Mná na hÉireann Podcast Episodes
Episode 1: Naoimh Riordan (Ciara's sister!)
Naoimh Riordan is a distinguished Irish educator and a leading advocate for STEM/STEAM innovation in primary education. She became the first Irish teacher to join the TED-Educator cohort, creating a STEAM animation and presenting on the TED stage in New York in 2016. From Donoughmore, based in Cork City, she has gained significant regional recognition, including the STEM in the Community Initiative Award at the inaugural STEM South West Awards for her impactful work with Scoil Mhuire Junior School. She has also collaborated with Science Foundation Ireland and the European Space Agency on initiatives promoting primary science education.
Episode 2: Dearbhail Ormond
Dearbhail Ormond is the founder and CEO of frendo, a digital health platform building the data and care infrastructure layer for endometriosis and chronic women’s health. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis after nearly two decades of misdiagnoses, years marked by pain, confusion, and repeatedly trying to explain symptoms that weren’t being understood. At one point, she was told she would never be able to have children, something that shaped major life decisions before later being proven wrong. That experience didn’t just highlight a gap; it exposed a system that wasn’t built to understand women’s bodies. She founded frendo to change that. Dearbhail is from Dublin and lives in London.
Episode 4: Joanne Sweeney
Joanne Sweeney is the founder of Digital Training Institute, a four-time author, podcaster and one of Europe’s most in-demand AI speakers and trainers, helping organisations move from AI curiosity to confident adoption.
Episode 5: Claudia Redmond
Claudia Redmond is an experienced broadcast journalist, producer, and writer who has worked extensively across major media outlets including ITV, BBC, Sky News, and Channel 4. She is known for her work in the Entertainment and Arts field. She frequently reports and produces items on theatre, dance, and culture for TV, Social Media and print, including chatting to Irish performers in the West End for The Irish Post.
Episode 3: Edel Howlin
Edel Howlin is originally from Kildare and now living just outside Philadelphia, where she runs Untapped Communications - a PR and storytelling business - focused on nonprofits, small businesses, and mission-driven work. With a background in radio journalism in both Ireland and the U.S., she has spent her career helping people find the heart of their story. She’s also the founder of The Mediocre Gardener, a global project (and podcast) encouraging more people to plant native and embrace gardening without perfectionism. Whether she’s pitching a story, building a business, or talking plants, Edel is drawn to work that connects people, place, and purpose.
Episode 6: Stacey Grant-Canham
Stacey Grant-Canham is the founder of Black & Beech, a feminist fashion brand built on the belief that clothes aren’t neutral and neither is business. Originally from Limerick and now based in Cardiff, she has spent the past decade building a brand worn by over 40,000 people who see fashion as a form of expression, resistance and solidarity. Her work is shaped by feminism, craft, storytelling, and the belief that what we wear can carry meaning as well as function. Black & Beech produces its collections in women-owned factories across Portugal, and works with heritage makers in the UK, with screen printing or embroidery done locally in Cardiff. The brand has donated over £25,000 to feminist causes, including abortion access, domestic violence support and migrant women’s advocacy.
Episode 7: Julie Ryan
Julie Ryan is an acclaimed Irish film and television producer. She produced The Young Offenders movie, which ran for 24 weeks in cinemas, and became the fastest Irish film to surpass €1 million at the box office. It inspired the successful RTE and BBC series now in its fifth season. She then founded MK1 Studios, a female-led company and one of Ireland’s leading production companies. Her work expands outside of Ireland with co-productions such as Channel 4’s Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, starring Michael Sheen, the Sky Original film Finding You, starring Vanessa Redgrave… and she also worked on the true crime drama Maxine, landing at No.1 on Netflix in the UK and Ireland. She is from Cork and lives in Wicklow.
Episode 8: Kathy McLoughlin
Kathy McLoughlin is an Irish educator whose career has been defined by resilience, international experience, and a deep commitment to literacy. She taught English and religion at secondary school level in Ireland before spending two years in the UK, and then moving to Sudan where she lived for 12 years working across primary and secondary school settings before the war broke out in April 2023 and she and her family had to escape. She is from Mayo and lives in Mayo.
Episode 9: Kiera Dignam
Kiera Dignam is a female vocalist and songwriter who has performed on stages since the age of 13. She has performed in Ireland’s top musical venues and accompanied some of the biggest names in the Irish music industry such as Christy Dignam, Imelda May, Paul Casey and Damian Dempsey. Her debut album “Nepo baby” which was released in late 2023 went straight to number two in the charts and led to sell out shows. She is from Dublin and lives in Dublin.
