Colm O'Rourke (born 31 August 1957) 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 is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

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 ...

, former player, retired secondary school principal,

sports broadcaster In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio w ...

and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022. O'Rourke's

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

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 ...

career at senior level with the Meath county team spanned twenty years from 1975 to 1995. Born in Aughavas,

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

, his family moved to

Skryne Skryne or Skreen (), is a village situated on and around a hill between the N2 and N3 national primary roads in County Meath, Ireland. It is situated on the far side of the Gabhra valley from the Hill of Tara. This valley is sometimes referre ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, where O'Rourke spent his youth. He played competitive Gaelic football during his schooling at St Patrick's Classical School in

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...

. O'Rourke first appeared for the

club at underage levels, before winning two county senior championship medals in 1992 and 1993. He gained his Bachelor of Arts degree (1978) and Higher Diploma in Education (1979) from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. While studying at

he won a

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. ...

medal in 1979. He was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Sport in 2016. O'Rourke made his debut on the inter-county scene when he was picked for the Meath minor team. He later joined the under-21 side but enjoyed little success in these grades. O'Rourke made his senior debut during the 1975-76 league. Over the course of the next twenty years he was a regular member of the starting fifteen and won back-to-back

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 ...

medals in 1987 and 1988. He also won five

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 ...

medals, three

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 ...

medals and was named Footballer of the Year in 1991. O'Rourke played his last game for Meath in July 1995. In retirement from playing O'Rourke combined his teaching career with a new position as a sports broadcaster. His media career began with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

where he has worked as a studio analyst with the flagship programme ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'' for over twenty-five years. O'Rourke also writes a weekly column for the '' Sunday Independent''.

Early and family life

Despite becoming a Meath county footballer, O'Rourke is not a Meathman by birth; he was born in the small parish of Aughavas within

. He moved with his family as a youngster from County Leitrim to

O'Rourke's son

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name) Shane is mainly a masculine g ...

also played with the Meath senior football team, while his nephew Paddy played as a goalkeeper for Meath.

Playing career

As a Gaelic footballer, O'Rourke won two

medals with Meath, in 1987 and 1988. He also won five

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 ...

medals and three

titles. His involvement would be considered pivitol for Meaths success against Dublin at this time. O'Rourke received three All-Star for Meath in 1983, 1988 and 1991. His performance, playing with a bandaged knee, in the Dublin-Meath matches of the summer of 1991 are still recounted in Meath. When playing for Meath he was part of a full forward line of himself,

Brian Stafford Brian Stafford is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. He played for the Meath county team in the 1980s and early 1990s under the management of Sean Boylan. For Meath he usually played at full forward. He played club football for Kilmainhamwo ...

and

Bernard Flynn Bernard Flynn (born 26 June 1965) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Meath county team. As a teenager he attended secondary school in St Mary's of Drogheda. He enjoyed success play inter-county football in the 1980s and ...

, often considered to be one of the best full-forward lines of all time. In May 2020, O'Rourke was included in the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

s "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years", where he was regarded as inferior to such players as Donegal's

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...

and Tyrone's

Seán Cavanagh Seán Cavanagh (born 16 February 1983) is an Irish people, Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Moy Tír Na nÓg GAC, Moy Tír Na nÓg club and for the Tyrone county football team, Tyrone county team. He is a five-time GAA GPA All ...

Management career

O'Rourke has 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. He also guided the club to its first adult title in 2005 when it won the Meath Football League Division 1. He led Simonstown Gaels to their very first Senior Championship in 2016 and then again in 2017. He returned as Simonstown manager for a fourth stint in November 2020, hinting that this would be his last managerial job. O'Rourke managed Ireland's team that competed in the Compromise Rules competition on two outings, 1998 and 1999. 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, reaching the final most recently in 2013. He ruled himself out of contention to replace

Andy McEntee Andy McEntee is a Gaelic football manager. He has been the manager of the Antrim county team since 2022. He managed his native Meath between 2016 and 2022. Career McEntee managed Meath to the final of the 2012 All-Ireland Minor Football Ch ...

as county team manager in 2022, stating: "My beautiful wife Patricia has a very negative view toward managing the county team and with good reason when you see the upshot of Andy McEntee going and the social media abuse that has taken place. People who put in enormous time at their own expense - it's not like Pep Guardiola getting £15m a year - and then being subjected to that sort of thing by unnamed people. I can't understand how, in a society, we can allow people to abuse others without having given their name and address. It's just a shocking indictment of society in general". In July 2022, O'Rourke was confirmed as the new manager of the Meath senior football team.

Teaching

For 42 years O'Rourke worked at St Patrick's Classical School in

, first as a teacher, then later as principal. He also trained the school's Gaelic football team, managing them to numerous successes at provincial and national levels. In October 2022, O'Rourke announced that he would be retiring as principal to focus on his role as manager of the Meath senior inter-county mens team. Despite his classical education, he has been known to mix up his

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

with his

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

in public. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Republic of Ireland, it has resulted in 1 ...

, he voiced his disagreement with the then education minister

Joe McHugh Joe McHugh (born 16 July 1971) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs since September 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since 2016, and previously ...

's plan to delay the Leaving Cert until July as well as his plans to socially distance it. He voiced his concerns on how this would be feasible and on the safety of teachers overseeing the exam.

Media career

O'Rourke started working for RTÉ on ''

'' in 1991, and has been a contributed sports columns in the '' Sunday Independent''. He writes occasional columns for the ''Sunday Independent'' on the topic of education. O'Rourke also is slated to make a cameo role in "The Rising" an Irish film that covers the events of the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

. In 2020, O'Rourke was accused of using homophobic language on television.

Political beliefs

O'Rourke is an opponent of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

. He is an

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

. He has written about his disapproval of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

. O'Rourke wrote in defence of

Phil Hogan Phil Hogan (born 4 July 1960) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade between 2019 and 2020, and previously European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019. He previously ...

after the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal forced the

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

from office, describing Hogan as one of the "good people" and the "constant rage" at his wanderings around three

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

s to play golf among other things as "a bit over the top". Original title in print edition was "Time is right to flip season on its head".

Career statistics

References

External links

Official Meath website

Colm O'Rourke
at the '' Sunday Independent'' {{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Colm 1957 births Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Gaelic football forwards Gaelic football managers Gaelic games commentators Gaelic games writers and broadcasters Heads of schools in Ireland Ireland international rules football team coaches Irish businesspeople Irish columnists Irish sportswriters Leinster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Meath inter-county Gaelic footballers Sportspeople from County Leitrim Sunday Independent (Ireland) people Skryne Gaelic footballers Texaco Footballers of the Year 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people UCD Gaelic footballers Winners of two All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)