Róisín Upton
Ireland women's hockey international
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Róisín Upton (born 1 April 1994) is an Ireland women's field hockey international and Irish Hockey League club Catholic Institute. She was a member of the Ireland team that played in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final.
Upton was also a member of the Connecticut Huskies teams that won the 2013 and 2014 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championships.
Early years and education
Upton is the daughter of Dermot and Pauline Upton[2] and is originally from Janesboro on the south side of the city.[3] She has two older brothers, Diarmaid and Sean, both of whom have played rugby union for Munster at schoolboy level and have played for Young Munster in the All-Ireland League.[3][4] Upton attended An Mhodh Scoil and Crescent College before studying at the University of Connecticut where she gained a BA in Psychology. In 2019 she completed her two years Masters in Primary education in Mary Immaculate College Limerick.[5][6][7] As well as playing field hockey in her youth, Upton also played ladies' Gaelic football for Mungret St.Pauls winning numerous County medals.She also won a munster and All-Ireland title with Limerick underage football.[3][4][8] and women's association football for Janesboro Football club.[9]
Domestic teams
Early years
Upton started playing field hockey at Crescent College and then subsequently with Catholic Institute. She helped Crescent College win two Munster Schools Junior Cup and two Senior Cup titles. She also captained the Crescent College team. She helped Catholic Institute challenge for Munster club honours.[4][10][11]
Munster and Ireland youth player of the year in 2011
Connecticut Huskies
Between 2012 and 2016 Upton attended the University of Connecticut.[5] During this time she was a prominent member of the Connecticut Huskies teams that won the 2013[12][13][14] and 2014 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championships.[15][16] Upton captained the team during the 2014 season and in 2014 and 2015 was nominated for the Honda Sports Award.[4][10][11][17][18] Upton also helped the team win four consecutive Big East Conference Field Hockey Tournaments between 2012 and 2015.[19] During her time with the Connecticut Huskies, Upton also worked as a member of the teams coaching staff.[5][20]
Cork Harlequins
In November 2016 Upton began playing for Cork Harlequins in the Women's Irish Hockey League.[17][20][21] Her teammates at Harlequins include Yvonne O'Byrne.[22] Upton, along with O'Byrne and Naomi Carroll, played for Harlequins in the 2017 Irish Senior Cup final, losing 1–0 to UCD.[23][24] In 2017–18 she helped Harlequins finish as runners up in both the Women's Irish Hockey League and the EY Champions Trophy.[25][26][27]
Catholic Institute
In 2018 Upton re-joined Catholic Institute as they became founder members of the Women's Irish Hockey League Division 2.[28][29][30][31]
International career
Róisín Upton made her senior debut for the Ireland women's field hockey team in 2016. She quickly established herself as a key midfielder and penalty corner specialist. Upton has earned 159 senior caps for Ireland, scoring 52 goals, with most coming from penalty corners and penalty strokes. She reached her 100th cap milestone in December 2022. Her 150th cap in June 2026.
Upton has had standout performances in major tournaments. At the 2019 EuroHockey Championship, she scored four goals against Belarus, helping Ireland secure a decisive victory. She has also contributed important goals in World Cup qualifiers, Nations Cup matches, and the FIH Olympic Qualifiers. Her most recent goal was scored on 20th August 2026 in the World Cup against New Zealand.
Historic Olympic Achievement
Upton played a pivotal role in Ireland's qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She scored the winning goal in the Olympic qualifier shootout against Canada, securing Ireland's first-ever Olympic appearance in women's hockey.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Upton became the first Irish female hockey player, to score at an Olympic Games. She scored in Ireland's opening match against South Africa on 24 July 2021, converting a penalty corner in the 9th minute to give Ireland an early lead. The match ended in a 2–0 victory, marking Ireland's first-ever win in Olympic women's hockey.
