[1] Vera McWeeney was born Veronica Mary Elizabeth Mahony in Blarney, County Cork on 21 July 1909.
Her father was managing director of the family business Martin Mahony & Bros Ltd. She married sports journalist, Arthur McWeeney in 1940.
In 1936 she captained Ireland on a tour of the United States, first attending a world hockey conference and then a tournament in Philadelphia where they won two of their five exhibition matches.
She was elected the president of the Irish Ladies Hockey Union in 1951, and served as a senior umpire and international selector for a number of years.
[1] McWeeney started work as a freelance reporter for the Irish Independent following the death of her husband in 1958, writing about ladies’ hockey, tennis, badminton, and squash.