Episode 10: Donna Gartland
Donna Gartland is CEO of Dublin's Energy Agency – Codema. Codema is a not-for-profit social enterprise and was established in 1997. Its mission is to accelerate the low-carbon transition in an innovative and inclusive way. Her journey to CEO was not a straight line - she tried art college first, then did an Arts Degree at UCD, then qualified as an electrician before returning to college to study engineering at TU Dublin. She then moved to Denmark to complete a master’s degree in Energy planning and management. She returned to Dublin and started as an intern at Codema before working her way up to CEO. She has won several awards for her leadership and is currently shortlisted for the EU Women in Energy Award 2026, with the winner decided by public vote in June.
Episode 11: Carina Roseingrave
Carina Roseingrave is a full-time farmer, entrepreneur who was recently named the Department of Agriculture’s Woman Farmer Ambassador for the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Carina farms at the foothills of the Burren, alongside her brother Gerry, where they run a thriving mixed farm with dairy, beef and pedigree suckler cattle. When Covid and the pandemic hit, she ventured into growing an egg business – Burren View Farm eggs. She credits the ACORNS programme which helps early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland for supporting her and providing her with the assistance she needed to start running her farm like a business. Carina also stars in the new film ‘Voices of Irish Farmers: A love story’. She was a member of the Clare team that won the 2008 All-Ireland.
Episode 12: Sasha Hamrogue
Sasha Hamrogue was born in America to Irish parents and lives in Kildare. Sasha is the Digital Director at Onic, overseeing digital strategy and growth for seven Onic radio stations, the Onic Originals podcast network and talkSPORT Ireland. She oversees digital for FM104 in Dublin, Dublin's Q102, Cork's 96FM, C103, Live95 in Limerick, Louth and Meath’s LMFM, and U105 based in Belfast and serves Northern Ireland. Not only that she is also an accomplished writer, having written for The Guardian, the Irish Independent, Rolling Stone and more. Sasha is also founder of the 'Mamas Working 9-5 and Beyond' an online group supporting women balancing work and home life. And she’s also the former co-host of the Grief Encounters podcast.
Episode 13: Imelda Phillips
Imelda Phillips is an ex Irish international athlete long jumper. After 15 years of working in high performance sport environments, Imelda founded her own consultancy business called Arete Sport. The Cork native who lives in Swansea is also the Athlete Engagement Manager at Switch the Play Foundation – the UK’s only dedicated charity that helps elite athletes to transition out of sport. She also holds both a BSc and MSc in Sport & Exercise Science. She is currently on the Women's sport collective pilot fearless women in sport leadership program. The women's sport collective is a free global community for women working in sport across all roles and all levels.
Episode 14: Hilary McGann
Originally from Limerick and now based in Boston, Hilary McCann is a journalist, content creator and fellow podcaster who has built a loyal audience through her Instagram platform NewsbyHil, where she breaks down complex news stories and global events in a clear and engaging way. After studying Journalism and New Media at the University of Limerick, Hilary worked in media in Ireland before spending several years as a producer at CNN in London. She is also the host of the podcast Booked In, where she interviews bestselling non-fiction authors.
Episode 15: Dr. Jan Cosgrave
Born in Dublin, grew up in Maynooth, now based in London, Dr. Jan Cosgrave is an Irish founder, clinical psychologist and the CEO and co-founder of Neurotype, a venture-backed AI platform that helps clinicians cut the time it takes to write autism and ADHD diagnostic reports from several hours to under 45 minutes. Jan holds a PhD from Oxford and a Clinical Doctorate from UCL, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. A proud Irish woman, born in Dublin and raised in Maynooth, Jan is a devoted Six Nations fan who watches every match with her father.
Episode 16: Janet Newenham
Janet Newenham is an award-winning travel journalist, content creator and entrepreneur. From Cork, based in Bali, Indonesia for the last 10 years, Janet has travelled to more than 140 countries including North Korea in March 2025 and Iraq in 2023. She is the founder of “Janet’s Journeys” - a travel company that brings women to the far-flung corners of the earth, from Afghanistan to Antarctica. This Irish woman has built up a huge following on social media too!
Episode 17: Aishling Ennis
Aishling Ennis leads ‘Slack’ across the UK & Ireland at Salesforce, helping organisations rethink how work gets done in the age of AI. What is slack you may ask – it is a cloud-based communication and collaboration platform designed for workplaces. Aishling is from Dublin, lives in London. She holds a degree from DCU(Dublin city university) in Communication and Media studies and has a master’s in business management from UCD’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business school. She previously volunteered in several organisations including the Irish Redcross, Junior Achievement Ireland and 100 minds social enterprise. Over nearly a decade at Salesforce, she’s built a reputation for combining commercial leadership with a people-first mindset. She is passionate about women in business & leadership.