Brian Carroll (born 13 June 1983) is an Irish hurler who played as a right corner-forward for the

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

senior team. Born in

Coolderry Coolderry () is a small roadside village in southern County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 8 kilometres north of Roscrea and 11 kilometres south of Birr. The village lies close to the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Places of note include Gloster Hou ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, Carroll was introduced to hurling by his father,

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'', and NBC' ...

, a two-time

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

medallist with Offaly. His grandfather, Jack Carroll, and his great-grandfather, "Red" Jack Teehan, also played hurling at various levels with Offaly. Carroll enjoyed

success at colleges level with

St. Kieran's College St Kieran's College (Coláiste Chiaráin) is a Roman Catholic secondary school, located on College Road, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History St Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782, after the passi ...

while simultaneously enjoying championship successes at underage levels with the

club. A one-time

runner-up with the Coolderry senior team, Carroll has won one

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

medal and five

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

medals. Carroll made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Offaly minor team. A

medallist in this grade, he later played with the under-21 team. Carroll made his senior debut during the 2002 Walsh Cup. He went on to play a key role for Offaly in attack during a lengthy career, and won two National Hurling League (Division 2) medals. He was a

runner-up on one occasion. Carroll's career tally of 5 goals and 194 points ranks him as Offaly's second highest championship scorer of all time. As a member of the

inter-provincial team, Carroll won four

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship ( ga, An Corn Idir-Chúigeach) or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster ...

medals. Throughout his inter-county career he made 47 championship appearances. Carroll retired from inter-county hurling on 4 January 2016.

Playing career

Club

Carroll plays his club hurling with Coolderry and has enjoyed much success and had made the all star team In 2004 he lined out in his first county club championship final. Six-in-a-row hopefuls Birr provided the opposition, however, Coolderry recorded a 3-10 to 2-11 victory against the odds. It was Carroll's first

medal. After losing two county finals in the meantime, Coolderry reached the championship decider once again in 2010. Reigning champions

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, midlands reg ...

were the opponents, however, Coolderry secured a 3-15 to 1-12 victory. It was Carroll's second championship medal. Coolderry made it two-in-a-row in 2011, with Carroll winning a third championship meal following a 2-14 to 0-16 defeat of Birr. He later added a

medal to his collection following a 1-15 to 1-11 defeat of

Oulart the Ballagh Oulart (, formerly ''Ubhallghort'' - ''"the orchard"''), is a small village in the southeastern corner of Ireland. It is situated in County Wexford just off the R741 regional road halfway between the towns of Gorey to the north and Wexford t ...

in the provincial decider. Coolderry subsequently qualified for an All-Ireland final meeting with

Loughgiel Shamrocks Loughgiel Shamrocks GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the village of Loughgiel/Loughguile in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They are currently the only club in Ulster to have won an All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championsh ...

. A hat-trick of goals by Liam Watson resulted in a 4-13 to 0-17 defeat for Carrol's side.

Inter-county

Carroll made his senior debut for Offaly in a Walsh Cup game against

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 2002. After scoring 1-2 in his competitive debut, he was later included on Offaly's league and championship teams. In 2005 Carroll enjoyed his first major success with Offaly. A 6-21 to 4-7 trouncing of

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

gave him his first National Hurling League (Division 2) medal. Unfortunately, championship success continued to elude the team. After being relegated from the top tier of the league, Offaly reached the Division 2 final once again in 2009. A 1-13 to 0-13 defeat of

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

gave Carroll a second Division 2 medal. In January 2016, Carroll announced his retirement from inter-county hurling. In a released statement he said "It is with both satisfaction and sadness that I announce my retirement from inter-county hurling, for the past 14 seasons I have been privileged to play for Offaly and got to fulfil my boyhood dream of captaining my county in 2010, playing in a Leinster final in Croke Park in 2004 and, probably most importantly for me, the general buzz of playing inter-county hurling with and against the best in the country."

Inter-provincial

Carroll has also lined out with

in the inter-provincial series of games and has enjoyed much success winning 4 Railway Cup medals in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009. In 2003 he won a

medal as Leinster defeated

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

by 4-9 to 2-12.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Brian 1983 births Living people Coolderry hurlers Irish schoolteachers Leinster inter-provincial hurlers Offaly inter-county hurlers