'We should always be chasing the rainbow'

Denise McDonagh has achieved more in her life so far than many of us can only imagine and you get the impression that she is not finished yet.

The Ballaghaderreen native is currently a long-haul pilot but has had an impressive career in the Defence Forces and managed to win a few All-Ireland senior football titles with Mayo as well.

Denise is passionate about surrounding yourself with people who inspire you to be a better version of yourself every day – something she clearly lives by.

I sat down with Denise in Ballaghaderreen to chat about her journey so far.

Angelina: Denise, tell me a little about yourself.

Denise: I'm originally from Cloontia, outside Ballaghaderreen. I went to primary school there. Then the big leap would come with going into St Nathy's College for secondary school. I think it was at that point in my life that I found sport. 

GAA has always been a big part of my life. I distinctly remember in 1989 when John O'Mahony came home with that team, and I was in awe. Going to bed that night, the big dream I had was to play for Mayo. 

Knock Airport, as it was then, had just opened up. So Johnno and that team of 1989 flew into Knock after the All-Ireland Final. I was equally mesmerised by the fact that they'd come in on an aeroplane down the road and I remember that night thinking I really want to play for Mayo but also the thought of I'd love to fly an aeroplane as well.

Angelina: So you loved sport at secondary school?

Denise: Oh, absolutely, yes, I loved it. I played basketball with Frances Dunne, I played football too - Johnno was one of my coaches, and my uncle Brian Tansey as well. I was fortunate enough to be picked up for Mayo trials early on. I played football for Mayo for years and that was probably one of my lifelong ambitions. I was part of that successful team of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The training and the resilience of that team were phenomenal. In 1999, I joined the cadets. The morning after the 1999 All-Ireland Final win, I went into the Defence Forces.

Angelina: So the morning after the 1999 All-Ireland you began another career... what sparked that interest, Denise?

Denise: I'm really patriotic. There was a career talk in the school from John Maughan. He was a Captain in the Army at the time. It really captured my attention. I remember that distinctly, and after speaking to my Mum and Dad and getting their guidance, we reached a compromise and that was that I'd secure a place in university and if I still wanted to go into the Army, I could do it then. 

So that's what I did. I went to UCD to secure my place, and the Army thing still hadn't left my mind. I had looked at their brochure and I could see that there was Army, Air Corps and Navy. So I thought maybe I could be a pilot. 

So I scanned through the brochure very quickly and I could see the height restriction to be a pilot at the time was five foot six. Now I'm barely touching five foot four. My heart sank thinking, I can't be a pilot. I secured my place in UCD – on an Arts degree in Maths, History and Politics. 

I had gone on the application process for the cadets and had interviewed and I'd been successful. We left Ballyhaunis on the Thursday afternoon before the All-Ireland Final to go to Maynooth, so when I left home on that day to go for the final, I was leaving home to not come back until Christmas. I remember being on the pitch and Croke Park and I said to my Dad, 'I can't go in tomorrow, I'll have to go celebrating with the girls' and he said, 'You've made the decision, so you have to stick with it'. So Dad drove back down home after the final and he came back up the next morning and collected me from the Burlington Hotel and drove down to the Curragh Camp and I started my cadetship.

Angelina: How long did you serve in the Defence Forces?

Denise: I ended up serving 13 years. Cadetship lasts two years, so I completed that. My motivation in the cadet school was to train hard and perform well in my exams because I always would try to have a weekend pass to get out to play for Mayo. It meant that I was performing to the best of my abilities in the cadet school and I ended up topping my cadet class. 

I'd already started in university, so the Army allowed me to go back and finish university in Galway. I chose to serve in the Cavalry Corps, which is mechanised and vehicles. The unit I went to was the Second Cav Squadron. One of our main roles is to do ceremonial duties on the motorcycles for the President. I had two terms with Mary McAleese. 

