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Roberta O’Brien, a native of Tipperary, has become the first woman in Naval Service history to achieve the rank of Commander.
She joined the Permanent Defense Forces in 1995 and was part of the first female personnel addition to the Irish Navy alongside her classmate Orlaith Gallagher, who is now Lieutenant Commander.
She was commissioned as an Officer in 1997.
Commander O’Brien has served in a wide variety of roles and appointments at sea and on land, including Senior Personnel Officer at Naval Headquarters, Health and Safety Advisor, and Cadet Class Officer.
More recently, she was second in command of the Naval Service Logistics Unit.
In 2008, Commander O’Brien became the first female captain of an Irish warship when she assumed command of the LÉ Aisling.
Since then, seven women have gone on to command ships in the Irish Navy and in 2019 three ships (out of nine) were commanded by women.
The mother of three young children, her husband, Peadar Ó Catháin, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Irish Army currently stationed at the headquarters of the EU General Staff in Brussels.
Commander O’Brien, who is from Glen of Aherlow in Tipperary, has also served overseas as part of the European Naval Force Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, deployed aboard the Italian flagship.
There was another historic day for the Irish Navy last month when 2nd Lt. Tahlia Britton of Donegal became their first diver.
Established in the 1960s, the dive unit is an elite part of the Naval Service with up to 30 divers.
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