winning the 2011 EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II and finishing third at the 2014 European Club Championship Trophy.

History

Early years

Loreto Hockey Club was founded in

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

by Mother Bernadette and Una Murray to represent past pupils of Loreto schools in Ireland. The club adopted the red wine and white of Loreto College,

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...

as their club colours. Loreto won its first trophy, the Leinster Cup in 1946.

Irish Senior Cup

Loreto have been regular Irish Senior Cup finalists. On 9 May 2010, with a team that included

Nicola Daly Nicola Daly (born 3 April 1988), also referred to as Nicci Daly or Nikki Daly, 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. In 2010 Daly was a mem ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Loreto won the cup after they defeated

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 ...

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 ...

after the game had finished 2–2. The team was coached by Graham Shaw. Loreto were finalists again in 2012 but this time lost 3–2 against UCD. ;Notes

Women's Irish Hockey League

In 2008–09 Loreto, with a team that included

and

, 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

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

EY Champions Trophy

Loreto won the 2018 EY Champions Trophy and, as a result, qualified to represent

in the 2019 EuroHockey Club Champions Cup.

Irish Junior Cup

Loreto's second team enter the Irish Junior Cup. They won the cup in 2012 and were runners-up in 2016. ;Notes

Loreto in Europe

Loreto has also represented

competitions on several occasions. In 2011, with a team that included

and

, Loreto won the EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. In the final they defeated HC Olten of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

7–1. In 2014 Hannah Matthews captained Loreto to third place at the European Club Championship Trophy tournament hosted by

Leicester Hockey Club Leicester City Hockey Club is a professional field hockey club based in Leicester, England, who play their home games at St. Margaret's Pastures. The ladies side has produced a number of international players and is recognised as one of the most s ...

Grounds

The club was originally based in Dartmouth Square. In the 1930s, the club moved to Cherryfield in

Templeogue Templeogue () is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location The centre of Templeogue is from bo ...

and played on a pitch which was actually a field at the back of one of the club member's houses. In the mid1940s the club moved to the grounds of the Leinster Branch of the

Irish Hockey Union 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 ...

in Templeogue, near Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA. During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the club remained at the Leinster Branch grounds, sharing the six pitches there with four other clubs. When the Leinster Branch grounds were sold for development in the early 1980s the club was homeless again. The

Sisters of Loreto The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The congr ...

gave the club access to the pitch at Loreto Abbey,

. In 1987, with the Sisters support and after much fundraising, the club laid a floodlit all-weather pitch in Nutgrove School. In the 1997–98 season the club laid its own

astro-turf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

pitch in partnership with the Loreto Beaufort School. The playing surface on the pitch was replaced in September 2006, with a sand-dressed pitch. In 2017–18 the club successfully applied to the

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport The Department of Transport ( ga, An Roinn Iompair) is a department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for transport policy and overseeing transport services and infrastructure. The department is led by the Minister for Transport ...

for a €150,000 grant to upgrade the pitch. In 2013 the club opened a new clubhouse. In so doing, Loreto became the first women's only hockey club in Ireland to have its own purpose built clubhouse.

Notable players

; internationals When the

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 Wom ...

won the silver medal at 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 ...

, the squad included five current or former Loreto players.

and

were all members of Loreto's 2017–18 squad.

and

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 ...

were both former Loreto players. ; Ireland women's cricket internationals *

Notable coaches

* Graham Shaw

Honours

*EuroHockey Club Champion's Challenge II **''Winners'': 2011: 1 *

**''Winners'': 2008–09: 1 **''Runners Up'': 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15: 3 * Irish Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1940, 1946, 1953, 1960, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2009–10: 8 **''Runners Up'': 1955, 1957, 1977, 1993, 2011–12: 5 * Irish Junior Cup **''Winners'': 1946, 1948, 1955, 2005, 2012: 5 **''Runners Up'': 2016: 1 * EY Champions Trophy **''Winners'': 2018

References

{{Women's Irish Hockey League Women's Irish Hockey League teams Rathfarnham Sisters of Loreto 1926 establishments in Ireland Field hockey clubs established in 1926 Field hockey clubs in County Dublin