The Carlow county football team ( ) represents

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 ...

in men's

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

and is governed by

Carlow GAA The Carlow County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Ceatharlach) or Carlow GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Carlow and the C ...

, the

county board A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States. Related forms of county government include: * Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states * County commission, ...

of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

, the

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Carlow's home ground is

Dr Cullen Park Dr Cullen Park, known for sponsorship reasons as Netwatch Cullen Park, is a GAA stadium in Carlow, County Carlow, Ireland. It is the home of the Carlow Gaelic football and hurling teams. It has a capacity of 21,000. History The ground's establ ...

. The team's manager is

Niall Carew Niall Carew (born 1974) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former Gaelic footballer and hurler. He has been manager of the Carlow county team since 2020. Carew previously managed Waterford and Sligo. Career Born in Staplestown, County K ...

. The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 1944, but has never won the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

History

Carlow have claimed very few honours at senior level. The team won a

(SFC) in 1944. The final was played in

Athy Athy ( ; ) is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 9,677 (as of the 2016 census) makes it the sixth largest town in Kild ...

due to the war and Carlow defeated

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 ...

by a scoreline of 2–6 to 1–6. Carlow also lost Leinster SFC finals in 1941 and 1942 to the same opposition.

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

fisherman-publican

Paddy Bawn Brosnan Patrick "Paddy Bawn" Brosnan (16 November 1917 – 23 July 1995) was an Irish Gaelic footballer whose league and championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. C ...

kept Carlow from reaching an All-Ireland SFC final in 1944. His second-half goal put Carlow out of the All-Ireland semi-final by a scoreline of 3–3 to 0–10. Ten years later Carlow reached the National League final with a famous 1–10 to 1–7 win against

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, but were well beaten by

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

in the final. Carlow won the 1994 All-Ireland B Senior Football Championship, and an

O'Byrne Cup The Bord na Móna O'Byrne Cup is a Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster GAA and first staged in 1954. The competition is named after Matt Byrne, a former Wicklow GAA club and county officer. By virtue of a quirk in translation, ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. The team defeated

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...

by a scoreline of 2–10 to 0–8. Other significant performances include reaching the

Leinster Minor Football Championship The Leinster Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in gaelic football played in the province of Leinster. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under 17 ...

final in 2007, when the team lost to Laois. The Carlow Vocational Schools team won the VEC All Ireland Championship in 1973, while Carlow CBS won an All-Ireland B title at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

in 2015. An under-21 team came within a point of defeating Dublin in 1984. In the 1980–81 National League Carlow once fielded a one-club selection so that Éire Óg could prepare for their first Leinster Club final. Tommy Dwyer, at 6'7, was one of the tallest midfielders in GAA history.

Paul Bealin Paul Bealin (born 1967/1968) is a former Gaelic footballer who played in midfield at senior level for the Dublin county team. He later managed three senior county teams: Westmeath (sacked after a year), Wexford (resigning in October 2007) and ...

spent a year as manager. In late 2012,

Anthony Rainbow Anthony Rainbow is a Gaelic football manager and former player from County Kildare, Ireland. He played with the Kildare county team for almost 20 years with whom he won two Leinster Senior Football Championship medals, in 1998 and 2000. He pl ...

was appointed manager of the senior county football team. Carlow played

Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

in a first round qualifier in 2013 — the first Friday night game in the history of the

Turlough O'Brien Turlough O'Brien is a Gaelic football manager. He managed Carlow between 2014 and 2020. In the 2018 National Football League, O'Brien led the team out of Division 4. This was their first promotion in more than three decades. In the 2018 L ...

managed Carlow between 2014 and 2020. In the 2018 National Football League, O'Brien led the team out of Division 4. This was their first promotion in more than three decades. In the

2018 Leinster Senior Football Championship The 2018 Leinster Senior Football Championship was the 2018 installment of the annual Leinster Senior Football Championship organised by Leinster GAA. Dublin, the defending champions, won their eighth consecutive championship title, defeating La ...

, he led Carlow to a quarter-final victory against

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

O'Connor Park O'Connor Park ( ga, Páirc Uí Chonchúir) is a GAA stadium in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. It is one of the principal grounds of the Offaly GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams. It is known for sponsorship reasons as Bord na Móna O� ...

. He resigned in June 2020. Also in 2018, Paul Broderick was nominated for an All Star, the first Carlow player to receive a nomination since Colm Hayden in 1994, which was the year Carlow won the All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship. In August 2020,

replaced O'Brien as manager.

Current panel

^INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team.
^RET Player has since retired from the county team.
^WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Current management team

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

*Head coach: Ger Brennan * Selectors: Darren Leonard, Simon Rea *Performance coach:

Eamonn Callaghan Eamonn Callaghan is a former Gaelic footballer who played at senior level for the Kildare county team. He captained his county. In 2011, Callaghan was part of the Ireland team that won the 2011 International Rules Series against Australia by ...

