Fionnghuala O'Reilly

Fionnghuala "Fig" O'Reilly made history as the first woman of color to win Miss Universe Ireland, a title she captured on August 1, 2019, while competing as Miss Dublin. Born on August 20, 1993, in Fort Knox, Kentucky, she is American, of mixed-race (primarily Black) heritage. She is also a model and beauty pageant contestant, standing 5'9" with a slim build, black hair, and brown eyes.

O'Reilly's background is as diverse as her achievements. Her father is Irish and her mother is African American. She signed her first modeling contract at 19 with an agency in Milan, Italy. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University and has applied that knowledge as a NASA Datanaut and regional director of NASA's Space Apps Challenge in Washington, DC. In 2022, she founded Space to Reach, an organization dedicated to advancing Black to Brown women in STEM.

Her pageant career began with Miss District of Columbia USA 2018, where she placed as third runner-up and won a swimsuit award. Representing Ireland at Miss Universe 2019, she used her platform to highlight the need for diversity and women in STEM. In 2020, she joined the CBS series Mission Unstoppable as a correspondent and appeared in the HBO Max documentary Twenty Pearls. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and received the 2021 AAIDN Heritage and Diaspora Spirit Award.