A Golden Vale nursing dynasty celebrates International Nurses Day

FOR THE five O’Keeffe sisters from Athlacca in the heart of the Golden Vale, International Nurses Day is truly a family affair. Joining the Mid West nursing workforce at various points since the 1980s, Eileen (Williams), Angela (O’Farrell), Marie (O’Brien), Triona (Neenan) and Noelle (Cregan) have amassed a total of more than 175 years’ nursing experience between them.

Following the example set by an earlier generation in their family (four of their aunts were nurses who trained and worked in hospitals in England and Cork), the siblings’ passion for nursing has now passed on to the next generation.Eileen Williams’s son and daughter, Sam and Clodagh, Triona Neenan’s daughter Ciara, and Noelle Cregan’s son Patrick are all BSc Nursing Students at the School of Nursing & Midwifery in the University of Limerick. It doesn’t stop there: Angela O’Farrell’s daughters have entered nursing training at MTU Tralee, Emma in Mental Health Nursing and Aisling in General Nursing.

Eileen is a Clinical Nurse Manager (CNM2) in Nursing Manpower; Triona is a Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Medical Oncology, UHL; Noelle is a CNM1 at St John’s Hospital; Angela is CNM2 in Infection Prevention and Control, UHL; and Marie, the first of the sisters to become a nurse, is a CNM2 in the Intensive Care Unit, UHL.

The family will celebrate International Nurses Day with thousands of nurses across the region this Tuesday. May 12 is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale, who transformed nursing into a profession driven by compassion and science, and grounded in evidence, hygiene and education, which remain the bedrock of contemporary nursing and healthcare.

Ber Murphy, Chief Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Mid West Acute Hospitals, paid tribute to the Mid West nursing workforce for International Nurses Day:

Ahead of International Nurses Day 2026, Triona Neenan, Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Medical Oncology, UHL, reflected on the importance of nursing, what nursing offers as a career, and the attractiveness of nursing in the Mid West generally and UHL in particular.

Q: Why is nursing important?

Triona Neenan: It’s difficult to sum it up succinctly, but what drew me in was when I spent a summer on work experience in a nursing home after I did my Leaving Cert. That was when I really first appreciated what people were able to do for others, simply by being kind, and the dignity and positive impact that that has for people, whether it was just feeding a patient some lunch, or straightening their tie, and the other more complex tasks. It’s just about helping people, and I absolutely loved it, and have never looked back.

Q: Would you recommend nursing as a career?

TN: One-hundred percent. However, it has to come from the person. Nursing is challenging and it’s not for everyone. I think back to myself at Leaving Cert age, and how I bridled when, because my older sisters were in nursing, relatives or friends told me that I would be nursing too. I was completely against it. But when I did work experience in a nursing home, I made the decision then, and have never looked back. Nursing is like a diving board into an ocean of opportunity, whether you go into management and admin or go for patient-focused frontline nursing, in the acutes, in community, education, pharmaceutical. And that opportunity is there right throughout your career. My own sister Eileen spent 30 years in theatre nursing, and is now in Nursing Manpower. Those opportunities for development are there throughout your lifetime of nursing.

Q: What is so special about nursing in UHL and the Mid West?

TN: The hospitals in the Mid West are growing and expanding, and they’re among the best in the country. I think all but 7-8 years of our collective experience has been in UHL. Obviously, there’s loyalty to the place where you trained, and the good relationships you develop with colleagues, and for us, there’s family. But ultimately, UHL is a damned good hospital with wonderful opportunities, and it’s up there with the best of them.