Friends of Ireland - Celebrating International Women's Day with inspiring tales from Friends of Ireland women

International Women's Day 2024

Celebrating International Women's Day 2024

with inspiring tales from Friends of Ireland women

To celebrate International Women's Day, Friends of Ireland The Tara Trust profiled strong, independent women. 8 March is International Women’s Day – devoted to celebrating the achievements of women.

It began life as National Women’s Day in the United States back in February 1909. The following year, at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark, women’s rights activist Clara Zetkin called for an international women’s day to give women a greater voice to further their demands for equal rights.

It was unanimously approved by the female attendees from 17 countries, including Finland’s first three women MPs. International Women’s Day was marked for the first time in March 1911 – and the date was fixed as 8 March in 1913. The UN celebrated it for the first time in 1975 and in 1996 it announced its first annual theme: "Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future".

Grainne Moss

Gráinne Moss is arguably Irelands most accomplished female open water swimmer. At 16 she was the first female to represent Ireland in open water swimming at the World Championships. At 17 she became the first Irish woman to swim the English Channel. She has continued to achieve many firsts including the first Irish woman to swim Cook Strait (2001) Foveaux (2022), Lake Taupō (2021) and the Channel of Bones in Hawaii (2023). She holds three Triple Crowns of Open Water Swimming (awarded when a swimmer has completed three of the toughest swims in any nation) - including appropriately the Irish and New Zealand Triple Crowns given she was born in Ireland and moved to New Zealand in 1998.
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Nic Russell

In a world where many shy away from adversity, Nic Russell faces it head on. Her story is marked by unthinkable challenges – from confronting her own health crises, including cancer, Parkinson’s, heart failure, and subsequently, a heart transplant, to the soul-crushing death of her 3-year-old daughter, Kenzie, to cancer. But instead of succumbing to these trials, Nic channeled her grief and experiences in the creation of a charity to help others: Kenzie's Gift.
This organization has since been a cornerstone in providing vital mental health support for families navigating the anguish of serious illness or grief. With an indomitable spirit and a deep-rooted desire to help others, Nic Russell’s story is not just one of survival, but of profound transformation and giving back.
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Laura Murphy

Laura Murphy is an accomplished Human Resources Director/Senior Executive Coach with over 20 years’ experience in global fintech, chartered accountants and Irish owned indigenous companies. In addition, she is a Board Director of both Special Olympics Ireland and St Olivers Community Centre, CLG. Laura is a practical & decisive leader/ facilitator who offers commercially orientated people & business solutions using a commonsense approach in a non-judgmental way.
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, in addition she is a Certified Senior Executive Coach, who works one-to-one with individuals on topics such as development, leadership & high performance. Together Laura works with clients to help better identify and achieve the results they want in their career, workplace & life.
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Jess Murphy

Jess Murphy is a New Zealand-born chef. She moved to Ireland in 2003 and opened the doors to Kai Restaurant in 2011 with her Carlow-native husband, Dave Murphy. Having won countless awards since then, Kai has transformed Galway's food scene for the better and is a must-try when visiting Galway. With sustainability at the forefront of her business and with a motto "what's in season will be on your plate", Kai works closely with 100's of local farmers and producers to ensure fresh quality produce at all times of the year. Kai is the Maori word for food and Jess loves to bring a taste of New Zealand everywhere she goes!
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Louise Garbett

Louise Garbett was born in Dublin and moved to Auckland in 2002. She set up a Facebook group called the Auckland Family Freecycle six years ago, based on an idea she had seen overseas. The group allows the free exchange on unwanted goods which often would otherwise end up in landfill. There are currently 17 thousand active members in the group and approximately 3000 general household items per month find a new home.
That’s approximately 160,000 items in the few years that the group has been active.
Louise’s other job is running a foodbank in Mt Roskill at the Communities Feeding Communities Initiative. The team here run community gardens, free cooking classes, a pataka kai and many other community events endeavouring to address food insecurity in the Puketãpapa area.
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Orla Harkin

Órla Harkin lives in Wellington and is a leading strategic business consultant and futurist dedicated to helping leaders solve the uncertainty of the future. Raised and educated in Belfast, Órla began her career as a barrister. Today, based in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a far reaching global network, Órla is a proud member of the Irish diaspora.
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Mary White

Mary joins us from Ireland and tells us about her book.
The collection of short stories brings readers on a journey along the Irelands Wild Atlantic Way, delving into the lives, dilemmas, and intricate relationships of families and characters across nine distinct counties.
Each story along one of the longest defined coastal routes in the world, explores universal themes of love, loss, hope, and redemption against the backdrop of stunning landscapes unseen by a mere glance at the map. From the windswept cliffs of Donegal to the rugged shores of Cork, I bring readers on a journey of heart-warming moments and unexpected twists while diving into the magic of Irelands coastal heritage.
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