Claire Molloy is an Ireland women's rugby union international from Galway. Molloy represented Ireland at the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. At the 2014 tournament she was a member of the Ireland team that defeated

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and she captained Ireland at the 2017 tournament. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual Women's rugby unio ...

s. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and captained the Ireland team at the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

. Molloy also played

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football () is an Irish team sport for women. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball toward ...

for and featured in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship final.

Family

Molloy was raised in a sporting family. Claire's father, Evan Molloy, is a prominent member of the Colaiste Iognáid (Jez) Rowing Club. Three of her siblings have also represented Ireland at international level in different sports. Her younger brother, Tim Molloy, is a former Republic of Ireland under-19 association football international and also played for

University College Dublin A.F.C. University College Dublin Association Football Club, known commonly as UCD, is the football team of University College Dublin. They play in the League of Ireland First Division. Founded in 1895, the club was elected to the League of Ireland in 19 ...

Her sister, Emily Molloy, played as a goalkeeper for 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 W ...

at underage level and her older brother, Liam Molloy, rowed for Ireland up to under-23 level.

Gaelic football

Molloy played

Ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football () is an Irish team sport for women. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball toward ...

for and in 2005, aged 16, played in three finals for her county. On 30 April 2005 she played in the

Ladies' National Football League The Ladies' National Football League is an annual inter-county ladies' Gaelic football tournament, secondary to the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship. It is competed for annually by the county teams of Ireland. Kerry county ladies ...

final which Cork won 2–13 to 0–6. On 25 July 2005 she played in the

All-Ireland Under-18 Ladies' Football Championship The All-Ireland Under-18 Ladies' Football Championship is a "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played by women in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association The Ladies' Gaelic Footb ...

(minor) final against Donegal which Galway won 5–7 to 1–8. On 2 October 2005 she played in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship final which Cork won 1–11 to 0–8 Other members of these Galway teams included

Niamh Fahey Niamh Fahey ( ; born 13 October 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Women's Super League club Liverpool, which she captains, and formerly the Republic of Ireland national team. She ...

and Annette Clarke. Molloy played for Galway up to 2011.

Rugby union

Clubs

Molloy switched codes from

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

while attending

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

where she studied medicine. She initially played for Cardiff Quins, making her debut in the WWRU National Cup final which Quins won. She was also a Cardiff Quins player when she made her debut for the

Ireland women's national rugby union team The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA ...

. Molloy subsequently joined Bristol Ladies and on summer trips home from university she also played for Galwegians. Together with

Sarah Hunter Sarah Alice Hunter (born 19 September 1985) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. She represented at four Rugby World Cups. At the 2021 Rugby World Cup, Hunter received her 138th international cap, passing Rochelle Clark to bec ...

and Carys Phillips, Molloy was one of three Bristol Ladies players to captain their countries at the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Du ...

. Hunter and Phillips captained

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

respectively. Molloy moved to Wasps in 2018, before returning to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 2022

Provincial level

Molloy has represented

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in the

IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of ...

. She has also played for the

Irish Exiles Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

Ireland international

On 6 February

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Molloy made her debut for the

when she came on as replacement in a 7–5 win against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. This was the first time the Ireland Women had beaten France. Molloy went onto represent Ireland at the

and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. At the 2014 tournament she was a member of the Ireland team that defeated

. She captained the Ireland team at the 2017 tournament, replacing an injured

Niamh Briggs Niamh Briggs (born 30 September 1984) is a former Ireland women's national rugby union team, Ireland women's rugby union international. She represented Ireland at the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup sq ...

. Molloy was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the

and

s. Molloy is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and captained the Ireland Sevens team at the

. She also represented the Ireland Sevens at the 2013 European Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series and the

2015 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Championships The 2015 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series was held over two legs in the cities of Kazan and Brive. France won the championship and qualified for the women's rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Russia finished second and quali ...

. Molloy took a break from international rugby at the start of the 2020 season to concentrate on her medical career. She returned in September 2020 in time for the rescheduled 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship game against Italy. In the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring England women's national rugby union team, England, France women's national rugby union te ...

she started against Wales and France but did not make the match-day 23 for the play-off game against Italy. On 28 September 2021, Molloy announced her retirement from international rugby.

Doctor

Molloy is qualified as a doctor. She studied medicine at

, where her classmates included

Jamie Roberts Jamie Huw Roberts (born 8 November 1986) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a centre. Beginning in 2005, Roberts played for Cardiff RFC, Cardiff Blues, Racing Métro, Cambridge University, Harlequins, Bath, the S ...

. She has worked as an A&E doctor in

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...

and at the

University Hospital of Wales University Hospital of Wales () (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a 1,080-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. It is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Construction started in 1963, and the ...

in Cardiff.

Honours

Rugby union

;

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

**''Winners'':

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

**''Winners'': 2013 * Triple Crown **''Winners'':

; Ireland Sevens * Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Championships Plate **''Winners'':

; Cardiff Quins * WWRU National Cup **''Winners'': 2008 ? ;Individual * 2012 Ireland Women's Player of the Year *2017

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

Rugby Writers of Ireland Women's Player of the Year ** 2017

Gaelic football

; *

**''Winners'': 2005 *

All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship () is the premier inter-county competition in the game of ladies' Gaelic football in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association and are played during ...

**''Runners Up'':

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

**''Runners Up'': 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molloy, Claire 1988 births Living people Irish female rugby union players Ireland women's international rugby union players Ireland international women's rugby sevens players Irish rugby sevens players Alumni of Cardiff University Galway inter-county ladies' Gaelic footballers Rugby union players from County Galway Connacht Rugby women's players Ladies' Gaelic footballers who switched code 21st-century Irish medical doctors Irish Exiles women's rugby union players Medical doctors from County Galway People educated at Coláiste Iognáid Irish expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby league players in England Irish expatriate rugby union players in Wales Wasps Women rugby players Bristol Bears Women players 21st-century Irish sportswomen