Ciarán Kilkenny (born 7 July 1993) is an Irish

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 ...

er who plays for the Dublin county team and as a dual player for his club

Castleknock Castleknock () is an affluent suburb located west of the centre of Dublin city, Ireland. It is centered on the village of the same name in Fingal. In addition to the suburb, the name "Castleknock" also refers to older units of land division: ...

. He was previously on the playing list of

Australian rules football 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 ...

club Hawthorn, as a rookie. He has featured on an advertising billboard campaign in India.

Early life

Kilkenny attended Scoil Oilibhéir in Clonsilla.

Hurling

Kilkenny represented Dublin at underage at several levels. Despite being previously offered a place on the Dublin senior hurling panel, he chose to dedicate his time solely to football. Kilkenny does, however, still play hurling for his club, Castleknock.

Football

Club

Kilkenny won the Dublin Minor Football Championship with Castleknock in 2011. He won the Dublin Junior Football Championship with Castleknock, his last medal before switching codes to Aussie rules.

Inter-county

Minor/U21

Kilkenny won the 2011 Leinster Minor Football Championship and the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship with Dublin in 2011. He was on the losing side for both teams in the All-Ireland finals in 2011 at Croke Park. Kilkenny was called up to the Dublin under 21 team in 2012. He won the Leinster Under 21 Football Championship with Dublin in March 2012. Ciaran scored a total of 1-07 in the Leinster final against Louth at Páirc Tailteann in Navan. The game finished on 1-16 to 0-08 with Dublin winning the game by a comfortable 11 point margin to become Leinster champions for the tenth time. Ciaran Kilkenny scored a total of 2-25 (0-7f) for Dublin in the Leinster Championship. Dublin went on to meet

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in the All-Ireland semi-final at Portlaoise. Kilkenny scored just one point in a game in which Dublin won against the Munster champions. The game finished on a scoreline of 3-11 to 0-14. Ciarán won the all-Ireland under 21 championship with Dublin against Connacht champions Roscommon in Tullamore. Kilkenny scored a total of four points in a close game against Roscommon which ended with heavy scoring from Dublin. The game finished on a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-11. Kilkenny was named the

Cadbury's Hero of the Future The EirGrid U20 Footballer of the year, (previously known as the Cadbury's Hero of the Future) is a Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It ...

for his performances with Dublin in 2012.

Senior

Kilkenny made his debut for the Dublin senior football team against Laois in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship when he came on as a substitute for Diarmuid Connolly. He made his first start for the Dublin senior football team against Mayo in the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

All-Ireland football semi-final defeat. He scored three points in the game.

Move to AFL

Kilkenny was linked to a possible move to Australia as a rookie in the Australian AFL. Dublin football legend Dessie Farrell described the potential departure of Kilkenny to Australian football as "a huge loss". confirmed the signing on 29 September 2011, after had also tried to secure the 19-year-old's services. Kilkenny flew to Melbourne to visit Hawthorn officials at Waverley, and was scheduled to become the first Irishman to play at the club. Recent changes to rookie list rules had made the recruitment of Irish players more appealing, with clubs now able to count one Irish player as an international rookie, meaning the player does not take up a main rookie spot. After just four months and a return to Ireland for the Christmas, Kilkenny decided for personal reasons to remain in Ireland where he wished to pursue a career with Castleknock and Dublin.

Return to Ireland

Upon his return to the native soil, Kilkenny collected both the 2013 NFL title and

2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The 2013 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 127th edition of the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament, played between 31 counties of Ireland (excluding Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny), London GA ...

title with Dublin. In March 2014, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament while fulfilling a Dublin football fixture at Croke Park against Kildare in a 2014 NFL, causing him to miss the rest of the season. By winning his sixth All Star in 2022, he drew level with

Stephen Cluxton Stephen Cluxton (born 17 December 1981) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played as a goalkeeper at senior level for the Dublin county team. Cluxton made his senior debut for Dublin during the 2001 Championship. Since then he has established ...

and became the Dublin player with the joint highest number of awards.

International rules

Kilkenny played twice for Ireland against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

2013 International Rules Series The 2013 International Rules Series (officially the 2013 Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series) was the 17th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. Ireland en ...

, and scored a goal in the second Test at Croke Park.

Career statistics

: ''As of match played 10 July 2022''

Honours

;Dublin * All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (7):

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;Individual * All Star (6): 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilkenny, Ciaran 1993 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) Castleknock Gaelic footballers Castleknock hurlers Dual players DCU Gaelic footballers Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Gaelic football forwards Irish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Irish international rules football players Irish players of Australian rules football People from Castleknock Sportspeople from Fingal Winners of seven All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)