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During her 31-year career as a soldier in the Irish Defence Forces, Karina Molloy achieved many firsts. First female to get promoted to Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) rank. First to attempt the Army Ranger Wing selection course – Ireland’s SAS equivalent – when it was considered impossible for women. And, to date, Karina has the most overseas service as a female senior NCO.
But despite a pioneering career, she faced many setbacks in an institution rife with misogyny – from sexual assault to routine bullying to promotional glass ceilings. And yet she persevered. From Lebanon to Eritrea to Bosnia, A Woman in Defence is the often shocking story of a determined soldier who forged her way in a man’s world, and who continues to fight to make the army a safer and more equitable place for women. What emerges is a damning exposé of a venerable Irish institution which has failed to defend and protect its own.
Karina Molloy grew up in Donegal and fulfilled her dream to enter the Irish Defence Forces as a young woman, in 1981. She retired after a thirty-one-year career, where she claimed many first achievements for a female recruit, including Senior Non-Commissioned Officer rank. She is part of the Women of Honour group which set up in the wake of the military #metoo movement, detailing allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination in the Irish military, and advocating for change and accountability.
Kathryn Rogers has been writing professionally for decades, most of it as a fulltime journalist and columnist. She has also been successfully ghostwriting and co-authoring books in more recent years. She lives in Clontarf in Dublin.