O'Connor enrolled in the College of Technology, Bolton Street, Dublin in 1968, winning the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) and Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI) combined prize in 1971 and a travelling scholarship in 1972.
[1] From 1973 to 1974, O'Connor was a member of the committee of the AAI, going on become joint secretary and treasurer from 1974 to 1975, and serving as vice-president from 1975 to 1976.
In 1976 she won the Cement Roadstone housing research fellowship at the school of architecture in UCD, going on to become a tutor there from 1977 to 1990.
She served as a visiting critic at the Dublin Institute of Technology school of architecture, Bolton Street from 1989 to 1992, and as an external examiner in 1993, 1995 and 1996.
[1] O'Connor died from cancer on 3 October 1999, and is buried beside her parents at Kilquade new cemetery, County Wicklow.