Cliodhna O'Connor

Cliodhna O'Connor is an Irish sportsperson. She plays Ladies' Gaelic football with her local club, Naomh Mearnóg, and has been a member of the Dublin ladies senior inter-county team since 2002. Cliodhna has won two All Star awards for her performances as Dublin goalkeeper in 2004 and 2009. She was the first player from the Naomh Mearnóg club to receive such an award. She was captain of the Dublin ladies senior football team in 2011 and was named on the TG4 Team of the Decade 2000-2010.

Cliodhna O'Connor was born in Portmarnock, County Dublin in 1984. She was educated at a local national school, St. Helens S.N.S. and then went on to receive her secondary education at the local community school in Portmarnock. At third level, she studied English and Music in University College Dublin (UCD) and also completed a Masters in International Communications in Dublin City University (DCU), where she won an All-Ireland colleges (O'Connor Cup) medal in 2009. Cliodhna worked as part of the Games Development Staff of the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and was based in Croke Park. Cliodhna now works at the National Athlete Development Academy (NADA)

In 2015 Clíodhna retired from Gaelic Football at Club and County level and joined Commercial Rowing Club.

Inter-county Football

As well as winning an All Star award and an O'Connor Cup medal, 2009 saw Cliodhna collect her fifth Leinster Championship medal after defeating Kildare in the final. Dublin then progressed through to the All-Ireland Championship but were beaten in the final by Cork. Earlier that same year, Cliodhna was part of the Dublin team that reached the Bord Gáis Energy National League Semi-final, where her consistency in that campaign earned her the number one slot in the Division 1 team of the year.

In 2010, Cliodhna won her sixth Leinster title after a comfortable 2–13 to 0–9 victory against Laois in the final. September saw her take part in her fourth All-Ireland final. She helped make history as Dublin ran out comprehensive 16-point winners against Tyrone and won their first ever All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship, giving Cliodhna her first All-Ireland medal. Cliodhna maintained yet another clean sheet as the score finished Dublin 3–16, Tyrone 0-09.

2010 also saw Clíodhna being the only Dublin Player to be named on the TG4 Team of the Decade.

In 2011, Cliodhna captained Dublin to a Bord Gáis Energy National League (Div 2) title where they defeated Meath by 3–15 to 2–09 at Parnell Park. She was also named on the Bord Gáis Energy Division 2 Team of the League.