Caitriona graduated from UCD in 2004 with an Honour’s Degree in Physiotherapy and is a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists.

She began her working career with adults in various Physiotherapy Specialities such as Women’s Health, Plastics, Orthopaedics and Neurology, in both the Royal Hospital Donnybrook and the University Hospital Galway (UHG).

Caitriona then moved to Temple Street Children’s Hospital (TSCUH) in 2011 where she became the Senior Physiotherapist in Plastics and Musculoskeletal. Also, she was solely responsible for the delivery of the Physiotherapy service in the National Paediatric Craniofacial Centre (NPCC), which is based in TSCUH. 

During this time Caitriona acquired vast experience, namely with the conditions of Torticollis and Plagiocephaly, treating a range of ages from very young babies to infants and older children. On a national level she provided consultations to Doctors and Physiotherapists and acted as an educational resource. Caitriona is passionate in the field of prevention and as a member of the specialist Torticollis/Plagiocephaly working group she developed the National Plagiocephaly Information leaflet with the ISCP. She presents at national conferences, including the NPCC “Talking Heads” health professional information day; national Physiotherapy study days, including the Rotunda Physiotherapy Musculoskeletal Study Day and also has guest lectured to final year Physiotherapy students in RCSI on the Paediatric Module.  

Working within the NPCC Caitriona was part of the multidisciplinary team that set-up the first dedicated Facial Palsy clinic in Ireland in 2015. She completed the advanced Facial Palsy course run by the FTS (Facial Therapy Specialists)-UK group, of which she is now a member and conducted site visits to specialist Facial Palsy clinics in the UK to enhance her skills in this field. She is proficient in the assessment and physiotherapy management of Facial Palsy, including both conservative treatment and rehabilitation post reanimation surgery.

As Senior Physiotherapist in Plastics, Caitriona worked in the field of Hand Therapy, including the specialist area of Congenital Upper Limb Anomolies. Caitriona assessed and treated a wide range of rare and complex hand conditions and similar to her work in the NPCC, acted as a national educational resource, providing on-site training to Physiotherapists and Doctors. Caitriona previously gained extensive experience in adult Hand Therapy whilst working in GUH. Caitriona is a member of the Irish Hand Therapy Association and the British Hand Therapy Association and has also presented at the Irish Hand Surgery Society annual conference.

In addition to the above niche areas, Caitriona also worked in the wider Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy team in TSCUH. She treated a variety of conditions including Normal Variance (Flat feet; In/out-toeing; etc); Hypermobility; complex fractures and over-use injuries (Severs Disease; Osgood Schlatters Disease, etc). In 2015 Caitriona solely developed and presented an Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Study Day to the Midlands branch of the ISCP.

During her time in GUH Caitriona worked in the area of Women’s Health, providing antenatal/postnatal and gynae classes. She treated a wide variety of conditions including Pelvic Girdle Pain, Incontinence and Prolapse. She completed post graduate training in the Assessment and Management of Incontinence. She also became a qualified Pilates instructor and completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Acupuncture. Then whilst working with the very young babies in TSCUH Caitriona became acutely aware of how little education and correct rehabilitation is given to Mums in the postnatal period in particular. This, along with the personal experience of having 3 young children and trying to navigate a return to pre-pregnancy fitness/health, re-ignited her interest in the field of Women’s Health. To ensure both her skills and knowledge in this field are current, Caitriona more recently, has completed an advanced Manual Therapy course for the Pelvic Floor and the APPI (Australian Physiotherapy Pilates Institute) antenatal/postnatal Pilates Instructor course.

Caitriona is a keen sports person, having previously played football and lacrosse. Following a few broken bones (not good for someone working as a Physiotherapist!) she turned to running and completed a number of marathons. These days she is happy to run for fresh air and some headspace!