Éabha O'Mahony (born 17 May 2002) is an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for Shelbourne in the

League of Ireland Women's Premier Division The League of Ireland Women's Premier Division (; sponsor name SSE Airtricity League Women's Premier Division) is a professional women's association football league in Ireland, organised by the League of Ireland, which began play in the 2023 ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team. She has previously played for

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in the Women's National League and for

North Carolina Courage U23 North Carolina Courage U23, also known as North Carolina Courage USL W, is an amateur women's soccer team that plays in the USL W League. It is affiliated and shares ownership with the professional team North Carolina Courage, which competes in ...

in the

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

. She has also played for college teams

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

and

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Club career

Youth

O'Mahony played youth football for Lakewood Athletic from 2012–2018, during which she twice won the Golden Boot award and was

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

Cork City

After playing youth football for Lakewood Athletic, O'Mahony joined Women's National League club

in July 2018 and made her a few days later, saying "It was great to be finally able to play a match with Cork City and get time on the pitch." She had a fantastic start to her career, winning the league's Player of the Month award for August. At the end of the 2018 season, she was named in the Team of the Season.

United States

O'Mahony made a big move to the United States, joining

in the summer of 2021, with coach Jason Lowe expecting her to be popular due to their big Irish fan base. It was important for her to make clear that she would be allowed to travel back to Europe for international duty. She took up the scholarship offer thanks to advice of Ireland team-mate

Heather Payne Heather Margaret Payne (born 26 January 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Everton F.C. (women), Everton and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team, Republic of Ireland national tea ...

. During her time in the United States, O'Mahony said she loved the professionalism of the game, including playing with high calibre players, such as

Jaelin Howell Jaelin Marie Howell (born November 21, 1999) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Florida State Sem ...

who plays for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. From May to July 2022, O'Mahony played in the

with

. She played eight games for the club. In December 2022, after two seasons playing for Boston College Eagles, in which she started 33 matches, the

announced her arrival as a high-profile transfer, alongside Abby Allen and

Mia Justus Mia Taylin Justus (born September 3, 2002) is an American professional association football, soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played c ...

. This move offerred her a more competitive program with greater funding. In the 2023 season, she played eight matches, contributing to six

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

Shelbourne

After completing her studies in the United States, majoring in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, O'Mahony returned to Ireland, signing with Shelbourne in February 2024. Reflecting on her move, she praised the supportive and competitive environment at Shelbourne, noting that the team's ambition to regain the

Women's Premier Division The Women's Premier Division is a rugby union club competition for women that is played in South Africa. it is supported by the South African Rugby Union (SARU). History The first South African Inter-Provincial Women's Rugby tournament was hel ...

title and the loyalty of its fans have driven her to excel. She made her first appearance for the club in May 2024, in a 3–0 victory over

DLR Waves Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Waves, also referred to as DLR Waves, is a women-only Irish association football club based in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It was originally founded in 2012. DLR Waves field several teams; the senior League of Ireland t ...

and scored her first goal two weeks later against her former club

International career

O'Mahony was a key player for Ireland's national under-17 team and has captained the team. In August 2020, O'Mahony was announced as the 2019 Under-17 Women's International Player of the Year. O'Mahony made her debut for the Ireland's senior national team in August 2019, coming on as a substitute in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She described it as "an indescribable experience getting my first cap on such a great occasion against the world champions."

Style of play

O'Mahony is a complete midfielder, having a great passing ability and positional sense knowing where the goal is. She keeps on setting standards for herself as part of a constant bid to improve. For example, she said about the

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Soon after, ...

"I relished the lockdown in a sense because I used it as an opportunity to wind down, train myself and do a

SWOT analysis In strategic planning and strategic management, SWOT analysis (also known as the SWOT matrix, TOWS, WOTS, , and Situation analysis, situational analysis) is a decision-making technique that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, ...

of myself."

Personal life

O'Mahony studied in Ireland at Ballincollig Community School and

Mount Mercy College Mount Mercy University is a private Catholic university in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1928. Students take a core of liberal arts courses as a foundation for areas of study including English, fi ...

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. Afterwards she studied in the United States at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OMahony, Éabha 2002 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Women's association football defenders Cork City W.F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Boston College Eagles women's soccer players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Texas Longhorns women's soccer players North Carolina Courage U23 players USL W League players Republic of Ireland expatriate women's association footballers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century Irish sportswomen