Michelle plays for Killester where she has come up through the ranks and is currently serving as captain. She has also captained Ireland at U16 and was part of the Senior Women’s team who won silver at the FIBA Women's European Championship for Small Countries in Gibraltar in 2016 and in Cyprus in 2021.
Edel Thornton was appointed as Ireland senior women's captain in August 2022, having previously been co-captain with Gráinne Dwyer. She led the team in friendly series against Estonia in Dublin and Portugal in Porto during the summer. She plays for Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in the MissQuote.ie Super League and has played with the club from academy to U20 and Super League, before leaving to go to college in the United States. Edel played NCAA Division 1 basketball with Quinnipiac University for four years, before graduating and returning to Ireland. Edel joined Trinity Meteors when she came back to Ireland and played there for two years, helping them secure promotion to the Super League in 2020. Edel captained Ireland U18’s and just finished her second senior campaign, winning a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries.
Áine O’Connor plays in the Super League for FloMAX Liffey Celtics. She has represented Ireland at U18, 3x3 and senior level. She has won silver medals at the 2016 and 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries. A regular throughout the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers and selected once more for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game with France in November 2023.
Claire Melia plays with Killester in the MissQuote.ie Super League, having joined for the 2023/24 season after a one-seaosn stint with Trinity Meteors, with whom she reached the InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O’Connor National Cup final. She won the domestic treble with The Address UCC Glanmire in the 2021/22 season - the InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O'Connor National Cup, MissQuote.ie Super League and MissQuote.ie Champions Trophy. Previously she played with Portlaoise Panthers, with whom she won the Division One National Cup in 2020. She also played NCAA basketball with St. Joesph’s in Philadelphia. Internationally, Melia won a silver and bronze medal at the U18 and U20 European Championships in 2017 and 2019 respectively. She also won a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries, in Cyprus. Melia has made the All-Star 5 at the U18 and U20 European Championships and at at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries. Melia a regular starter during the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers, she was selected to captain the side against France in their FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers opener in the absence of regular captain Edel Thornton
Bridget Herlihy plays for Swedish club Marbo Basket. Herlihy, whose grandfather hails from Kerry and grandmother from the Aran Islands, was born in a town called Braintree, near Boston, Massachussetts, She was discovered by Basketball Ireland Hall of Famer Susan Moran and Bridget's father subsequently made contact with Ireland head coach James Weldon. Herlihy made her international debut against Estonia at the National Basketball Arena in August 2022 and helped Ireland to a 2-0 victory in the Gotham Drywall Series. Herlihy also played in the two-game series away in Portugal later that month. She is in line for her FIBA Women's EuroBasket debut against the Netherlands in November 2022.
Sorcha plays in the Super League with her hometown club FloMAX Liffey Celtics. She has represented Ireland at U16, U18 and U20 level, winning the silver the FIBA U18 European Championships in 2017, and bronze FIBA U20 Women’s European Championships Division B in 2019. She also won a silver medal at the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries in 2021. A regular with James Weldon's team during the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers and returned for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game against France on November 12th.
Sarah Hickey plays with MissQuote.ie Super League side Waterford Wildcats. She was part of the Ireland U20 squad at the 2022 FIBA U20 Women's European Championships. She was called up to the Ireland senior women's squad for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers game with the Netherlands in November 2022
Rachel Huijsdens plays in the MissQuote.ie Super League with FloMAX Liffey Celtics, having joined for the 2023/24 season. She was previously with DCU Mercy and was a member of DCU Mercy's 2019/20 Super League winning side. The Meath native played with Dunshaughlin Rockets at underage level . She has represented Ireland at U16, U18 and U20 level, winning silver and bronze at the U18 and U20 European Championships in 2017 and 2019 respectively. She also picked up a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries in Cyprus. An everpresent during the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers and returns to the squad for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
Kara McCleane came up through the Ireland underage set-up, playing for the Ireland’s U18's at the 2021 FIBA European Challengers in Czech Republic and represented Ireland’s U20's at the 2022 and 2023 FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship. She was called up to the senior side for the two-match friendly series with Estonia in 2022, but didn’t feature. She was called up again in November 2023 and is in line for her international debut if she features against France in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers opener. Domestically she plays with University of Galway Mystics in the MissQuote.ie Super League, and was part of the team that won promotion to the top flight in 2021/22 as MissQuote.ie Division 1 champions, as well as lifting the InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s Division 1 National Cup.