Ireland international
Together with Emily Beatty and Katie Mullan, Upton represented Ireland at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.[4][7][32] Graham Shaw first included Upton in an Ireland squad in 2015. In January 2016 she was also included in a squad for series of away games against Spain. However, on both occasions Upton had to withdraw from the squads because of injuries.[21][33] She eventually made her senior debut on 6 November 2016 against Scotland.[7][11][34] In January 2017 she was a member of the Ireland team that won a 2016–17 Women's FIH Hockey World League Round 2 tournament in Kuala Lumpur, defeating Malaysia 3–0 in the final.[35] Upton scored four goals in the tournament. On 17 January 2017 she scored her first senior Ireland goal in a 10–0 win against Hong Kong. On 19 January 2017 she scored a hat-trick in a 10–0 against Singapore.[18]
Upton represented Ireland at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup and was a prominent member of the team that won the silver medal.[3][6][36][37][38] She featured in all of Ireland's games throughout the tournament, including the pool games against the United States,[39] India[40] and England,[41] the quarter-final against India,[42][43] the semi-final against Spain [44][45] and the final against the Netherlands.[46] In opening game against the United States, Upton provided an assist for Anna O'Flanagan.[39] In the quarter-final against India, she was the first Ireland player to score in the penalty shoot-out.[22][47]
International Goals
| Goal | Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 17 January 2017 | Kula Lumpur, Malaysia |  Hong Kong |
1–0 | 10–0 | 2017 World League Round 2 |
| 2. | 19 January 2017 |  Singapore |
4–0 | 10–0 | ||
| 3. | 5–0 | |||||
| 4. | 8–0 | |||||
| 5. | 16 June 2017 | Berlin, Germany |  China |
2–2 | 2–5 | 2017 4 Nations Invitational |
| 6. | 8 July 2017 | Johannesburg, South Africa |  Japan |
1–0 | 1–1 | 2016–17 World League Semifinals |
| 7. | 18 July 2017 |  Argentina |
1–2 | 1–2 | ||
| 8. | 24 August 2017 | Amstelveen, Netherlands |  Czech Republic |
2–1 | 3–1 | 2017 EuroHockey |
| 9. | 11 June 2019 | Banbridge, Éire | Singapore |
4–0 | 11–0 | 2018–19 FIH Series Finals |
| 10. | 6–0 | |||||
| 11. | 19 August 2019 | Antwerp, Belgium |  Belarus |
1–0 | 11–0 | 2019 EuroHockey |
| 12. | 5–0 | |||||
| 13. | 7–0 | |||||
| 14. | 11–0 | |||||
| 15. | 26 January 2020 | Stellenbosch, South Africa |  South Africa |
3–0 | 5–1 | 2020 Test matches vs South Africa |
| 16. | 28 January 2020 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |||
| 17. | 9 June 2021 | Amstelveen, Netherlands |  Spain |
1–0 | 1–1 | 2021 EuroHockey |
| 18. | 24 July 2021 | Tokyo, Japan | South Africa |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2020 Olympic Games |
| 19. | 21 October 2021 | Pisa, Italy |  France |
1–0 | 4–1 | 2022 World Cup European Qualifier |
| 20. | 2 July 2022 | Wagener Stadium, Amstelveen |  Netherlands |
1–2 | 1–5 | 2022 World Cup |
| 21. | 10 July 2022 | South Africa |
2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 22. | 18 August 2022 | National Sports Campus, Dublin, Éire |  Poland |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2023 Women's EuroHockey Qualifiers |
| 23. | 3–0 | |||||
| 24. | 21 August 2022 |  Turkey |
6–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 25. | 24 August 2023 | Warsteiner HockeyPark, Germany | Spain |
1–0 | 2–2 | 2023 EuroHockey |
| 26. | 15 January 2024 | Estadio Beteró, Valencia, Spain |  Ukraine |
5–0 | 8–0 | 2024 Olympic Qualifiers |
| 27. | 16 January 2024 |  South Korea |
3–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 28. | 6 June 2024 | Terrassa, Spain | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2023–24 Nations Cup | |
| 29. | 1 March 2025 | Santiago, Chile |  United States |
1–1 | 2–1 | 2024–25 Nations Cup |
| 30. | 15 August 2025 | Warsteiner HockeyPark, Germany |  Scotland |
1–0 | 2–3 | 2025 EuroHockey |
| 31. | 2 March 2026 | Santiago, Chile |  Malaysia |
5–0 | 5–0 | 2026 World Cup Qualifiers |
Honours
- Women's Hockey World Cup
- Runners Up: 2018
- Women's FIH Hockey World League
- Winners: 2017 Kuala Lumpur Tournament
- Women's FIH Hockey Series
- Runners Up: 2019 Banbridge
- Women's Four Nations Cup
- Runners Up: 2017
TOYKO OLYMPICS 2020
- NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
- Big East Conference Field Hockey Tournament
- Winners: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Cork Harlequins
- Women's Irish Hockey League
- Runners Up: 2017–18
- Irish Senior Cup
- Runners Up: 2016–17
- EY Champions Trophy
- Winners: 2024,2025
IRISH SENIOR CUP winner 2022 Catholic Institute
Winner 2024, 2025 Railway Union
- Munster Schools Senior Cup
- Winners 2010, 2011
- Munster Schools Junior Cup
- Winners: 2008, 2009
