Marie Claire Curtin (born 7 August 1985) is a former professional footballer who played for

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

. Curtin played for several clubs in the Women's National League, including Cork Women's F.C.,

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and most recently

Treaty United Treaty United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Limerick. The club was founded in 2020 following the demise of Limerick F.C. and began playing in the League of Ireland Women's Premier Division in 2020 followed by th ...

. She has also represented UCD in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Curtin has also played at a semi-professional level for Long Island Fury in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

and for

Fortuna Ålesund AaFK Fortuna (formerly known as FK Fortuna Ålesund) is a Norway, Norwegian women's football (soccer), women's football club from Ålesund that currently competes in 1. divisjon (women), 1. divisjon, the second tier of Women's football in Norway, ...

in the

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

. Curtin has also played senior

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 . In 2013 Curtin and her father, Sean, co-founded a

dairy foods Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as yogurt, chees ...

company, Temple Dairy Ltd. Curtin retired from football in January 2021.

Early years and education

Curtin was raised in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, near

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, near the border with County Cork, 30 km south of Limerick city. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King John's Castle (Kilmallock), King's Castle (or K ...

. The Curtin family have run a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

between Banogue and

Athlacca Athlacca (historically ''Athlacka'', from )Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is a sm ...

since the 1940s and Marie's parents, Sean and Eileen, took over the farm in 1975. She is one of seven children, with three brothers and three sisters. She began playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

on the farm with her siblings and their friends from an early age. Curtin attended Ard Scoil Mhuire in

Bruff Bruff () is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork (city), Cork road (R512 road (Ireland), R512). The town lies on the River Maigue, Morning Star river, with two bridg ...

. Between 2004 and 2008 Curtin attended

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

on a four-year full soccer scholarship where she gained a BA in social sciences.

Association football

Lifford Ladies

Throughout her career Curtin played regularly for

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

-based Lifford Ladies. In 2001 Curtin was named FAI Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year while playing for Lifford. She also made her senior debut for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

while a Lifford player. Marie's sister, Anne Curtin, also played for Lifford Ladies and was a university international. The Curtin sisters helped Lifford Ladies reach the 2003

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI Cup. Organised ...

final which they lost 2–0 to UCD. Marie Curtin subsequently guested for UCD in their

2003–04 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2003–04 was the third edition of the UEFA Women's Cup. It was convincingly won by reigning champions Umeå IK of Sweden in a two-legged final against Frankfurt of Germany. Both sides were aiming for their second win in the ...

campaign.

Hofstra Pride

Between 2004 and 2008 Curtin attended

on a soccer scholarship. Her teammates at

Hofstra Pride The Hofstra Pride (formerly the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen) are composed of 17 teams representing Hofstra University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women’s basketball, cross-country running, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and tra ...

included fellow Republic of Ireland women's internationals,

Diane Caldwell Diane Evelyn Caldwell (born 11 September 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for FC Zürich Frauen and the Republic of Ireland national team. Having played in her native Ireland with Raheny United, Caldwell moved ...

and Edel Malone.

Semi-professional

Curtin has played at a semi-professional level. Between 2005 and 2008, while attending

, Curtin also played for Long Island Fury in the

. On 20 May

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 ...

, Curtin scored the first three goals in the team's history, scoring a first half

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

as Long Island defeated Northampton Laurels 5–0 as they made their WPSL debut. Curtin had a second spell as a semi-professional when she played for

during the 2012 Norwegian First Division season.

Women's National League

Before the establishment of Women's National League, Curtin was playing junior football with Kilmallock United. In 2010 Curtin helped them reach the FAI Women's Junior Cup final which they lost 1–0 to

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

. The inaugural 2011–12 Women's National League season saw Curtin playing for Cork Women's F.C. The 2014–15 season saw Curtin sign for Galway W.F.C. By 2017 Curtin was playing for Aisling-Annacotty in the Limerick Women's & Schoolgirls' Soccer League. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

she made a return to the WNL with

. 2020 saw Curtin play for newly formed Treaty United of the WNL after Limerick were liquidated. She retired from professional football on 11 January 2021.

Republic of Ireland

Curtin has represented the

at under–16, under–18 and under–19 levels. Between 2000 and 2012 Curtin won 45 caps while representing the senior team. She made her debut for the senior team, aged just 16, in a behind closed doors friendly against

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

. She won her first full senior cap against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Curtin represented the Republic of Ireland in qualifying campaigns for the

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 ...

and 2013 UEFA Women's Euros and the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2011 FIFA Women's World Cups. Curtin also represented Ireland at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pr ...

Ladies' Gaelic football

Curtin played senior

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 Mungret St. Pauls. On 26 September 2010 Curtin scored 2-5 and was named player of the match as she helped Limerick defeat in the 2010 All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship final.

Business woman

In 2013 Curtin and her father, Sean, co-founded a

company, Temple Dairy Ltd. The company's main product is a healthy chocolate milk drink. Curtin is the company's managing director. In April 2017 Curtin promoted her product on an edition of ''Dragons' Den''.

Honours

Association football

;Individual * FAI Under-19 Women's International Player of the Year **''Winner'': 2001 ; Long Island Fury *

**''Winners'':

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

;Kilmallock United *FAI Women's Junior Cup **''Runners Up'': 2010

Gaelic football

; * All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship **''Winner'': 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtin, Marie 1985 births Living people Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Republic of Ireland women's international footballers Women's association football defenders Fortuna Ålesund players Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Hofstra Pride women's soccer players Republic of Ireland expatriate women's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Association footballers from County Limerick League of Ireland Women's Premier Division players Cork City W.F.C. players Galway W.F.C. players UCD Women's Soccer Club players Limerick W.F.C. players Limerick ladies' Gaelic footballers Ladies' Gaelic footballers who switched code 21st-century Irish businesswomen 21st-century Irish businesspeople Treaty United W.F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers People from Kilmallock Hofstra University alumni 21st-century Irish sportswomen