Dr. Kate Kirby: Olympic Sport Psychologist

Kate has worked at the highest level of sport for almost 20 years and has attended the London, Rio, Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games as a psychologist with Team Ireland. Through her position as a senior psychologist in the Sport Ireland Institute, she has worked directly with medal-winning athletes from Olympic rowing, Olympic sailing and Paralympic swimming. She has also supported World and European medalists from a range of sports such as athletics, women’s hockey, taekwondo, badminton and modern pentathlon.

Kate also works privately with athletes from individual sports such as golf and tennis and is actively supporting a number of successful touring professionals in both sports.

She also possesses considerable expertise in the area of athlete career and lifestyle management. Through her previous work as a personal development consultant for the Gaelic Player’s Association and at Rugby Players Ireland, she has supported the dual careers of many high-performance athletes and helped them through their transition out of elite sport and into the next phase of their working lives. Kate also acted in the role of psychology lead on the National Sports Science Working Group for Gaelic Games for a number of years.

More recently, Kate has transferred her high performance expertise from sport to business, and regularly speaks at corporate events throughout Ireland and abroad.

Originally from Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Kate now lives in Dublin with her husband and 2 children.