Hannah Shields
Irish mountaineer
Hannah Shields (born c. 1965) is an athlete best known for becoming the first woman from Northern Ireland to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 2007 (at age 41). She was also the first Irish woman to ski to the North magnetic pole in 2004, racing with Chris van Tulleken as part of the Polar Challenge. Parts of their journey were recorded by the BBC for their 'Challenge' series. She has completed over 50 marathons and ultra-marathons.
Shields is an orthodontist, splitting her time between her orthodontal work, training and expeditions. She is considered to be one of Northern Ireland's top explorers. Hannah Shields was born in Kilrea and lives in Derry City.
Early life
Shields was born to parents Kevin (deceased) and Elizabeth (Betty) Shields, and grew up with six siblings. She is described being "quiet as a child" in an interview with Joanne Murphy for Tri Talking Sport in April 2021, and says that she was encouraged to participate in sport whilst growing up.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hannah Shields” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.