Meet the Limerick woman key to Mayo footballers success
Dr Rachel Sheehan, a Limerick woman who lives in Nenagh, is the sports phycologist with Andy Moran’s Mayo senior football team
AS MAYO ended 75 years of hurt and suffering they did so with the help of a Limerick woman playing a key role in the backroom team.
Dr Rachel Sheehan, a Limerickwoman who lives in Nenagh, is the sports phycologist with Andy Moran’s team. Performing the ‘Caroline Currid role’ with Mayo, Dr Sheehan insists any talk of a ‘curse’ was just outside noise.
"It never came up in dialogue within Mayo," she told RTE’s ‘Behind the Story’ podcast.
"It’s not that it was active avoidance, it was more that it just wasn’t really relevant.
"It wasn’t relevant to what we were doing here in 2025/2026, so it never even came up."
"When we do reflect on the past, it’s a really intentional, purposeful activity that we do - and we certainly didn’t start this year by reflecting back on 10 years past or 75 years past," the former Castletroy College student said.
"It was about where we are now, and how we take where we’re at to move forward day by day, week by week," she added.
A former professional basketball player, Rachel completed her Structured PhD in Physical Education and Sport Sciences with Sport Psychology in UL's Faculty of Education and Health Sciences - and received her doctorate just weeks after welcoming her first child in 2018.
In recent years she has worked with the Galway and Dublin senior hurling teams.
"I’m really strong on building relationships with the lads and trying to make sure there’s that caring approach right from the get-go," she said.
"I’d be very big on doing one-to-ones - I do those from home in Nenagh via videocall and I could have a handful of them every single week.
"They cover anything from college, partners, furniture shopping, renovations - we get on to football as well, but it’s very important to connect with the lads as young men so we always start with that."
"Loads of group sessions, loads of one-to-ones and then I’d be in Mayo at least twice a week.
"So, trying to connect with all of them, learn as much as I can - because you’re trying to connect the dots between all those pieces when you’re in a psychology role," she added.
Dr Sheehan revealed it was her time playing college basketball in the US that generated her interest in the area of sports psychology.
“I periodically met a sport psychologist named Jeff Troesch when I played college basketball in California. I never experienced any major setbacks but found that he always presented a unique perspective when we spoke.
“He was refreshing and supportive and left me wanting to explore different ways I could improve, which is something I try to incorporate into my work today.”