Appointed Ireland senior women’s head coach in November 2018, taking over in January 2019. Led Irish senior women to a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries. He has also worked as an assistant with the senior international team in between 2003 and 2006. He was Ireland U18 women’s assistant coach in 2001 and head coach in 2005, 2007 and 2013. He also worked as an assistant coach at the World Student Games in 2003 (South Korea) and 2005 (Turkey). Weldon is a three-time Super League coach of the year. He won nine national titles with UL Huskies in a four-year period. He also set up a women’s Super League team in Killarney and took them to 3rd place in their first season and 2nd in their second season. He also won a national title with KCYMS men’s team.
Jillian Hayes was appointed as assistant coach to the Irish senior women’s team in February 2019. Hayes was head coach of Super League side WIT Waterford Wildcats for three years from 2018/19 until 2020/21. She will be coaching the club’s U18’s for the 2021/22 season. She has won one U16 All-Ireland in 2018 as a head coach, and was assistant coach when the club won the U20 National Cup in 2020. In 2018 Hayes was named Underage Coach of the Year. She played for Waterford Wildcats from U12 up to senior level, winning six leagues, three cups and four championships at senior level and also one U19 Cup. Hayes was named Irish Junior Player of the Year twice, and Senior Player of the Year four times. Internationally, she represented Ireland at U15, U17, U19 and senior levels.
Current head coach of UCD Marian in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League. He was head coach Leixlip Amenties Liffey Celtics during the 2021/22 season. He joined James Weldon's backroom team for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers campaign. Ioannis is a former Super League winning coach with UCD Marian and was a bronze medal winning coach with the Irish senior men’s team in 2018.
Ciara Bracken plays with MissQuote.ie Super League side FloMAX Liffey Celtics. Bracken has represented Ireland at the 2017 FIBA U16 Women's European Championship and played 3x3 for Ireland's U18's. She has also played in the United States for Fairfield University. She was called up to the Ireland senior women's squad for the first time in November 2022 and is in line for her international debut against the Netherlands in the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers.
Orla O'Reilly plays with Australian club Waverly Falcons. She moved to Australia in 2016 and has achieved multiple trophy success with her previous club Sunbury Jets, including winning back-to-back championships. Her hometown club is Glanmire. She has also played basketball in the USA, with Binghamton University, alongside her twin sister, Sinead. O'Reilly has also played in Czech Republic, Spain and Iceland
O'Reilly was called up by James Weldon for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 qualifiers game with the Netherlands in November 2022, having last represented the Irish 5x5 team in 2009. O'Reilly also 3x3 for Ireland at the 2015 European Games in Baku, where the team reached the final 8.
Dayna Finn plays for Trinity Meteors in the MissQuote Super League. She started her club career with Maree BC, from underage and played for the club at Division 1 and Super League level. She has represented Ireland at U16, U18, U20 and senior level. She won a silver medal at the FIBA U18 European Championship in 2017 and a bronze at the FIBA U20 European Championship in 2019. She made her senior debut at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries, winning a silver medal in Cyprus. Finn also plays senior inter-county Gaelic Football with Mayo.
Hannah Thornton is a DCU Mercy Super League player and captain, with whom she won the 2019/20 Super League title. She attended the University of Northern Colorado, a D1 school for college basketball. Thornton played underage club basketball for Killester basketball club. She has represented Ireland in underage basketball from U16-U18 and has been playing senior international basketball since 2018, winning a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA Women’s European Championship for Small Countries. A regular throughout the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2023 Qualifiers and selected once more for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier against France on November 12th
