Ger Brennan 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 St Vincents and, formerly, for the Dublin county team.

Early life

From a family of nine, he attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

. At Belvedere he played rugby, soccer, hurling and Gaelic football. Graduating from

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

with undergraduate and master's degrees, he qualified as a school teacher and taught Irish and religion at St. Kevin's College, Ballygall Road, in Dublin 11. In November 2015 he was appointed Gaelic Games Executive at

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 ...

Playing career

Club

Brennan won his first

Dublin Senior Football Championship The Dublin Senior Football Championship (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the '' Go-Ahead'' Dublin Senior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Dublin GAA clubs. The winners of the ...

medal with St Vincents in 2007 in the final against

St Brigids St Brigid's GAA Club (Irish: Cumann Naomh Bríd) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Castleknock, Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland which serves Castleknock, Clonsilla, Blanchardstown and Corduff. Its main grounds are at Russell P ...

Parnell Park Parnell Park is a GAA stadium in Donnycarney, Dublin, Ireland with a capacity of 8,500. It is the home of the Dublin GAA hurling, football, camogie and ladies' football teams at all levels of competition. The ground is used by Dublin's inter ...

. He then went on to win the

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 ...

final against Tyrrellspass of Westmeath. Brennan was chosen as the Leinster club player of the year for his performances in the Leinster club championship with St Vincents. Brennan won the 2008 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship with St Vincents in a hard fought game. He won the

for St. Vincents, as captain, in 2013.

Inter-county

Brennan made his national league debut for Dublin against Tyrone on 3 February 2007. He was a member of Dublin team that won the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

O'Byrne Cup, playing against Laois at

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� ...

in Offaly. The game finished on a scoreline of 1-18 to 2-13. He finished the tournament with a total of 0-04. In 2008, he retired from Dublin's football panel, citing burnout and fatigue as his reasons. However, on 30 July 2008, he was named in Dublin's panel for the quarter-final and accepted a return. He was part of the victorious Dublin squad that won the 2011 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. He won an All-Ireland with Dublin for a second time in 2013, scoring two points in the final against Mayo. In October 2015, Brennan announced his retirement from Inter County football but will continue to play club football.

Personal life

Brennan is a Catholic who has spoken about his faith in God. He has stated that while non-denominational schools may teach subjects such as science, Catholic schools "enable young students to have the skills to pray". Brennan was praised for his "nonchalant delivery" of thanks to the "girlfriends and boyfriends of the players" after St Vincent's defeated Castlebar Mitchels in the 2014 All-Ireland Club Championship Final at Croke Park (a speech delivered in front of a live television audience). However just over a year later, Brennan wrote an op-ed for 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 ...

'' arguing against the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

in that year's Marriage Equality referendum, which was ultimately carried in a 62% to 38% popular vote. His stance was criticised by others, including fellow GAA star

Conor Cusack Conor Cusack (born 16 January 1979) is an Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with the Cork senior inter-county team in 2006. Known nationally in Ireland for his mental health advocacy, Cusack continues to play hurling with his local Cloyne cl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Ger Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Dublin inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic football backs Irish chaplains Irish schoolteachers People educated at Belvedere College Religion and education St Vincents (Dublin) Gaelic footballers Winners of two All-Ireland medals (Gaelic football)