St Catherine's Ladies Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in St Catherine's Parish in

the Liberties, Dublin The Liberties (Irish: ''Na Saoirsí'' or occasionally ''Na Libirtí'') is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, separate from the main city g ...

. The club also plays home games in

Walkinstown Walkinstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland, six kilometres southwest of the city centre. It is surrounded by Drimnagh to the north, Crumlin to the east, Greenhills to the south, and Ballymount, Bluebell, and Clondalkin to the west. I ...

. St Catherine's have been

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of 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 ...

finalists on three occasions, winning the competition in 2011.

History

St Catherine's was founded in 1980. Among the founder members was Brother Bernard Twomey, a member of the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were f ...

attached to St Catherine's Church. Brother Bernard later served the club as team manager. In 2001 St Catherine's played in their first

but lost to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

. In the 2009 FAI Women's Cup, St Catherine's recorded victories over

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

, Lifford Ladies and the Cork Women's & Schoolgirls Soccer League before meeting St Francis in the final at

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer pa ...

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...

was a member of the St Catherine's team this season but her boxing commitments sometimes restricted her appearances and she would miss the 2009 final. With a team that included

Caroline Thorpe Caroline Thorpe (born 2 August 1981) is an Irish former international football midfielder who played for Raheny United, Peamount United and DLR Waves of the Women's National League. She also represented English Premier League clubs Arsenal Lad ...

, St Catherine's lost 1–0 to a St Francis team that included

Megan Campbell Megan Campbell (born 28 June 1993) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Women's Super League club Liverpool FC and as a left back for the Republic of Ireland women's national team. She has previously played for ...

Grainne Kierans Gráinne Kierans (born 20 September 1978) is an Irish football coach and former player who was the head coach of Shamrock Rovers team who play in the Women's National League (Ireland). Kierans, the holder of a UEFA A licence, played as a midfie ...

and

Mary Waldron Mary Veronica Waldron (born 5 May 1984) is an Irish association football player and cricketer who has represented both the Republic of Ireland women's national football team and the Ireland women's cricket team. She has also stood as an ump ...

. The 2011 FAI Women's Cup saw St Catherine's knockout both the Cork Women's & Schoolgirls Soccer League and

Raheny United Raheny United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ráth Éanna Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Raheny, Dublin. Raheny United was founded in 1994 following the amalgamation of Raheny Boys and Dunseedy United. In 2017–18 ...

before defeating Kilmacrennan Celtic 7–0 in the semi-final. In the final played at Turners Cross they faced Wilton United. St Catherine's claimed the cup with a dramatic 3–1 victory. Mary Waldron, now playing for St Catherine's, scored the opening goal in the 43rd minute before

Noelle Murray Noelle Murray (born 25 December 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Irish club Shelbourne and the Republic of Ireland national team. Between 2011 and 2016 Murray played in six successive FAI Women's Cup final ...

doubled the score in the 77th minute with an astonishing volley. However, Wilton hit back in the closing moments of the game through

Denise O'Sullivan Denise O'Sullivan (born 4 February 1994) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the American club North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Republic of Ireland national team which s ...

but their late comeback was short lived as Murray ended the contest with another impressive strike in the 89th minute. At the 2011–12 Women's National League Awards ceremony, Brother Bernard Twomey received the Services to Football Award. In addition to guiding St Catherine's to three FAI Women's Cup finals, Brother Bernard was recognised for dedicating his life to giving children the opportunity to play football at any level and for the important role he has played in the development of

women's association football in the Republic of Ireland Women's association football in the Republic of Ireland is governed by the Women's Football Association of Ireland. The WFAI organizes and manages the Republic of Ireland women's national football team, the FAI Women's Cup and the Women's Nati ...

Notable former players

;

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

women's internationals ;Boxer *

–

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * 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 isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine European cuisine co ...

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

boxing champion ; Ireland women's rugby union international *

Hannah Tyrrell Hannah Tyrrell is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Tyrrell represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was also a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. Tyrrell is also an I ...

Honours

Dublin Women's Soccer League The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams f ...

**''Runners-up'':

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

: 1 *

**''Winners'': 2011: 1 **''Runners-up'': 2001, 2009: 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Catherines L.F.C. Women's association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Dublin Women's Soccer League teams Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Association football clubs established in 1980 1980 establishments in Ireland