Colm O'Rourke

Colm O'Rourke

Personal information
Irish name	Colm Ó Ruairc
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Midfield
Born	(1957-08-31) 31 August 1957 Aughavas, County Leitrim
Occupation	School principal of St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan
Club(s)
Years	Club
1970s–1990s	Skryne
Club titles
Meath titles	2
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
1975–1995	Meath	59
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles	5
All-Irelands	2
NFL	3
All Stars	3

Colm O'Rourke is an Irish retired sportsperson, columnist and analyst. He used to play Gaelic football for the Meath senior inter-county team in Ireland. Now he is a columnist with the Sunday Independent and a panellist on The Sunday Game on RTÉ Television. He is also the principal of St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan.

Personal life

Despite becoming famous as a Meath footballer, O'Rourke is not a Meathman by birth; he was actually born in the small parish of Aughavas within County Leitrim. He moved with his family as a youngster from Leitrim to County Meath

O'Rourke is a descendant of the great Uí Ruairc royal house of Breffni. He has, however, been accepted by the people of Skryne in Meath as one of their own forty years after arriving from Aughavas. He is the secondary school principal in St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan where he has trained the Gaelic football team to numerous successes at provincial and national level throughout the past two decades.

File:Crest of St. Patrick's Classical School.jpg

Crest of St. Patrick's Classical School in which O'Rourke is Principal

He has also managed Colm O'Rourke Sports, his own sports shop in Navan Shopping Centre, during this period. He started working for RTÉ on The Sunday Game in 1991, and has simultaneously been a regular contributor of sports columns in national newspapers. He is continuously being linked with managing the Meath senior football team, previously held by Seán Boylan, another man with strong Leitrim connections. O'Rourke's son Shane is a current player with the Meath senior football team, while his nephew Paddy is the new goalkeeper for Meath.

Playing career

O'Rourke is a former Gaelic footballer, having since retired from the game. He won two All-Ireland medals with Meath, in 1987 and 1988. He also won five Leinster Senior Football Championship medals and three National Football League titles.

O'Rourke received three All-Star for Meath in 1983, 1988 and 1991. His performance, playing with a bandaged knee, in the legendary Dublin-Meath matches of the summer of 1991 are still recounted in Meath and drew admiration from GAA fans throughout Ireland. When playing for Meath he was part of a full forward line of himself, Brian Stafford and Bernard Flynn, widely regarded as one of the best full forward lines of all time.

Management career

O'Rourke has in the past few years managed Simonstown Gaels GFC in Navan, guiding them to two Meath Senior Football Finals in 2003 and 2004, only for the team to lose on both occasions. However, he did guide the club to its first adult title in 2005 when it won the Meath Football League Division 1.

O'Rourke managed Ireland's team that competed in the Compromise Rules competition on two successful outings.

O'Rourke is currently the manager for the Senior men's team in St. Patrick's Classical School, they compete in the A division and in 2001,2003 and 2004 they won the Hogan cup in the All-Ireland, they have got to the All-Ireland many of a time most recently in 2013.

External links

• Official Meath website
• Colm O'Rourke at the Sunday Independent

Sporting positions
Preceded by	Meath Senior Football Captain 1990	Succeeded by Liam Hayes
Awards
Preceded by Shea Fahy (Cork)	Texaco Footballer of the Year 1991	Succeeded by Martin McHugh (Donegal)