Valerie Mulcahy (born 1983) is an Irish footballer. As a ladies' Gaelic footballer, she played at senior level for Cork, winning ten All-Ireland titles and nine Ladies' National Football League titles between 2005 and 2015. She was also an All Star on six occasions. As a women's association football player, she represented Ireland at the 2003 Summer Universiade and played for Cork City in the Women's National League. In 2015, Mulcahy helped launch the Women's Gaelic Players' Association. In the same year, she also came out as gay.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Ladies' Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Corner forward | ||
| Born | Cork, Ireland | ||
| Occupation | Teacher | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
| Rockbán | |||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
2004–2015 | Cork | ||
| Inter-county titles | |||
| All-Irelands | 10 | ||
| All Stars | 6 | ||
Gaelic football
editBetween 2004 and 2015 Mulcahy played at senior level for the Cork county ladies' football team, representing her county in competitions such as the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship, the Munster Senior Ladies' Football Championship and the Ladies' National Football League. Together with Rena Buckley, Nollaig Cleary, Briege Corkery, Juliet Murphy, Mary O'Connor and Angela Walsh, she was a prominent member of the Cork team, winning ten All-Ireland medals, ten Munster titles and nine League titles.[1][2][3][4] Between 2005 and 2015, Mulcahy played in ten All-Ireland finals, scoring 7–38. She scored in every final she played in except in 2006. She scored two goals in 2007[5] and scored a hat-trick of goals in 2008.[6] She was the top scorer in the All-Ireland final in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In January 2015 Mulcahy helped launch the Women's Gaelic Players Association and subsequently served on the association's executive team.[14][15]
Association football
edit| College career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| University of Limerick | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–12 | Cork Women's F.C. | ||
| 2016– | Cork City | ||
| International career | |||
| 2003 | Ireland Universities | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
While attending the University of Limerick, Mulcahy was chosen to represent Ireland at the 2003 Summer Universiade. During the inaugural 2011–12 Women's National League season, Mulcahy also played for Cork Women's F.C. and scored the winning goal in their first league victory. Mulcahy came on as a substitute to score an 86th-minute goal in a 1–0 win against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. After retiring as an inter-county Ladies' Gaelic footballer in 2015, Mulcahy subsequently joined Cork City for the 2016 season.[2][16][17][18][19]
Personal life
editIn January 2015, Mulcahy came out as lesbian. She announced the decision to coincide with her taking part in the Donal Óg Cusack/RTÉ documentary, Coming Out of the Curve. She subsequently campaigned in favour of same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland during the 2015 referendum.[1][20][21][22] In June 2015 Mulcahy married Meg Blyth, her partner of six years. Blyth is a choreographer.[23][24]
Teacher
editMulcahy studied PE and Irish at the University of Limerick and is a PE and Maths teacher at Gaelcholáiste Mhuire in Cork.[15][23][25]
Honours
edit- All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship
- Ladies' National Football League
- 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015: 9
- Munster Senior Ladies' Football Championship
- ???: 10
- RTÉ Sports Team of the Year Award
- 2014
- Individual
- Ladies' Gaelic football All Stars Awards
- 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2015: 6
References
edit- ^ a b "What a year it was for Cork ladies football star Valerie Mulcahy". www.irishexaminer.com. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Fulfilling all her Croke Park dreams with Cork, bar one, and equality across the board". www.the42.ie. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "'The time is right' - Cork's Valerie Mulcahy retires". www.irishtimes.com. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Valerie Mulcahy announces intercounty retirement". www.irishexaminer.com. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Mayo v Cork All-Ireland Final Report". ladiesgaelic.ie. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Cork 4-13 Monaghan 0-11". www.rte.ie. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Mulcahy shoots the rebels to historic title treble". ladiesgaelic.ie. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ "Cork's craft and guile gets them over the line at Croke Park". www.irishtimes.com. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
- ^ "It's joy of six for Cork girls". www.independent.ie. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ^ "TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC Final – Cork 0-16 Kerry 0-7". munster.gaa.ie. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ "TG4 All Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final – Cork 1-10 Monaghan 1-9". munster.gaa.ie. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "All Ireland Ladies Football Senior Final – Cork 2-13 Dublin 2-12". munster.gaa.ie. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ "Rebelettes claim Ladies Football five-in-a-row by beating Dublin". www.rte.ie. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
- ^ "Valerie Mulcahy welcomes launch of Women's Gaelic Players' Association". www.irishtimes.com. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ a b "WGPA Executive Team". www.wgpa.ie. 21 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Valerie Mulcahy returns to Cork City Women's FC". www.corkcitywomensfc.com. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Dual star! 10-time All-Ireland winner Valerie Mulcahy signs for Cork City Women's FC". www.the42.ie. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Cork GAA legend Valerie Mulcahy signs for Cork City". www.irishtimes.com. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Shamrock Rovers 0–1 Cork Women's F.C." www.extratime.ie. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "9-time All-Ireland winner Valerie Mulcahy comes out in Donal Óg documentary". www.the42.ie. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Cork star Valerie Mulcahy goes public on sexuality 'to help others'". www.independent.ie. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Valerie Mulcahy may decide to leave Ireland if 'Yes' campaign fails". www.independent.ie. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Cork footballer Valerie Mulcahy to wed longterm girlfriend Meg Blyth this month". www.thevow.ie. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Cork footballer Valerie Mulcahy weds long-term love Meg Blyth". www.thevow.ie. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "GAA stars awarded High Performance Scholarships at UL". www.ul.ie. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2018.