Karen Buckley (24), is a graduate of University of Limerick where she studied general nursing.
She graduated in January 2014 before taking time out to travel to the US and Thailand.
She worked as a nurse at Princess Alexandria Hospital in Harlow, Essex before moving to Glasgow in January this year to study occupational therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University.
The youngest child and only daughter of John (62) and Marion (61) Buckley.
Karen has three brothers. Kieran (28) and Damian (27) live and work in Sydney while her eldest brother Brendan (32) lives and works in Cork.
The family live in the small rural parish of Mourneabbey, around six miles south of Mallow town, around 20 minutes drive north of Cork city.
Mourneabbey has a population of around 1,000 inhabitants and is mainly an agricultural region.
The Buckley family are well respected farmers in the area. The parish is split into two regions, Burnfort and Analeentha.
Karen attended Analeentha National School and later studied at St Mary's Secondary School in Mallow before moving onto third level in Limerick.
Growing up, Karen was a keen GAA player and a member of Mourneabbey Ladies Football Club.
In her teens, she was also a member of Mourneabbey Youth Club. The family were known in local GAA circles, as her brothers also played GAA with the local underage club Clyda Rovers.
Parishioners have organised a Mass for Karen at Analeentha Church on Wednesday at 8pm.
In Glasgow, Karen shared a flat with three female students at Hill Street, Garnethill.
She had drinks in the flat with her fellow students before going out to the Sanctuary nightclub.
She not seen by her friends again after she told them she was going to use the bathroom in the nightclub.
When she failed to arrive home, her flatmates tried repeatedly to contact her mobile phone, which rang out until the battery went dead around 11.30am on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson from University of Limerick said Karen Buckley graduated with a degree in general nursing in January 2014.
In a statement, the college extended thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the missing student and expressed hoped that she will soon be found safe and well.
Yvonne Bane, principal of St Mary’s Secondary School in Mallow, Co Cork, where Karen Buckley was educated said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time.”