“Through her conduct away from competition, Mullan has played a meaningful role in strengthening the culture around the national programme and reinforcing the standards associated with representing Ireland.”
(From L to R) Mia Jennings, Aoife Glennon, Sarah Torrans and Jessica McMaster posed and signed autographs with fans. (Image: Paul Harvey / Front Row Union / Hockey Ireland)
Katie Mullan’s 250th appearance for the Ireland hockey side failed to provide a repeat win over England when, having beaten them on penalties early on the week, they lost 1-2 at Abbottstown.
It was the fourth of four FIH Hockey Pro League matches this week and an unfortunate, third 1-2 reverseEngland led early on and added a second in the final quarter before Caoimhe Perdue pulled a goal back from a penalty corner. Sustained Ireland pressure to the final whistle couldn’t find a way past their English counterparts.Mullan’s latest landmark takes her closer to Ireland hockey record holder Shirley McCay who retired in 2021 with 271 caps.Other teamsport record holders include Laura Delaney who is currently Ireland womens most capped cricketer with 171 (defined as 61 ODI and 110 T20) appearances, soccer goalkeeper Emma Byrne has played 134 times for her country and rugby star Lynne Cantwell who has 78 Ireland caps.
Basketball Ireland don’t keep historical records but Siobhann Caffrey/Stapleton is thought to have close to 100 caps.County Derry-born, Mullan’s 13 year pathway to 250 caps began at Ballymoney Hockey Club before moving to Dublin, where she represented UCD Ladies Hockey Club in the EY Hockey League.She progressed through Ireland’s underage system before making her senior international debut in 2012, quickly establishing herself as a stalwart in the international setup.
Katie Mullan and her mascot ahead of Mullan’s 250th cap, vs England(Image: Hockey Ireland)
Mullan captained the team in the historic run to the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup final in London, where Ireland claimed a silver medal and announced themselves on the global stage.The defender also led the squad to qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ireland’s first appearance at the Olympics in women’s hockey.Most recently she helped the side to back-to-back FIH Hockey Nations Cup silver medals before Ireland’s promotion to this current FIH Hockey Pro League campaign, the most prestigious annual international hockey competition, ending a seven-year wait.”Off the pitch,” notes Hockey Ireland, “Mullan’s influence has been felt through her professionalism and the example she has set throughout her career.”She has consistently represented Irish hockey with humility and clarity, engaging positively with supporters, media and younger players coming through the system.”Her visibility during Ireland’s most successful periods helped broaden interest in the women’s game, while her willingness to share experiences has supported the development of emerging internationals.
“Through her conduct away from competition, Mullan has played a meaningful role in strengthening the culture around the national programme and reinforcing the standards associated with representing Ireland.
FIH Pro League 2025-26, Ireland vs England – Roisin Upton of Ireland enters the pitch to Line Up prior to the match(Image: worldsportpics.com/Frank Uijlenbroek / Hockey Ireland)
England had begun the brighter in their second encounter with Ireland, Tessa Howard finding the back of the net in the fourth minute to put her side ahead. They continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half, with Ireland’s efforts to get meaningful shots on goal coming up short.
The visitors thought they had their second just before half-time from a penalty corner, but Ireland used their referral well, with the video umpire chalking the goal off.Ireland, however, came into their own in the second half, much like their previous tie against Belgium, finding ways to break down the English press. But the England side proved resilient and clinical, scoring through Holly Hunt to double their advantage.
Perdue pulled a goal back to set up a thrilling finish, finding the back of the net from a penalty corner with seven minutes remaining. But Ireland couldn’t break down the English resilience, and the visitors held out to get their first win of the campaign.Said Ireland coach Gareth Grundie: “We are probably disappointed with the result in the end today, but over the course of the week really happy with the performances.”One of the things we’ve talked about a lot was consistency and I think we had that over the four games against teams ranked much higher than us.”We were in each game getting into the final minutes so that will certainly give us a lot of confidence going forward and obviously the result against England on Thursday was points on the board and we’ll take that confidence going to Australia in February.”It was the final day of the six country, 12-match, FIH Hockey Pro League, hosted on the National Hockey Pitch at the Sport Ireland Campus and declared an unequivocal success by Hockey Ireland.The temporary arena surrounding the pitch was erected over a period of 10 weeks while, off the pitch, the event catered for 10,000 hockey fans availing of an estimated 1,500 hotel room nights were booked across the six days.This ending a seven-year wait for Ireland’s first participation in hockey’s most prestigious annual competition. During the week, Ireland also got their first points, getting a result against England for the first time since 1994.The Ireland Women’s Hockey team will return to action in February for their second FIH Hockey Pro League when they travel to Hobart, Australia.Ireland squad: Charlotte Beggs, Niamh Carey, Michelle Carey, Ellen Curran, Aoife Glennon, Niamh Gowing, Christina Hamill, Sarah Hawkshaw (capt), Mia Jennings, Emily Kealy, Katie Larmour, Sarah McAuley, Hannah McLoughlin, Jessica McMaster, Holly Micklem, Lisa Mulcahy, Katie Mullan, Elizabeth Murphy, Caoimhe Perdue, Mikayla Power, Caitlin Sherin, Sarah Torrans, Roisin Upton.