Colm "Wooly" Parkinson (born 1978 in Meelick,

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

) is a retired Irish

Gaelic footballer 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 journalist.

Playing career

Club

Parkinson was a decorated underage player with Portlaoise, winning county titles at every underage grade before graduating to the senior team in 1997. In his first year at senior level, Portlaoise reached the county final losing to Stradbally. He would win his first title 2 years later in 1999, scoring 0–03 in a narrow win against St Josephs. It was Portlaoise's first county title since 1991. He starred again for Portlaoise in the 2001 final, scoring 1-02 as Portlaoise beat a fancied St. Josephs side. He captained Portlaoise to his third title in 2004, also winning man of the match in the final against

Emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

. Portlaoise went on to win the Leinster Club title that year beating

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 ...

in the decider. Portlaoise would go on to beat Crossmaglen in the All Ireland semi final but lost by a point in the All Ireland final against Ballina. Parkinson caused controversy in Portlaoise when he decided to travel to south-east Asia for 7 weeks after the Leinster win. The same year, he earned the Leinster club player of the year and the Laois player of the year for his performances for Portlaoise. He won two more titles for Portlaoise - winning man of the match in the final again in 2007 against Stradbally and beating

Timahoe Timahoe (: 'House of Mochua') is a village in County Laois, Ireland, south of Portlaoise on the R426 regional road. The population of Timahoe in 2002 was 517, a 2.6% increase since 1996. It increased to 527 in 2006. Retrieved dead link with Wa ...

in 2008 before surprising everyone by transferring to the Parnells club in Dublin in 2009. He played for Parnells for two seasons, winning a Division 2 league title. He returned to

again in 2011, winning his sixth and final county title against

Graiguecullen Graiguecullen GFC are a Gaelic Athletic Association club from County Laois, Ireland. The club played in Carlow for many years but in 1926 they were suspended. The club then chose to play in Laois and have been doing so ever since. The club were ...

Inter-county

Parkinson started his minor inter-county career with Laois in 1995, losing to Westmeath after two replays in the Leinster final. His position was right corner back with the team. In 2016, Laois claimed Leinster and All Ireland minor titles. He played 3 years with the U21s winning a Leinster title in 1998. Laois went on to beat a fancied Galway team in the semi-final before losing to Kerry in the All Ireland final. The same year, he made his Laois senior debut against Westmeath scoring 2 points from wing back. To round off a successful year in 1998, he was selected for the international rules squad. In 1999, he won a Sigerson cup with Tralee IT but missed out on the final because of a hamstring injury. Despite an excellent start to his career at intercounty level, Parkinson would go on to have a chequered career at senior level. Between travelling, injuries, and falling out with managers there was never a lot of consistency or continuity in his career. His final act as a senior player was to leave the Laois panel in 2011 under Justin McNulty.

Honours

;Inter-county * 1

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 ...

1998 * 1

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 ...

1996 * 1

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

1996 * 1

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 ...

2003 ;Club * 6

Laois Senior Football Championship The Laois Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Portarlington are the title holders ...

1999 2002 2004 2007 2008 2011 * 5

Laois All-County Football League The Laois All-County Football League (ACFL) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by Laois GAA clubs. There are seven divisions and teams are promoted and relegated according to their league standing each year. Prior to the incepti ...

1996 2004 2007 2008 2011 * 1

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship The Leinster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on a knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Leinster. The current holders of the Leinster title are Ba ...

2004 ;College * 1

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. ...

1999 Tralee IT ;International rules * 1

International rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was develope ...

1998 ;Individual * Leinster club player of the year 2004 * Laois player of the year 2004

References

* https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/colm-parkinson-i-would-have-fallen-out-at-some-point-or-another-with-nearly-every-manager-403233.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkinson, Colm 1978 births Living people Donegal Boston Gaelic footballers Gaelic games writers and broadcasters Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish international rules football players Laois inter-county Gaelic footballers Newstalk presenters Portlaoise Gaelic footballers Parnells Gaelic footballers (Dublin) People from County Laois