Getty Dolan and Doolittle pictured together in July 2018.
Eireann Dolan is Sean Doolittle’s wife. The Washington Nationals reliever made headlines in November 2019 when he said he would not meet President Donald Trump following his team’s dramatic World Series victory over the Houston Astros.
Doolittle said in an interview with the Washington Post that he had “respectfully declined” the invitation to meet the president. Doolittle said in an interview, “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.” Doolittle added that he felt the president did not respect his office citing “divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories” as evidence. The Post also reported that some of Doolittle’s teammates are considering not attending the White House.
Dolan and Doolittle are well-known for their activism. While Doolittle played for the Oakland Athletics, the couple organized the team’s first LGBT Pride Night. For Thanksgiving 2015, the couple organized a dinner for Syrian refugees.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Dolan Calls Herself Doolittle’s ‘Goth Wife’
GettyDoolittle #62 of the Oakland Athletics, Dolan, and University of San Francisco Women’s basketball coach Jennifer Azzi present a check to members of the Rainbow Community Center on Pride Night before the game against the Texas Rangers at the Oakland Coliseum on June 14, 2016 in Oakland, California.
On her Twitter profile, Dolan, a Fordham University and University of San Diego graduate, describes herself as the “goth wife” of Doolitte. Dolan adds, “goth dog owner of sophia and stella. monster mash enjoyer. the fredo in every group.” In addition to the University of San Diego and Fordham University, Dolan also studied for three years at the L’Institut Catholique de Paris.
While on her Instagram bio, Dolan simply says that she is “an autumn goth.”
Dolan is a SMYAL board member. SMYAL is an activist group that seeks to empower LGBT youth.
2. Dolan Said That She Decided to Marry Doolittle After He Sent Her a Picture of Two Taco Bell Tacos Shaped Like a Heart
An April 2018 WTOP feature on Doolittle said that during his time playing in Oakland, he and his wife would regularly travel to Washington “each fall.”
Dolan told the station that she made the decision to marry Doolittle after he sent her a photo of two Taco Bell tacos in the shape of a love heart. Dolan said, “You sent me a photo of two tacos in the shape of a heart, from Taco Bell. And I was like, ‘I’m going to marry this man. I’m going to marry him, and he doesn’t know it yet.’” In 2017, ESPN noted that Dolan’s Taco Bell order was “double-decker tacos — beans, no meat (she’s a vegetarian).”
3. Dolan Is a Chicago Native Who Is ‘Not Athletic’ at All
A feature on Dolan in Fordham’s official magazine from 2017 says that she grew up in Chicago as a White Sox fan. Dolan says that she is “not athletic” at all and was only ever a fan of the game.
Dolan explained to the magazine that she met Doolittle while she working as a reporter covering the Oakland A’s for Comcast SportsNet. Dolan said that she became friends with A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy, the pair were writing comedy together, McCarthy thought Dolan and Doolittle would hit it off. He went on to introduce the pair together.
Dolan also told the magazine about the couple’s activism saying, “I would say that our general mission in life is firmly rooted in the Beatitudes and the imperative of Matthew 25:40. We are called to have an option for the marginalized, the oppressed, the ‘least among us.” Dolan said that she grew up in a mixed-religion family, her mother was a pastor of a Unitarian church while her father was an Irish Catholic.
4. The Couple Eloped Together in October 2017
We had the afternoon off so we eloped and we’ve never been happier ✨✨✨
In October 2017, Dolan announced on her Twitter feed that the couple eloped together as they “had the afternoon off.” Dolan told Fordham’s magazine about the wedding saying, “My big, Irish-Catholic family felt left out. It’s Darwinism as a wedding!” Dolan said that she and Doolittle would have a big celebration later for all of their family members.
Their wedding came after a “Star Wars” themed proposal. Doolittle told ESPN that he dressed their dog as Princess Leia and asked Dolan, “Marry me, Eireann. You’re my only hope.”
5. The Couple Regularly Trade Barbs on Social Media
The WTOP article noted that Dolan and Doolittle regularly joke with each other. In September 2016, Dolan tweeted, “Good thing Sean can throw a baseball because he just called a maintenance worker to change a 9V battery in a reachable smoke detector at 2am.” While Doolittle said of their barbs, “There’s times where I’ve come up with some really good stuff, and I’ll be like, ‘Can I say this?’ Because I’m not sure where the line is. She doesn’t care where the line is.”
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