I was very fortunate at the time - we were sending troops to Liberia and my Cavalry unit were picked to be the lead reconnaissance unit. So I was the officer in charge of 29 soldiers in Liberia for six months. You normally send back normally one officer per cadet class to instruct in the military college. So when I returned from overseas, I was selected to go back and instruct in the military college. 

Then I went to Chad during the Darfur conflict and I was working in a more international environment there. I came back from there and then you normally get your pick of basing when you finish in the cadet school. 

I remember a senior officer, Frank Lawless, he has since passed away, Colonel Lawless, an exceptional character - he rang me and asked where I was picking to go. I said, 'Sir, I'm going to go back to Cavalry'. He said, 'That sounds lovely but I'm in Army headquarters and I want you to work for me'. 

So I ended up going up to Army headquarters and working in the training and assessment branch. Through my time in the defence forces and especially abroad, I got to meet people like Jim Gavin. I trained with Air Corps cadets and I trained Air Corps cadets. I got exposure to flying again. So this bug about flying never went away.

Angelina: So how did you address that bug?

Denise: By meeting these guys I started to realise how you could train to be a pilot. I don't need to be five foot six to do it in the Air Corps. I could take lessons myself. 

When I came back from my trip to Chad, I had saved some money and I thought now is the time. I found a flight school down in Cork and I decided to take the plunge. For about two years, I was working Monday to Friday in Dublin and I'd be coming down to Mayo on Wednesdays and Fridays for Mayo training. And on Friday night, I'd come down to Castlebar, I train with Mayo. I'd either stay with one of the local girls if I was too tired, or I'd get back in the car, continue on down to Cork, do flight lessons in Cork all day Saturday, and then Sunday it would be a Mayo match again. 

So the plan had been to just learn to fly - get my private lessons, get my private licence, scratch the itch and leave it at that. But when I started taking flying lessons, I just fell in love with it. And two years on, I had passed all my exams and I had qualified, and I was still in the military. 

At the same time, I was getting ready to form up to go overseas to Lebanon and I was also actively seeking a flying job. I did try to transfer into the [Air Corps] but it wasn't an option. Eventually, a call came from Ryanair and they offered me a job. So I retired from the military and embarked on this career in aviation.

Angelina: So tell us about the pilot career then.

Denise: I started with Ryanair and was very grateful for the opportunity. I wanted to go into long-haul eventually. An opportunity presented itself with a company called Norwegian. I did my training on the Boeing 787. 

I got my licence on the 787, but within about six months, an opportunity arose within Virgin Atlantic, which to me is like an absolute dream. So I'm with Virgin eight years, and it's still my dream job. Career-wise, I'm at the point that I've just passed my exams to become a captain. In the next six months, I'll hopefully have achieved that and I'll be flying as the captain of the 787 Virgin Atlantic. So, I'm living in Ballaghaderreen but I see the world, I get the buzz, I fly in my aeroplane, I do exams every six months and I get to come home again.

Angelina: What keeps you driven Denise?

Denise: I know my friends think of me as someone with a really positive mindset. I feel that you're probably a reflection of the people you spend your time with. And when I look at my circle of friends, they're outstanding people. If I'm a reflection of my friends, I'm pretty proud of where I'm at.

But I have a small little thing - it's called 'Proud but never satisfied'. I want to go to bed every night proud of what I've done but you should never be satisfied. There's always more. I've just come back from climbing Mont Blanc, and I've done that for CJ McCann, a young baby who passed away last year in Ballaghaderreen. One of his hashtags is 'chase the rainbow'. And I carried his little rainbow on the climb. We should always be chasing the rainbow.

Angelina: What would you say to people reading this who have a dream but might be afraid to pursue it?

Denise: Find something you're passionate about, for starters. I sat with my passion for years and years. I think if there's something inside you that you want to do, you have to honour yourself. 

We have one shot at life and it's yours to own. And even if it sounds crazy, just add the word ‘yet’, I can't do this yet. Surround yourself with good people. And when an opportunity presents, grab it and figure out the detail after that. I'd always choose to be the one in the arena walking the walk, then the critic in the stands talking the talk.