Women in Business: Marie Gleeson, a captain of industry and the Irish Navy

Marie Gleeson is a captain of the navy and industry. She made history in 2013 as the first Irish woman to take over the captaincy of an Irish naval ship, the L.E. Aoife from another woman.

From a life of adventure at sea, where she sailed transatlantic from Cadiz to New York via a tip of the Bermuda Triangle, Marie has successfully transferred her leadership and strategic decision-making skills learned on deck to the civilian world.

Marie was recently appointed to the prestigious role of Director of Consulting Operations at Limerick headquartered global consultancy firm, Ingenium.

It’s a long way from her childhood in Tipperary, where she grew up on a dairy farm in Ballykelly, located between Boherlahan and Dualla.

Marie enjoyed some of the best and most challenging experiences of her life in the Navy, for almost 21 years, before making the difficult call to return to civilian life in 2019, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. Marie never let the male-dominated environment of the navy deter her.

Inspired by her Army uncle, Lt Col (Rtd) Michael Clancy from Cashel, and used to the rough and tumble of life on the farm, Marie gained her sea legs with relative ease.

“I actually went for the Army and Navy cadetships at the same time, hoping to get the Army, so the nautical future was a shock to the system. However, I actually loved being at sea. It can be a very challenging environment, but there’s also real beauty and calm at sea.”

Marie’s mother Una Clancy is from the Camus Road in Cashel, and Marie attended Ballytarsna NS, the Convent, and Cashel Community School. Marie started in UCC before getting the Navy offer, and attended NUIG as part of her naval training, graduating in 2003.

Sailing all around Europe on foreign deployments, one of her most unique voyages was to Narvik in the Arctic Circle.

Marie says developing confidence in her own ability and her communication skills, through her naval training, have proven invaluable to her as a woman in business.

The structured work approach complimented by the agility to adapt quickly, learned from the fast-moving nature of life at sea, are crucial to how Marie now approaches her business life in a rapidly growing company.

Marie took the plunge into business in 2019, setting up her own consultancy, NavMar Leadership, before joining occupational health company Cognate Health in Cork in 2021, as their Chief Strategy Officer.

In January, she joined Limerick-based Ingenium, where the company mission is to deliver “transformational change in human and organisational performance”. Marie is the current recipient of the 30% Club scholarship for the Smurfit Business School, Diploma in Corporate Governance. Marie is married to John Prior, a senior mechanical engineer with Boston Scientific in Clonmel.

Marie says that “being a woman never hindered my career progression. My hope for my two young daughters, Laoise and Muireann, is that their future career and life ambitions are never limited by their gender”.