, since August 2022

Managerial history

Carlow have a history of appointing "foreign" managers, including Liam Hayes (Meath), Pat Roe (Laois), Paul Bealin (Dublin), Andy Shortall (Laois) and Bobby Millar (Laois).

Luke Dempsey Luke Dempsey (born 15 December 1959) is a Gaelic football manager. His managerial career began in 1994. He has managed three county teams: Westmeath, Longford and Carlow, as well as several clubs in Kildare, Westmeath and Meath. Career Dempsey gui ...

: 2004, on an interim basis

(2) 2009/2010/2011/2012

Players

Notable players

Records

* Paddy Quirke (Naomh Eoin, Myshall) –

dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual (grammatical ...

All Star (hurling and football), Railway Cup Hurling and Football * Tommy Dwyer (Tinryland) – International Rules Football, Railway Cup Football * Luke Kelly (Leighlinbridge) – Leinster SFC winner 1944 * Jim Morris (Ballon) – Leinster SFC winner 1944 * Jimma Rea (O'Hanrahan's) – Leinster SFC winner 1944 * Simon Rea (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF * Mark Carpenter (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF, Leinster Club SF 2000 * Tom "Drakes" Walker (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF * Colm Hayden (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg *

Johnny Nevin Johnny Nevin is a former dual player from County Carlow, Ireland. He played Gaelic football and hurling with Carlow between the late 1980s and the 2000s. Nevin won an All-Ireland B Football medal in 1994 He competed in the Railway Cup in both ...

(Old Leighlin GFC/Naomh Brid HC) - Railway Cup SF, SH, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994, Carlow Championship 1997, All-Ireland over-40s runner-up 2008 * Andy Murphy (Tinryland) – Railway Cup SF * "Paks" Connolly (Clonmore) – Railway Cup SF * Martin Molloy (Clonmore /

Rathvilly Rathvilly () is a village in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is located on the River Slaney near the border with County Wicklow, 11 km from Tullow and 8 km from Baltinglass. It is also on the N81 national secondary route. Rathvill ...

) – Railway Cup SF *

(Ballinabranna) –

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and Carlow * Thomas Walshe (Fenagh GFC/Ballinkillen HC) – Railway Cup SF * Cyril Hughes (St Andrew's, Bagenalstown GFC/Ballinkillen HC) – Railway Cup SF, manager of Carlow and

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 ...

* Brendan Murphy (Rathvilly) – Leinster MFC runner-up 2007, professional

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player * Tommy 'The Boy Wonder' Murphy (Graiguecullen) – Team of the Millennium as

player, originally Carlow before the Graiguecullen expulsion * Brendan Hayden Snr (Tinryland GFC/St Fintan's HC) – Railway Cup SF * Vincent Harvey (Éire Óg) – former Carlow manager * Ned Doogue (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF * Eamonn Long (O'Hanrahan's) – Railway Cup SF * Cran Hogan (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF * Willie Quinlan (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994 * Andrew Corden (O'Hanrahan's) – O'Byrne Cup 2001 * Peeney Whelan (Tinryland) – Railway Cup SF * Garvan Ware (Éire Óg) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg * Joe Hayden (Éire Óg GFC/Carlow Town HC) – Railway Cup SF, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg * Richie Moore (Éire Óg GFC/Carlow Town HC) – All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship 1994 * Willie Doyle (O'Hanrahan's) – International Rules 1985 * Hugh Brennan (Éire Óg) – Mayo minor, 5 Leinsters in 1990s with Éire Óg, All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

1994 * Ned Gladney (St Mullins) – All-Ireland and Leinster 1961, 1962, eight county titles, and Full Forward on Team of the Century. The first man to captain Carlow at senior level.

All Stars

Carlow has no All Stars.

Honours

National

*All-Ireland Senior B Football Championship ** Winners (1): 1994 *

** Runners-up (1): 1953–54 * National Football League Division 2 ** Winners (1): 1934–35 *

All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship The All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship was a Gaelic Athletic Association football and hurling competition. There are two levels of competition. Individual schools compete for county, provincial and All-Ireland competitions. County teams s ...

** Winners (1): 1973

Provincial

** Winners (1): 1944 ** Runners-up (2): 1941, 1942 *

** Winners (1):

Leinster Junior Football Championship The Leinster Junior Football Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council. The competition began in 1906, ...

** Winners (3): 1913, 1923, 1933 *

Leinster Under-21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highes ...

** Runners-up (1): 1984 *

** Runners-up (1): 2007

References

{{GAA National Leagues County football teams