From healthcare to the hills: how two Tullamore sisters support each other

By Katie Kirk

The combination of working in healthcare in hospitals and competing in sport is a difficult one. Few manage the feat of putting others first in their jobs, while also striving for the peak of performance.

The European-wide decline in young people applying for nursing and the shortage of radiographers is well reported, but the Donegan family from Tullamore is making a significant contribution just by themselves.

Being from a big family of eight, all involved in athletics, there is some expectation of siblings being highly competitive, but the relationship between sisters Danielle and Nadine Donegan is entirely supportive.

“I'd say when we were younger, it didn't matter as much because we were different age groups, so we didn't see each other as competitive,” Nadine explained.

But even now, when they are competing in the same events and competitions, it is not about beating each other.

“I think we just like to see each other do really well… we both know how hard, we train outside of work and balancing that work life with running,” she added.

It’s not just athletics that the Donegan sisters are passionate about; Nadine and Danielle both work in healthcare, which can be a tricky balance, especially when trying to use annual leave to get the performance benefits of altitude training.

“I'm working the last year and a half in St. Vincent's Hospital… I'm a radiographer there, working full time and then just using annual leave to come on these trips,” explains Danielle.

The Donegan sisters are currently spending their holidays from their jobs as a nurse and radiographer at 1800m, in Font Romeu in the Pyrenees, where they are hoping to maximise the benefits of less work and oxygen, to boost their performances in the summer and beyond.

There are many challenges that come with working in hospitals and trying to run at a high level. For Danielle, picking up sickness more regularly has been a challenge.

“I think the challenging side is, because you're working in healthcare, you're just around sick people.

“I've just been so unlucky the last two seasons. The week before Euro cross (European Cross Country Championships), I ended up getting sick at work, it's just a bad flu and then the same before the week of Dunboyne (National 10k Championships) three weeks ago, it's a bit frustrating, there's nothing you can do to avoid it.”

Nadine’s role is physically and emotionally challenging, involving shift work on her feet for long periods, which can mean motivation is low after a long day.

“I'm a mental health nurse, I'm working in a psychiatric hospital.

“It can be quite draining mentally and physically, you're going all day, you don't really sit down at all.

“It's so hard to get the motivation and go training or do a session after work when you’re home.”

Of the large group of Irish athletes in France, a few can work remotely while there, which unfortunately is something the Donegan sisters don’t have the luxury of.

“It's hard not being able to work out here, a good few people work a couple of hours a day, which is nice, because they can obviously get away a lot more then, they don't need to use their annual leave, but we just picked the wrong jobs,” laughs Nadine.

Danielle is a regular to the hills for altitude. The stint in France will be her second of the year, having trained in Dullstroom, South Africa in January with another group from Athletics Ireland.

This time, sister Nadine has come along, and she is enjoying the exposure to the environment that has been the chosen training venue of some of the world’s most elite distance runners, including Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah, which will help her reap the rewards on the track.

It was also the venue for Athletics Ireland’s pre-European Championship camp before Rome last year, which yielded Ciara Mageean’s gold medal.

“I'm really grateful that I could come on this trip as well and just get a solid few weeks training in.

“I do a lot of training on my own, so I'm taking advice from Danielle and the group, good nutritional stuff and training things that I should be doing that I don't do.

“They're good tips, it's really nice to be with a group of people and hear their sides of things,” explains Nadine.

It’s also an opportunity for the Tullamore Harriers sisters to go back to where it all started, by running together.

“We've trained together every week since we were six and eight until the last two years, so it's been weird being so far apart,” explains Nadine.

The pair have followed each other into athletics and health-related jobs but are now living in different countries, Danielle working as a radiographer in Dublin and Nadine in London, pursuing a busy career as a psychiatric nurse; they are both still coached by Emmett Dunleavy.

“We kind of had similar paths, coaching-wise. We were with Damian Lawlor for all our juveniles, and then when we went to college, we moved on to Emmett,” notes Danielle.

“When we were kids, we used to run every evening after school together, which was great to have a bit of company, because I don't think either of us would have gone otherwise,” adds Nadine.

The pull to the family home in Tullamore is strong, with both daughters returning as often as they can, even Nadine, who is a flight away.

“I'm a massive home bird, I do try to come home once a month and when I say that people are like, ‘oh my God, you go home a lot’.

“When you've got a big family, it's so weird then living on your own and not being with them when you've grown up together.”

Their athletics journeys both started at the local athletics club, Tullamore Harriers, with their father John leading the way for his six children to all at least dip their toes into the sport.

Danielle has represented Ireland multiple times, claiming her second senior Irish vest by finishing third at the National Cross Country Championships in 2024. In the same race, Nadine finished tenth, not far off making the senior team and making a bit of history.

“I mean, that would be a massive goal if we could, but like Danielle said, she's really good at cross and I prefer track, so we have very different interests that way," said Nadine.

“We both would love to be on the same team together, it would definitely be a dream.”

*Katie Kirk is Athletics Ireland Media Officer and a sports journalist.