Conán F. O'Donnell (born 23 May 1996) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

Early life

O'Donnell was born in

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

. In his youth he played a number of sports, including

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

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

. He first played rugby with

Strandhill Strandhill or occasionally Larass () is a coastal town and townland on the Coolera Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland. , the population was 1,753, an increase of 10% from the 2011 Census. The old name appears to be Ros Dragnige (see Killaspugbr ...

based club,

Sligo RFC Sligo Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Strandhill, County Sligo, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, ...

. Initially a winger, O'Donnell switched to

at under 11 level. O'Donnell was a pupil of

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr La ...

in Sligo town and played rugby for the school team. He received his third level education in

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, studying commerce. While there, he played for the university rugby team.

Professional career

Connacht

O'Donnell was involved with

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 ...

at under age level throughout his teenage years and joined the team's academy in 2014. During the 2014–15 season, O'Donnell played in the All-Ireland League for

at senior level, while also representing

in the Connacht Junior League. After one year in the academy, he was promoted to the academy ahead of the 2015–16 season, becoming the first player from the NUIG team to receive an academy contract. In O'Donnell's first season in the academy, injuries to first team players led to him making several appearances for the senior team. He made his debut against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

in the

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. it ...

on 3 October 2015. His European debut came on 14 November 2015, when he was part of the squad that traveled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

to face Enisei-STM in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

. O'Donnell's first start for the team also came in the Challenge Cup, when the province faced

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

away in the pool stages. He made a total of eight appearances for the senior team in his first academy season, playing four times in the Pro12 and Challenge Cup. At the beginning of the 2017–18 season, his final year in the academy, O'Donnell joined

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688 ...

who had recently been promoted to Division 1A of the All- reland League. O'Donnell played with the Pirates when available, but also missed league matches to play with the Connacht Eagles. In January 2018, he made his return to the senior Connacht team when he featured from the bench against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. In March 2018, it was announced that O'Donnell had signed a senior contract with Connacht for the following season.

Sunwolves

Upon the conclusion of Connacht's 2018–19 season in May 2019, O'Donnell left the province to join Japanese

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

Sunwolves The Sunwolves (Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or ...

for the remainder of the 2019 season.

New Zealand

After the conclusion of the 2019 Super Rugby season, O'Donnell moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

to join

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

side Counties Manukau. He played for in a pre season friendly ahead of the 2020 Super Rugby season, before joining on an eight week contract as injury cover for

Jeff Thwaites Jeffrey Robert Thwaites (born 22 November 1992) is a New Zealand rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the t ...

International

O'Donnell has represented Ireland internationally at under age level. He was part of the Ireland schools team in 2014, despite

not being a traditional rugby school. O'Donnell made five appearances for the schools team. He went on to play for the Ireland under-20s, featuring in all five of the team's games in the 2015 Under-20 Six Nations. O'Donnell was subsequently named in

Nigel Carolan Nigel Carolan (born 27 December 1974) is a rugby union coach from Ireland. He is currently the Assistant coach to Scottish United Rugby Championship side Glasgow Warriors. He was previously a Backs coach at Connacht. Before becoming a coach Car ...

's squad for the 2015 Junior World Cup, and played in four of the side's five matches in the tournament as they finished seventh overall. O'Donnell was young enough to return to the under-20s for a second season and played in the 2016 Six Nations, again featuring in all the games. He missed out on the 2016 Junior World Cup through injury, however.

Discography

O'Donnell has appeared on multiple podcasts around the world. Most recently "The Petey Performance Podcast"

References

External links

Connacht profileEPCR ProfileIreland under-20 profilePro14 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Conan 1996 births Living people People educated at Summerhill College Alumni of the University of Galway Gaelic footballers who switched code Rugby union players from County Sligo Irish rugby union players University of Galway RFC players Buccaneers RFC players Connacht Rugby players Sunwolves players Counties Manukau rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Irish expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Irish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Rugby union props Canterbury rugby union players Northland rugby union players Toronto Arrows players