Fionnghuala O'Reilly
{{Short description|Model and Miss Universe Ireland 2019}}
{{Infobox pageant titleholder
| name = Fionnghuala O'Reilly
| image = Fig O'Reilly at Miss Universe 2019.png
| caption = O'Reilly at Miss Universe Ireland 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1993|08|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Fort Knox, Kentucky, U.S.
| occupation = Model, beauty pageant titleholder
| title = Miss Universe Ireland 2019
| competitions = Miss Universe Ireland 2019
(Winner)
Miss Universe 2019
(Unplaced)
| height = {{height|m=1.75|precision=0}}
| website = {{url|figoreilly.com}}
}}
Fionnghuala "Fig" O'Reilly (born 20 August 1993) is an Irish-American model and beauty pageant titleholder, and a data analyst. In 2019 she was crowned Miss Universe Ireland. She made history as the first woman of color and Black woman to represent Ireland at the international Miss Universe competition.{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/human-interest/miss-universe-ireland-fionnghuala-oreilly-nasa-datanaut/|title=History-Making Miss Universe Ireland Is a NASA Datanaut: 'You Can Be a Renaissance Woman'|author=Rachel DeSantis|date=December 5, 2019|website=people.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/fionnghuala-isibeal-tome-oreilly-1993/|title=Fionnghuala Isibeal Tome O'Reilly, (1993- )|first=Robert|last=Fikes|date=August 29, 2020 |website=BlackPast.org}}
In 2020, Fionnghuala joined Miranda Cosgrove on CBS's Daytime Emmy-nominated television series Mission Unstoppable as the newest correspondent.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/geena-davis-miranda-cosgrove-mission-unstoppable-1234827215/|title=Geena Davis series returns for season 2|website=Variety.com|accessdate=31 August 2020}} Fionnghuala also joined the cast of HBO Max Best Documentary nominated film Twenty Pearls directed by Deborah Riley Draper.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/kamala-harris-alpha-kappa-alpha-sorority-twenty-pearls-phylicia-rashad-1234936213/ |title=Vice President Kamala Harris Celebrates Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Sisterhood in 'Twenty Pearls' Documentary (EXCLUSIVE) |website=Variety.com|date=23 March 2021 }}
Life and career
=Early life=
Fionnghuala, who often goes by "Fig," was born to an Irish father and African American mother.{{Cite web |url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/irish-showbiz/fionnghuala-oreilly-miss-universe-ireland-20854396|title=Miss Universe Ireland faced racial prejudice in modelling industry|first=Katie|last=Gallagher|date=November 10, 2019 |website=Irish Mirror}} O'Reilly signed her first model contract at 19 with an agency in Milan, Italy. She has a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., which she has used to become a NASA Datanaut and regional director of NASA's Space Apps Challenge in Washington, DC.
O'Reilly is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.{{Cite web|url=https://www.watchtheyard.com/akas/miss-universe-fionnghuala-oreilly/|title=Miss Universe Ireland is a Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Who Works at NASA|date=December 9, 2019 |website=WatchTheYard.com}}
=Pageantry=
In 2017, O'Reilly competed in Miss District of Columbia USA 2018, where she won a swimsuit award winner and placed as the third runner-up. On August 1, 2019, O'Reilly competed as Miss Dublin in the Miss Universe Ireland 2019 pageant in Dublin, Ireland. She won the competition in a historic moment as the first woman of colour to do so in the pageants history since 1961. She was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Grainne Gallanagh. As Miss Universe Ireland, she represented Ireland at the Miss Universe 2019 pageant and her platform spotlighted the need for diversity and women in STEM (science, technology, engingeering, and math). She ultimately finished Unplaced.{{cite web|url=https://www.buzz.ie/celebs/fionnghuala-oreilly-dublin-reland-334115#|title=NASA Analyst Fionnghuala O'Reilly from Dublin wins Miss Universe Ireland 2019|publisher=Buzz.ie|last=Followell|first=Haylee|accessdate=2 August 2019}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/nasa-analyst-miss-universe-ireland|title=NASA analyst crowned Miss Universe Ireland|date=2 August 2019 |publisher=Irish Central|accessdate=2 August 2019}}
=Philanthropy=
In 2021, O'Reilly received the AAIDN Heritage and Diaspora Spirit Award from the African American Irish Diaspora Network's Inaugural Diaspora Leadership Awards Gala, hosted by Mary McAleese.{{cite web |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/events/african-american-irish-diaspora-network-awards-gala|title=African American Irish Diaspora Network to host its Inaugural Diaspora Leadership Awards Gala|date=9 May 2022 |publisher=Irish Central|accessdate=24 May 2022}} In 2022, O'Reilly launched Space to Reach, an organization dedicated to advancing Black to Brown women in STEM.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/05/17/workday-television-correspondent-tech/|title=What is tv correspondent and Tech Founder Fig O'Reilly does in a Work Day|
newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=24 May 2022}}
Data analysis
O'Reilly works for NASA as a data analyst.{{cite news |last1=Gataveckaite |first1=Gabija |title=Out of this world - Nasa data analyst Fionnghuala O’Reilly crowned Miss Universe Ireland 2019 |url=https://www.independent.ie/style/out-of-this-world-nasa-data-analyst-fionnghuala-oreilly-crowned-miss-universe-ireland-2019/38367628.html |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=Irish Independent |date=1 August 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Jennifer |title=Fionnghuala O’Reilly: 'I have to speak up for Black women' |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/people/arid-40730718.html |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=Irish Examiner |date=31 October 2021}} She is a director of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge initiative run by NASA.{{cite news |title='Modelling and pageantry prepared me for the work that I do in technology' |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/people/engineers-week-fionnghuala-oreilly |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=Silicon Republic |date=6 March 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://missuniverseireland.eu/ Miss Universe Ireland Official Website]
- {{instagram|figoreilly}}
- [https://spacetoreach.com/ Space To Reach]
- [https://www.figoreilly.com/ www.figoreilly.com]
{{S-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{S-bef|before=Grainne Gallanagh}}
{{s-ttl|title=Miss Universe Ireland
|years=2019}}
{{S-aft|after=Nadia Sayers}}
{{S-end}}
{{Miss Universe 2019 delegates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:OReilly, Fionnghuala}}
Category:African-American female models
Category:American beauty pageant winners
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:Beauty pageant contestants from Ireland
Category:Female models from Washington, D.C.
Category:George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Category:Irish beauty pageant winners
Category:Miss Universe 2019 contestants